NCT05854212

Behavioral Economics to Implement Nutrition Ranking in Food Pantries

Behavioral Economics to Implement a Traffic Light Nutrition Ranking System in a Network of Food Pantries

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 364 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Massachusetts General Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 90 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to test whether using behavioral economic strategies to promote healthy food choices on a food bank's online ordering platform increases the use of the traffic light nutrition ranking system and increases healthier food selections by the food agencies (e.g., food pantries) who use the food bank.

Detailed description

This study will use behavioral economic strategies to promote utilization of traffic-light nutrition ranking in the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) order system to improve the dietary quality of food ordered by GBFB agencies. Supporting Wellness at Pantries (SWAP) is a program to guide both traffic light labeling for use on ordering platforms and pantry shelves, as well as food pantry layout to inform clients and encourage healthy food choice.This study is a collaboration with the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) to test BE strategies (choice architecture, framing, social norms) for implementation of an evidence-based intervention (traffic light nutrition ranking, SWAP). We will determine if behavioral economic interventions on the GBFB online ordering platform increase agencies' use of traffic light nutrition labels when placing orders and increases their healthy food orders. We will conduct a 12-month randomized controlled trial comparing agencies' ordering experiences and outcomes with the current user interface (control) to a "SWAP-enhanced" user interface (intervention). All GBFB partner agencies will be randomized to see either the control or intervention interfaces when they log on to ShopGBFB, GBFB's online food ordering platform. In addition, intervention group agencies will receive monthly emails from GBFB about SWAP labeling, such as why common items receive certain rankings (e.g., canned green beans will have a yellow label if there is added sodium) and common misunderstandings people have about SWAP labels (e.g., explaining why all chicken items do not get the same SWAP ranking). At the end of 12 months, agency staff will complete a survey about their online ordering experiences at GBFB. In the next phase, the SWAP-enhanced ShopGBFB interface will be updated, adapted, and implemented for all 364 agencies that place orders. Agency ordering outcomes will be monitored for 12 additional months.

Conditions

• Food Insecurity
• Dietary Quality
• Behavioral Economics
• Implementation Science

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Behavioral economics-enhanced user interface	The intervention changes the ordering platform visible to food agencies using behavioral economics strategies to promote healthier food choices.

Timeline

• Start date: 2027-01-01
• Primary completion: 2027-04-01
• Completion: 2028-06-30
• First posted: 2023-05-11
• Last updated: 2026-02-02

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States