The Impact of Reformulated Foods on Cardiovascular Risk Factors (REFORM)

December 3, 2014 updated by: Julie Lovegrove, University of Reading

The Impact of Reformulated Product Consumption on Energy and Nutrient Intake, Body Composition, Vascular Function and Plasma Lipid and Glucose Concentrations

Specific policies on obesity reduction often include a recommendation to reduce sugar consumption as a means of lowering overall caloric intake. Reformulating processed foods (e.g. sugary products) is considered one of the key options for improving population diet. The implications of regular consumption of reformulated products are not fully understood. Previous studies have demonstrated that dietary compensation is common, although the extent is not fully elucidated. In addition to the perceived impact of sugar consumption on weight control, high sugar intake, specifically sucrose and fructose, has been implicated in the increase of plasma lipids and markers of insulin resistance. However to date no randomised controlled study has investigated whether the consumption of reformulated low sugar products as components of a habitual diet have a significant impact on plasma lipid, insulin or glucose concentrations within a free-living, non-diseased population. It is hypothesised that exchange of reformulated, low sugar food products for habitually consumed foods will result in dietary compensation and minimal weight change compared with unmodified products and will have little impact on plasma glucose, insulin and lipid levels.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
50

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United Kingdom
    • Berks
      • Reading, Berks, United Kingdom, RG6 6AP
        • Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Reading

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

20 years to 49 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age: 20 - 49 years
  • BMI 18.5 - 30 kg/m2
  • Plasma glucose <7 mmol/l (Not diagnosed with diabetes)
  • Plasma cholesterol <7 mmol/l
  • Plasma TAG <2.3 mmol/l
  • Normal liver and kidney function
  • Haemoglobin (>110 g/l women; 140g/dl men)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Having suffered a myocardial infarction/stroke in the past 12 months
  • diabetic (diagnosed or fasting glucose > 7 mmol/l)
  • Smoking
  • On drug treatment for hyperlipidaemia, hypertension, inflammation or hypercoagulation
  • Suffering from renal or bowel disease or have a history of choleostatic liver or pancreatitis
  • Excessive alcohol consumption
  • History of alcohol abuse
  • Following a reducing diet or vegan diet
  • Taking any fish oil, fatty acid or vitamin and mineral supplements
  • Participating in intensive aerobic activity for > 20 minutes 3 times per week
  • Food allergies
  • Anti-inflammatory usage

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Reformulated products
Subjects were asked to supplement their habitual diet with reformulated sugar-reduced products for 8 weeks. Subjects were provided with reformulated beverages, sauces, condiments and snacks. They were asked to consume a minimum of 1 drink + 1 food portion intervention supplement daily, in exchange for habitually eaten equivalent foods.
Dietary supplement: Reformulated products
Subjects were asked to supplement their habitual diet with reformulated sugar-reduced products for 8 weeks. Subjects were provided with reformulated beverages, sauces, condiments and snacks. They were asked to consume a minimum of 1 drink + 1 food portion intervention supplement daily, in exchange for habitually eaten equivalent foods.
Other Names:
  • REF
Experimental: Conventional products
Subjects were asked to supplement their habitual diet with conventional sugar products for 8 weeks. Subjects were provided with conventional beverages, sauces, condiments and snacks. They were asked to consume a minimum of 1 drink + 1 food portion intervention supplement daily, in exchange for habitually eaten equivalent foods.
Dietary supplement: Conventional products
Subjects were asked to supplement their habitual diet with conventional sugar products for 8 weeks. Subjects were provided with conventional beverages, sauces, condiments and snacks. They were asked to consume a minimum of 1 drink + 1 food portion intervention supplement daily, in exchange for habitually eaten equivalent foods.
Other Names:
  • CON

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Changes in body weight and body composition
Time Frame: 20 weeks. Baseline and week 8 assessments for two dietary intervention arms
20 weeks. Baseline and week 8 assessments for two dietary intervention arms

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in energy and nutrient intake
Time Frame: 20 weeks. Run-in period and week 7 assessments for two dietary intervention arms
20 weeks. Run-in period and week 7 assessments for two dietary intervention arms
Changes in appetite and mood ratings
Time Frame: 20 weeks. Run-in period and week 7 assessments for two dietary intervention arms
Subjective sensations of appetite and mood by visual analogue scale
20 weeks. Run-in period and week 7 assessments for two dietary intervention arms
Changes in physical activity levels
Time Frame: 20 weeks. Run-in period and week 7 assessments for two dietary intervention arms
Measured by accelerometry
20 weeks. Run-in period and week 7 assessments for two dietary intervention arms
Changes in fasting plasma lipid, insulin and glucose concentrations
Time Frame: 20 weeks. Baseline and week 8 assessments for two dietary intervention arms
20 weeks. Baseline and week 8 assessments for two dietary intervention arms
Changes in vascular stiffness by pulse wave analysis (PWA) and digital volume pulse (DVP)
Time Frame: 20 weeks. Baseline and week 8 assessments for two dietary intervention arms
20 weeks. Baseline and week 8 assessments for two dietary intervention arms
Changes in cardiovascular risk factors (blood pressure, inflammatory markers)
Time Frame: 20 weeks. Baseline and week 8 assessments for two dietary intervention arms
20 weeks. Baseline and week 8 assessments for two dietary intervention arms

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Reading

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Prof Julie A Lovegrove, BSc, PhD, RNutr, University of Reading

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
March 1, 2013

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
March 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
July 18, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 18, 2012

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 20, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
December 4, 2014

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 3, 2014

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 12/03

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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