Measurement of Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Meals of a University Food Operator

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Food Selection
• Interventions: Behavioral: Information regarding GHG and/or nutrition

• Registration Number: NCT04152785
• Lead Sponsor: Laval University

Brief Summary

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.

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 Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2019-10-28
• Study First Submitted QC: 2019-11-04
• Study First Posted: 2019-11-05
• Study Start: 2020-03-01
• Primary Completion: 2020-11-13
• Study Completion: 2021-04-30
• Status Verified: 2021-12
• Last Update Submitted: 2021-12-21
• Last Update Posted: 2021-12-22

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 160

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 & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Nutrition	Information regarding GHG and/or nutrition	Information given regarding nutrition via a nutrient profiling score
GHG+nutrition	Information regarding GHG and/or nutrition	Information given regarding GHG and nutrition via a combined score
GHG	Information regarding GHG and/or nutrition	Information given regarding greenhouse gas emissions via a GHG score
No logo	Information regarding GHG and/or nutrition	No information given

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
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.	Within the year after the beginning of the study	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.

Secondary Outcome Measures

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

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Institute of Nutraceuticals and Functionnal Foods (INAF); 🇨🇦 Québec city, Quebec, Canada