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.
See attached protocol documents
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
133
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.
Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation
Dijon, France
Environmental impact of the food items selected
The environmental impact of the food selection will be calculated using the Product Environmental Footprint score for 100g of products throughout their life cycle.
Time frame: 15 minutes (the time frame denotes time taken to make the food choice task and there is no follow up)
Familiarity for the food items selected
The familiarity for each food selected will be assessed using a discrete scale from 1 (never purchased) to 5 (very often purchased).
Time frame: 15 minutes (the time frame denotes time taken to make the food choice task and there is no follow up)
Liking for the food items selected
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).
Time frame: 15 minutes (the time frame denotes time taken to make the food choice task and there is no follow up)
Nutritional quality of the food items selected
The nutritional quality of the food selection will be calculated using the score from the British Food Standards Agency nutrient profiling system (FSA score).
Time frame: 15 minutes (the time frame denotes time taken to make the food choice task and there is no follow up)
Level of processing of the food items selected
The level of processing of the food selection will be estimated using a food classification system based on food processing (NOVA).
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 items selected
Price of the food selection will be calculated per 100 kcal.
Time frame: 15 minutes (the time frame denotes time taken to make the food choice task and there is no follow up)
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