Measurement of Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Meals of a University Food Operator (Cafeteria)

Université Laval wishes to raise awareness among students and employees in the university community so that they become aware of the impacts of their consumption choices by equipping them to adopt consumption behaviours that are favourable to the environment and their health. To do this, it is necessary to assess consumers' perception of the information available when choosing a meal to determine, among other things, whether knowledge of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions influences their selections. In addition to this evaluation criterion, consumer perception of the nutritional quality of food will also be assessed. The nutritional composition of the meals of the characterized week will make it possible to calculate, using a nutritional profiling tool, the nutritional quality score of each meal of the day.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Food Selection
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Information regarding GHG and/or nutrition

Detailed Description

This study consists of an individual meeting with each participant. This meeting will last approximately 1 hour during which each subject will choose a meal and complete various questionnaires. Subjects (male or female) will be randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions ("GHG", "nutrition", "GHG+nutrition" and "no logo"). Since subjects could change their eating behaviours if they knew the true purpose of the study, they will be deliberately misled when they enter the study. Participants will be recruited to participate in a market research study in which they will be invited to taste and evaluate a new meal for the cafeteria. At the end of the session, each participant will be informed of the actual objective of the study.

In this context, the general objectives of this second phase of the project are therefore:

1. Evaluate consumer perceptions of the available information on the GHG score (in equivalent C02), the nutritional quality score and the eco-efficiency score (combination of GHG + nutrition), and;
2. Determine if the presence of information (logo on the different scores) influences food choice and consumption among Université Laval students and staff.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 160
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Quebec
    • Québec city, Quebec, Canada, G1V 0A6
      • Institute of Nutraceuticals and Functionnal Foods (INAF)

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Study or work at Université Laval

Exclusion Criteria:

• People taking drugs that may affect appetite (e.g., antidepressants, antipsychotics or corticosteroids);
• People with food allergies or intolerances, and pregnant and lactating women;
• People with food aversions to more than 20% of the main meal ingredients from the menu.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: GHG; Information given regarding greenhouse gas emissions via a GHG score	Behavioral: Information regarding GHG and/or nutrition; Participants will have to select a meal from a menu.
Experimental: Nutrition; Information given regarding nutrition via a nutrient profiling score	Behavioral: Information regarding GHG and/or nutrition; Participants will have to select a meal from a menu.
Experimental: GHG+nutrition; Information given regarding GHG and nutrition via a combined score	Behavioral: Information regarding GHG and/or nutrition; Participants will have to select a meal from a menu.
Placebo Comparator: No logo; No information given	Behavioral: Information regarding GHG and/or nutrition; Participants will have to select a meal from a menu.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Consumer perceptions of the meal given the information available on the GHG score, the nutritional quality score and the eco-efficiency score (combination of GHG + nutrition) vs no logo.	Visual analogue scale (150mm) evaluating the perception of the participants according to the information given. Participants draw a line on the scale (between 0 and 150 mm). The higher the score, the higher the appreciation.	Within the year after the beginning of the study

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Food choice by the students and staff at Université Laval depending on the presence of information (logo on the different scores).	Which meal between the 2 meals presented will be chosen by the participants given the information (logos or no logo) they received.	Within the year after the beginning of the study
Amount of the meal consumed by the students and staff at Université Laval depending on the presence of information (logo on the different scores).	Measured in grams of food before and after the meal.	Within the year after the beginning of the study

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Laval University
• Collaborators: Ministère de l'environnement et lutte contre les changements climatiques

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 13, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): April 30, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 28, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 4, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): November 5, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 22, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 21, 2021
• Last Verified: December 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: nutrient profiling; environmental concerns
• Other Study ID Numbers: to be determined

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No