Eco-labels on Restaurant Menus

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care

Status: Completed

Conditions: Dietary Habits; Food Selection; Nutrition; Healthy Diet; Food Preferences

Treatments: Behavioral: Eco-Labels

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06584539

2000970

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this study is to determine whether eco-labels denoting more sustainable menu items improve the healthfulness of participants' entrée and appetizer selections from a restaurant menu. US adults will complete a restaurant ordering task in which they will select menu items to order from a mock restaurant menu modeled after a popular US sit-down restaurant. Participants will be randomized to a restaurant menu with or without eco-labels denoting more sustainable menu items. The investigators will record participants' selections from the menu. Participants will also answer survey questions.

Full description

The goal of this study is to determine whether eco-labels denoting more sustainable menu items improve the healthfulness of participants' entrée and appetizer selections. The survey research company Cloud Research will recruit a sample of approximately 3,100 US adults ages 18+ who read and speak English.

Participants will complete a between-subjects online randomized experiment. They will perform a restaurant ordering task in which they will select menu items to order from a mock restaurant menu modeled after a popular US sit-down restaurant. They will be randomized to 1 of 2 conditions: 1) eco-labels or 2) control. In the eco-labels condition, participants will order from a restaurant menu with eco-labels next to more sustainable menu items. In the control condition, participants will order from a restaurant menu without eco-labels. The investigators will record participants' selections from the menu. After completing the ordering task, participants will complete an online survey.

Enrollment: 3,147 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Aged 18 years or older
• Reside in the US
• Can read and speak English

Exclusion criteria

• Under the age of 18 years
• Reside outside of the United States
• Unable to complete a survey in English

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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3,147 participants in 2 patient groups

Eco-labels

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will view a mock restaurant menu based on a popular US sit-down restaurant. They will be instructed to select the item or items they would like to order from the restaurant. The menu will display eco-labels next to more sustainable menu appetizers and entrees (i.e., appetizers and entrees that are in the bottom half of carbon footprints \[i.e., greenhouse gas emissions in CO2-equivalents associated with production of the item\] among appetizers and entrees).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Eco-Labels

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants will view a mock restaurant menu based on a popular US sit-down restaurant. They will be instructed to select the item or items they would like to order from the restaurant. The menus will not display eco-labels.