What this study is
Simplified from ClinicalTrials.govTesting traffic-light style environmental harm labels on fast-food menus to see whether they make real-world meal orders healthier, in adults ages 18 to 64. Everyone orders one lunch a week for seven weeks through a study website, and a comparison group sees a QR code label instead.
Read the original summary from ClinicalTrials.gov
The primary objective of this study is to evaluate whether repeated exposure to environmental harm menu labels on fast-food restaurant menus improves the healthfulness of real-world fast-food meal orders. Participants will be randomized to view either a control (QR code) label or traffic-light style environmental harm labels on two alternating fast-food restaurant menus, and will order one lunch per week for seven weeks through a study ordering website, with each meal delivered to the participant the following day.
What's being tested
- Control (QR Code) Menu Labels
Intervention · BEHAVIORAL
A control label consisting of a QR code is applied to the main items on both restaurant menus in Weeks 2-7. The label carries no environmental information.
- Traffic-Light Style Environmental Harm Menu Labels
Intervention · BEHAVIORAL
Traffic-light style environmental harm labels are applied to the main items on both restaurant menus in Weeks 2-7. Each label conveys the environmental harm of the item, defined for participants as how much water and land are required to produce it. Harm levels are assigned from ingredient-level land use and water use factors applied to the ingredients of each menu item.
Study details
- Official title
- Longitudinal Trial Evaluating the Effect of Environmental Harm Menu Labels on the Healthfulness of Real-World Fast-Food Meal Orders
- Sponsor
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Conditions
- Food Choices
- Enrolling
- 450 people
- Starts
- 2026-11-02
- Est. completion
- 2029-04-01
- Design
- Open-label, randomized, parallel groups
- Record
- View on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
Who can join
Age 18 Years – 64 YearsSex ALLHealthy volunteers AcceptedYou may qualify if
- Aged 18 to 64 years
- Consumes fast food two or more times per month
- Willing to eat meat
- Lives or works within the greater Washington, D.C./Baltimore metropolitan area, defined as the counties and county equivalents within the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Core Based Statistical Areas (excluding Jefferson County, West Virginia)
- Has access to the internet during the daytime
- Has access to an internet-capable device (smartphone, tablet, or computer)
- Able to send and receive phone calls and text messages at a unique primary phone number (number if not affiliated with a separate prospective or enrolled participant record)
- Available to receive a weekly lunch delivery one day per week (Tuesday-Friday, 11:00 am - 3:00 pm) for seven weeks at a consistent address within the sample frame (this includes screening for potentially disruptive travel plans during ordering period)
- Within the delivery zone for both restaurants in the study
- Willing to complete training on lunch ordering procedures
- Willing and able to complete dietary recalls and surveys
You can't join if
- Under 18 years of age
- Over 64 years of age
- Consumes fast food fewer than two times per month
- Pescatarian, vegetarian, or vegan (due to menu content)
- Lives and works outside of the greater Washington, D.C./Baltimore metropolitan area
- Lacks access to the internet during the daytime
- Lacks access to an internet-capable device
- Unable to send and receive phone calls and text messages at a unique primary phone number (phone number is affiliated with a separate prospective or enrolled participant record)
- Lives or works outside the delivery zone for either or both study restaurants
- Unavailable to receive seven weeks of consecutive lunch deliveries on a selected day Tuesday through Friday between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm at a consistent address within the sample frame
- Unwilling to complete training on lunch ordering procedures
- Unwilling or unable to complete dietary recalls and surveys
- Fails verification via Cloudfare Turnstile check when accessing REDCap Interest Survey
- Answers the hidden bot-detection question embedded in the Interest Survey
Sign in and we'll check these against your records.Full criteria on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Study locations (1)
1 openJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Baltimore, Maryland, United States
- Nina Carr, MPH, MBA · Contact240-405-2823ncarr6@jhu.edu
- Julia Wolfson, PhD, MPP · Principal investigator
Recruiting
Study team
Sponsor
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Study ID IRB00036491-1
Principal investigator
Julia Wolfson, PhD, MPP
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Frequently asked questions
The sponsor hasn't published answers to common questions for this trial.