A randomized trial to evaluate the impact of Singapore’s forthcoming Nutri-grade front-of-pack beverage label on food and beverage purchases

Abstract

Abstract Background The epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is a growing concern worldwide and Singapore is no exception to this global trend. As part of measures to address this concern, the Singapore government will implement a mandatory color-coded front-of-package (FOP) nutrition label for beverages, called Nutri-Grade (NG), which will complement the existing FOP label, Healthier Choice Symbol (HCS) logos, currently displayed on select food and beverage items. NG grades beverages on a four-point scale, A (healthiest) to D (least healthy), in terms of sugar and saturated fat levels. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the NG label on nutritional quality of pre-packaged beverages using a fully functional online grocery store. Methods We conducted a 2-arm crossover trial involving actual purchases with 138 participants randomly exposed to: 1) Control with HCS logos displayed on qualifying items; 2) Similar to Control except that all beverages displayed the NG label. The effects of the NG label were estimated using a linear mixed-effects model that addresses correlations between repeated measures and accommodates missing data. Results We found that the NG label encouraged consumers to choose beverages with higher ratings. This led to a reduction in sugar from beverages purchased by 1.51 g [95% CI: − 2.68, − 0.34] per serving but was not effective at reducing saturated fat purchased (− 0.009 g [95% CI: − 0.22, 0.20]) per serving or improvements in overall diet quality, measured by the weighted (by the number of servings) average Nutri-Score value ranging from 1 to 5 (− 0.024 [95% CI: − 0.13, 0.08]). Conclusions Results suggest that the Nutri-Grade label is likely to reduce sugar purchased from beverages. However, to improve overall diet quality in Singapore, additional measures will be needed. Trial registration This trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov under the identifier: NCT05018026 on 24th August 2021.