Is a Front-of-package Label Contaning Information on Both Nutrient Profile and Ultra-processing Well Understood?

Effect of a New Graphically Modified Nutri-Score on the Objective Understanding of Foods' Nutritional Quality and Ultra-processing - a Randomised Controlled Trial

A modified version of the Nutri-Score (Nutri-Score 2.0), containing an additional graphic mention when the product is ultra-processed, has been proposed. The investigators aim to study, in a randomised controlled trial design nested in the NutriNet-Santé cohort, the impact of this modified version on the objective understanding of foods' nutritional quality, and on the identification of UPFs as primary outcomes. They also aim to study as secondary outcomes the impact of this label on purchasing intentions and the product perceived as the healthiest.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Objective Understanding of Nutritional Label
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Front-of-pack label NutriScore 2.0

Detailed Description

Two arms will be enrolled. The control arm will not have access to any FOP Label (the current situation in Europe), and the experimental arm will have access to Nutri-Score 2.0. Participants of both arms wil be asked to rank food products of 3 categories (breakfast cereals, cookies, ready-to-eat meals) according to their nutrient profile, and to identify ultra-processed foods.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 21159
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Bobigny, France, 93017
    • Equipe de recherche en Epidémiologie nutritionnelle

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 99 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Enrolled in the NutriNet-Santé cohort

Exclusion Criteria:

None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control arm; Participants received a questionnaire including 3 sets of images of food packaging, (brand blinded), categorized by food groups: 8 cookies, 7 breakfast cereals, and 7 ready-to-eat meals, but without front-of-pack nutritional label (in case the original Nutri-Score was displayed on the product, it was hidden by the investigators). They had the possibility to check the back-of-pack nutrition facts and ingredient information. First, they were asked which product they would intend to purchase in each category, and which product they thought to be the "healthiest". Then, participants were asked 1) to rank them according to their nutritional quality by identifying the first, the second and the third products with the best nutritional quality (in this order) and 2) to identify those that were ultra-processed.
Experimental: Experimental arm; Participants received a questionnaire including 3 sets of images of real food product packaging (brand blinded), categorized by food groups: 8 cookies, 7 breakfast cereals, and 7 ready-to-eat meals, with the Nutri-Score 2.0 displayed on the front-of-pack of each product. First, they were asked which product they would intend to purchase in each category, and which product they thought to be the "healthiest". Then, participants were asked 1) to rank them according to their nutritional quality by identifying the first, the second and the third products with the best nutritional quality (in this order) and 2) to identify those that were ultra-processed. Last, a series of questions evaluated how participants of this arm perceived the Nutri-Score 2.0 and whether they found it helpful.	Other: Front-of-pack label NutriScore 2.0; Participants in the experimental arm can see, in case the product is ultra-processed, a black banner surrounding the Nutri-Score, with the word "ultra-transformé", meaning ultra-processed, and no black banner otherwise. Participants in the control arm had no label at all. The intervention (the Nutri-Score 2.0) was added on the packaging on the products included in the 3 sets of images that participants recieved via the questionnaire.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Objective understanding the nutritional quality.	The answers of the participants on the corresponding questionnaire (via the NutriNet-Santé website) were expected to match the order according to which Nutri-Score ranks the 3 products (highest nutritional quality, second highest, third highest). In case of ex-æquos (i.e., two products having the same Nutri-Score), both were considered correct. Therefore, the number of correct answers for the nutritional dimension could range between 0 (no correct answers) to 9 (3 best products*3 food categories, all correct answers).	Between 30 minutes and 1 hour (the time needed to fill the questionnaire)
Objective understanding the ultra-processing dimension.	Participants were expected to identify all UPFs on the corresponding questionnaire (via the NutriNet-Santé website). For each product, the answer was considered correct if an UPF was identified as such by the participant (the gold standard being the presence of the black banner of the Nutri-Score 2.0, corresponding to the NOVA 4 "ultra-processed" definition), and a non-UPF was identified as such. Therefore, the number of correct answers for the food processing dimension could range between 0 (no correct answers) and 22 (correct answer for all 22 products).	Between 30 minutes and 1 hour (the time needed to fill the questionnaire)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Purchasing intentions	Assessed with the question (in the corresponding questionnaire via the NutriNet-Santé website) : "Which of these products would you purchase more frequently?". This aimed to explore whether Nutri-Score 2.0 (the intervention) had an effect on the purchasing intentions.	Between 30 minutes and 1 hour (the time needed to fill the questionnaire)
Product perceived as the healthiest	Assessed with the question (in the corresponding questionnaire via the NutriNet-Santé website) : "Which product seems the healthiest to you?". This aimed to explore whether Nutri-Score 2.0 (the intervention) had an effect on the product that the participants considered as the healthiest.	Between 30 minutes and 1 hour (the time needed to fill the questionnaire)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Paris 13
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Bernard Srour, PhD, PharmD, Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 1, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 7, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): July 7, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 28, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 3, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): November 9, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 12, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 10, 2023
• Last Verified: May 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: UParis13-BS

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