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Testing Ultra-processed Warning Labels in United States
Sponsor: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Summary
This randomized controlled online experiment will test whether adding an ultra-processed food (UPF) warning label to the FDA's proposed Nutrition Information Box (NIB) changes consumer perceptions of UPFs among a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. Participants will be randomized to one of four label conditions and will evaluate four UPF yogurt products with different nutritional profiles on the NIB. The primary outcome is purchase intent and the secondary outcomes are perceived healthfulness, perceived usefulness and correct identification of UPF products. This experiment aims to answer the following questions: Do UPF warning labels reduce purchase intentions compared to the NIB alone? Do UPF warning labels reduce perceived healthfulness compared to the NIB alone? Do UPF warning labels help more consumers correctly identify products as ultra-processed compared to the NIB alone? Do different UPF warning label color designs differ in effectiveness at reducing purchase intentions, lowering perceived healthfulness, and improving correct identification of UPFs? Researchers will compare outcomes across the four randomized arms to estimate the independent effect of adding UPF warnings beyond nutrient disclosure in the NIB alone.
Official title: Testing Adding Ultra-processed Warning Labels in the FDA Nutrition Info Box, a Randomized Online Experiment in Adults in the United States
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
7000
Start Date
2026-04
Completion Date
2026-05-14
Last Updated
2026-04-16
Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Conditions
Interventions
Label exposure in mock-up UPF products
This intervention consists of exposure to ultra-processed warning label (UPFWL) conditions embedded within the FDA Nutrition Information Box (NIB). Participants view mock-ups of ultra-processed yogurt products displaying either the NIB alone or the NIB combined with a UPFWL (yellow, red, or black). This intervention experimentally isolates the incremental effect of adding a processing-based warning across products with varying nutritional profiles, providing evidence on how UPFWL, independent of nutrient content, can alter purchase intent, identification of UPFs and perceived healthfulness.
Locations (1)
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Baltimore, Maryland, United States