Testing Product Messages in Colombia

University of North Carolina (UNC)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Obesity

Treatments: Behavioral: Adapted Peruvian Nutrient Label; Behavioral: Nutriscore Label; Other: Control; Behavioral: Guideline Daily Amount Label

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05783726

20-0401b

Details and patient eligibility

About

Purpose: To better understand the impact of different front-of-package labels (FOPLs) on consumer purchasing intentions and ability to identify unhealthy foods.

Participants: ~8,000 Colombians, recruited from Offerwise, that are 18 years or older.

Procedures (methods): Participants will be randomly assigned to view images of food and drink products with either a nutrient warning label, Guideline Daily Amount label, Nutriscore label, or no-label control. They will be asked a series of questions about the products and the labels (excluding control group) on them. Questions will also include standard demographic and health related variables.

Full description

Participants will be recruited from Offerwise (an online panel research company). Following online consent, participants will be randomly assigned to view different labels (explained below) on food and drink packaging. Participants will answer self-reported responses to the content (e.g., elaboration, beliefs, perceived healthfulness). After being randomized to one of the four groups and answering questions (e.g. which product is healthier, which product would you buy), the participant will see all three labels and select which is most dissuading from consuming a product high in a nutrient. At the end, the participant will answer demographic questions.

Participants will be randomized to see either a no-label control or 1 of 3 nutrient labels. The participants will see 5 types of products with the labels (fruit drinks, yogurt, sliced bread, cookies, and breakfast cereal).

Nutrient labels:

1. Guideline Daily Amount label
2. Nutriscore label
3. Adapted Peruvian nutrient warning label (high in sugar, high in saturated fat, high in salt/sodium)

Enrollment: 8,086 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 64 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 18-64 years old
• Resident of Colombia
• Offerwise panel member (recruitment platform)

Exclusion criteria

• <18 years old or >64 years old
• Not a resident of Colombia

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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8,086 participants in 4 patient groups

Control

Other group

Description:

The control arm will show the products with no label.

Treatment:

Other: Control

Experimental: Nutriscore Label

Experimental group

Description:

The Nutriscore label applies a letter grade (A, B, C, D or E) to a product based on certain nutrient criteria.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Nutriscore Label

Experimental: Adapted Peruvian Nutrient Label

Experimental group

Description:

The adapted label is a black octagon with the words in Spanish saying "Excess of sugar,"Excess of saturated fat," or "Excess of salt/sodium" depending on the nutrition contents of the product. Below the octagon is a box with words in Spanish saying "Avoid high consumption"

Treatment:

Behavioral: Adapted Peruvian Nutrient Label

Experimental: Guideline Daily Amount Label

Experimental group

Description:

The Guideline Daily Amount label highlights the nutrient contents of the product by serving. It lists the calories, total fat, saturated fat, sugar, and sodium, as well are their % of the daily value.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Guideline Daily Amount Label