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OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT04909372

Environmental Labelling in a Virtual Supermarket

A 2-arm randomised control trial (with and without labels) will be conducted to test the effects of an environmental label on food choices in a virtual supermarket. A sample of 130 participants will take part in two shopping tasks: 1/ selection of 3 products to prepare a home-made dish, and 2/ selection of a ready-to-eat dish. These two tasks will be repeated for two scenarios: 1/ participants will be asked to select the foods for usual meals, and 2/ participants will be asked to select the foods for environmentally-friendly meals. This experimental design will allow to compare food choices in the presence vs. the absence of an environmental label and to investigate whether the label is informative and likely to help individuals to choose more environmental-friendly food options when explicitly asked to do so.

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Key information

Conditions

Diet, Healthy Behavior Feeding Behavior Food Preferences Food Selection

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation

Dijon, 21000, France

About this study

See attached protocol documents

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Responsible for a substantial proportion of household grocery shopping
  • Fluent in French

Exclusion criteria

  • Dietary restrictions (vegetarian, vegan, allergies, intolerance, …)
  • Uncorrected eye problems
  • Known symptoms of nausea and dizziness when wearing a virtual reality headset

Treatment and study plan

Labelling

Behavioral

Food products in the virtual supermarket will display an environmental label on their packaging, from A (lowest impact) to E (highest impact). The label categories are based on the Product Environmental Footprint, a score recommended by the European Commission that evaluates the environmental impact of a food product based on 16 indicators calculated throughout the life cycle of the products (e.g., climate change in kg carbon dioxide eq, marine eutrophication in kg N eq, land and water use or acidification in mol H+ eq).

Instructions will introduce and explain the environmental label to the participants as "In the virtual supermarket, each product will have an environmental label. This label describes whether a product had a negative impact on the environment (green house gaz emissions, water resources depletion, etc.) from A, lowest impact, to E, highest impact.

Primary outcomes

  1. Environmental impact of the food items selected

    Time frame: 15 minutes (the time frame denotes time taken to make the food choice task and there is no follow up)

    The environmental impact of the food selection will be calculated using the Product Environmental Footprint score for 100g of products throughout their life cycle.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Familiarity for the food items selected

    Time frame: 15 minutes (the time frame denotes time taken to make the food choice task and there is no follow up)

    The familiarity for each food selected will be assessed using a discrete scale from 1 (never purchased) to 5 (very often purchased).

  2. Liking for the food items selected

    Time frame: 15 minutes (the time frame denotes time taken to make the food choice task and there is no follow up)

    The liking for each food selected will be assessed using a discrete scale from 1 (I don't like it at all) to 10 (I like it very much).

  3. Nutritional quality of the food items selected

    Time frame: 15 minutes (the time frame denotes time taken to make the food choice task and there is no follow up)

    The nutritional quality of the food selection will be calculated using the score from the British Food Standards Agency nutrient profiling system (FSA score).

  4. Level of processing of the food items selected

    Time frame: 15 minutes (the time frame denotes time taken to make the food choice task and there is no follow up)

    The level of processing of the food selection will be estimated using a food classification system based on food processing (NOVA).

  5. Price of the food items selected

    Time frame: 15 minutes (the time frame denotes time taken to make the food choice task and there is no follow up)

    Price of the food selection will be calculated per 100 kcal.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Impact of Environmental Labelling on Food Choices : a Randomized Controlled Trial in a Virtual Reality Supermarket

Important dates

Study start
2021
Primary completion
2021
Study completion
2021
First posted
Jun 1, 2021
Registry last updated
Mar 9, 2022

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.

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