Attitudes and Understanding of Plant Sterol Claims on Food Labels

Daily consumption of plant sterols have been demonstrated to lower blood cholesterol. The Canadian government has recently allowed plant sterols to be added to certain foods and has also approved a disease risk reduction claim to be allowed on products containing plant sterols. However, it is unknown how Canadian consumers respond to plant sterol claims.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the attitudes and understanding of different types of plant sterol claims on food labels

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Key information

Conditions

General Population Behavior Consumer Research

Age range

20 year–69 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

University of Guelph

Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Primary grocery shoppers
Canadian adults between the ages 20 to 69 years

Exclusion criteria

Did not have an active email address or access to internet

Treatment and study plan

Mock Package Questionnaire

Behavioral

Within a online questionnaire we exposed participants randomly to 4 mock margarine packages differing only by the claim it carried and asked participants to answer several questions on attitudes and understanding after each mock package.

Primary outcomes

Response to survey questions measuring attitudes towards plant sterol claims using 5-point likert rating scales

Time frame: On average the survey took 25 min to complete

Within a online survey, participants were exposed to 4 mock margarine packages that differed only by the claim it carried. After being exposed to each mock package, participants were asked to rate their perceived attractiveness, healthiness, credibility, usefulness of the tested plant sterol claims using 5-point likert scales. Participants were also asked to rate their purchasing intentions of the mock margarine product with the different plant sterol claims.
Response to survey questions evaluating participants understanding of plant sterol claims

Time frame: On average the survey took 25 minutes to complete

After each mock package, understanding of plant sterol claims was evaluated using various survey methods. First, participants were asked to rate their perceived clarity of the wording of the claim using a 5-point likert scale (a subjective measure of understanding). Second, participants were ask to rate, on 5-point likert scales, the perceived benefit of consuming the mock margarine package for subgroups with different health conditions (an indirect measure of understanding). Finally we asked participants, in an open ended question, to explain what a claim means to a friend (an objective measure of understanding).

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Toronto

Other

Collaborators

Advance Foods and Materials Network

Registry information

Important dates

Study start: 2011
Primary completion: 2011
Study completion: 2011
First posted: Aug 30, 2013
Registry last updated: Aug 30, 2013

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.

Completed