Clinical Trial of Menu Labeling

September 18, 2013 updated by: University of Waterloo

The current study sought to examine the effect of menu labeling on food ordering and food consumption, including the effect of displaying calories along with other nutrients, such as sodium, fat, and sugar, as well as in different formats, such as traffic lights.

The investigators hypothesize significant differences in the calorie amount of menu selections and food consumption across experimental conditions. The investigators anticipate that calorie amounts will be significantly higher in the no calorie information) compared to each of the other 3 conditions, and significantly lower in the Traffic Light conditions compared to calories only condition.

2) Individuals in Condition 1 (no calorie information) will be significantly more likely to underestimate the calorie content of their meals compared to individuals in the intervention conditions.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

661

Phase

  • 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

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L3G1
        • School of Public Health, University of Waterloo

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18 years of age or older,
  • able to speak and read English

Exclusion Criteria:

- no food allergies to gluten or other grain products

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: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Menu - no nutrition information (control)
Participants were randomized to receive one of four menus that each contained different type of nutrition information. This condition included a "normal" menu with no nutrition information.
Experimental: Calorie labels
Participants were randomized to receive one of four menus that each contained different type of nutrition information. This condition included menus with the calorie amounts displayed.
Other: Nutrition information on menus
Experimental: Calorie Traffic Light
Participants were randomized to receive one of four menus that each contained different type of nutrition information. This condition included menus with calorie amounts in green/amber/red "traffic lights" to signify low/medium/high amounts.
Other: Nutrition information on menus
Experimental: Multi-Traffic Light
Participants were randomized to receive one of four menus that each contained different type of nutrition information. This condition included menus with calorie amounts as well as sodium, fat, and sugar amounts in green/amber/red "traffic lights" to signify low/medium/high amounts.
Other: Nutrition information on menus

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Calorie consumption.
Time Frame: Calorie consumption was recorded for the meal consumed during the visit to the laboratory, approximately 30 minutes after the start of the study. No additional follow-up was conducted after the laboratory visit.
Participants consumed the food during the study visit, after ordering from the menus and completing survey measures. The calorie content of all food and beverage items ordered by each participant was calculated immediate after the study session using information provided by Subway. All items were weighed immediately prior to delivery to participants. After participants indicated that their meal was completed, research assistants collected and weighed any leftover food or beverage portions. A consumption variable was calculated for calorie, fat, sodium, and sugar consumption for each participant by subtracting the estimated number of calories in food and beverage waste from the total for the meal, based on differences in weight. No measures were collected after the study visit.
Calorie consumption was recorded for the meal consumed during the visit to the laboratory, approximately 30 minutes after the start of the study. No additional follow-up was conducted after the laboratory visit.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Calorie content of meals ordered by participants.
Time Frame: Calorie content was recorded for the meal consumed during the visit to the laboratory, approximately 30 minutes after the start of the study. No additional follow-up was conducted after the laboratory visit.
Calorie content of the meal consumed during the laboratory visit was subsequently calculated using nutrition data for each food and beverage item.
Calorie content was recorded for the meal consumed during the visit to the laboratory, approximately 30 minutes after the start of the study. No additional follow-up was conducted after the laboratory visit.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Waterloo

Collaborators

Canadian Cancer Society (CCS)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: David Hammond, PhD, University of Waterloo

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

November 1, 2010

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 17, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 18, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

September 24, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 24, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 18, 2013

Last Verified

September 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Uwaterloo

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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