The Effect of Shelf Nutrition Labels on Purchases

Completed

• Conditions: Obesity

• Registration Number: NCT03390075
• Lead Sponsor: University of Georgia

Brief Summary

NuVal® shelf nutrition labels rate the nutritional quality of foods on a scale of 1 (worst) to 100 (best). In 2014, NuVal updated their nutrient profiling system which changed the NuVal score on many foods. The investigators took advantage of this "natural experiment" to assess the extent to which a change in the NuVal score at a grocery chain influenced yogurt purchases, a category with a wide range of more and less healthy alternatives. The investigators supplemented the retail scanner data with a survey of consumers in stores using NuVal labels to obtain their experience with the labels and the extent to which they state it influences their purchases.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2016-06-04
• Primary Completion: 2016-06-29
• Study Completion: 2017-08-31
• Study First Submitted: 2017-11-07
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-12-26
• Study First Posted: 2018-01-04
• Status Verified: 2025-01
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-01-06
• Last Update Posted: 2025-01-08

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 665

Inclusion Criteria

• US adults regularly shopping at one of two retail chains using NuVal

Exclusion Criteria

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Diet quality as measured by the NuVal scores of yogurt purchased	From 12/30/12 to 8/22/15	The investigators measured diet quality using weekly yogurt sales data supplied by a US grocery chain. Using an econometric model of yogurt demand, the investigators associated changes in yogurt sales volume for each product before and after the NuVal score change with the direction and magnitude of the score change.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Knowledge and stated use of NuVal labels by participants of an online survey	June 2016	The investigators conducted an online survey of 665 adult shoppers of two grocery chains that adopted NuVal. The survey elicited participants' awareness of the label, knowledge of NuVal, and stated use of NuVal and other nutrition labels.