Do Warning Labels Decrease Soda Purchasing?

October 2, 2018 updated by: Leslie John, Harvard University
Investigators will run a field study evaluating the impact different labels have on the purchasing of sugar sweetened beverages. This field study will take place in a hospital cafeteria.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

In a hospital cafeteria investigators will label all sugar sweetened beverages to evaluate their impact on purchasing.

Investigators will collect baseline data for two weeks on beverage sales at the hospital cafe. Following this data collection investigators will introduce a calorie label which reads "Each beverage contains [lower calorie bound]-[upper calorie bound] calories per container. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice but calorie needs vary." These signs will be posted for two weeks and investigators will collect sales data. Following this intervention investigators will remove the signs and collect sales data for two weeks. At the end of this no label period, investigators will introduce the second intervention, a warning label. This label will read "WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay." This label will also be posted for two weeks and investigators will collect sales data. Investigators will then remove these signs and collect sales data for two weeks. Finally, investigators will introduce the third intervention: a warning label with graphic labels. This label will read "WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay." However this sign will also include a visual depiction of each health consequence. Investigators will collect sales data for this two week period. After this intervention investigators will collect sales data for an additional two weeks and then administer a brief survey to cafeteria customers to better understand their impressions of the labels.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

6000

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Customers of the hospital cafeteria.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • None

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Calorie Label
Labels will read "[lower calorie bound] - [upper calorie bound] calories per container. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice but calorie needs vary."
Other: Label Condition
Labels will be presented in front of drinks. We will vary the messaging presented to the consumer.
Experimental: Warning Label
Labels will read "WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay."
Other: Label Condition
Labels will be presented in front of drinks. We will vary the messaging presented to the consumer.
Experimental: Warning Label with Graphics
Labels will read "WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay." These labels will also have graphic depictions of each health condition above the corresponding text.
Other: Label Condition
Labels will be presented in front of drinks. We will vary the messaging presented to the consumer.
No Intervention: No label
We will also have a condition where no labels are presented-- business as usual.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Sweetened beverages purchased
Time Frame: 2 week condition blocks
We will sum the total number of sugar sweetened beverages sold in each condition using the Universal Product Code (UPC) for bottled beverages and syrup weight for fountain beverages.
2 week condition blocks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Unsweetened beverages purchased
Time Frame: 2 week condition blocks
We will sum the total number of unsweetened beverages sold in each condition using the Universal Product Code (UPC) for bottled beverages and syrup weight for fountain beverages.
2 week condition blocks
Beverage calories sold
Time Frame: 2 week condition blocks
We will calculate the number of beverage calories sold during each condition, using the Universal Product Code (UPC) for bottled beverages, syrup weight for fountain beverages, and the products' nutritional information.
2 week condition blocks
Changes in types of beverages purchased
Time Frame: 2 week condition blocks
We will examine any changes in the types of beverages purchased during each condition, using the Universal Product Code (UPC) for bottled beverages and syrup weight for fountain beverages. For example, if sugar-sweetened beverages sales decrease, do purchases of water increase?
2 week condition blocks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Harvard University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Grant E Donnelly, MA, Harvard University
  • Principal Investigator: Laura Y Zatz, MPH, Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)

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

April 1, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 13, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 15, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

April 20, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 4, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 2, 2018

Last Verified

October 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB16-0222

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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