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NCT07910604

Environmental Harm Menu Labels and the Healthfulness of Real-World Fast-Food Orders

Sponsor: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

View on ClinicalTrials.gov

Summary

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.

Official title: Longitudinal Trial Evaluating the Effect of Environmental Harm Menu Labels on the Healthfulness of Real-World Fast-Food Meal Orders

Key Details

Gender

All

Age Range

18 Years - 64 Years

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Enrollment

450

Start Date

2026-11

Completion Date

2029-04-01

Last Updated

2026-11-02

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Conditions

Food Choices

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Control (QR Code) Menu Labels

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.

BEHAVIORAL

Traffic-Light Style Environmental Harm Menu Labels

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.

Inclusion Criteria: * 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 Exclusion Criteria: * 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

Locations (1)

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Baltimore, Maryland, United States