Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29493476›Full record

Trial reportPublic health nutrition2018

Traffic-light labels and financial incentives to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage purchases by low-income Latino families: a randomized controlled trial.

Rebecca L Franckle, Douglas E Levy, Lorena Macias-Navarro, Eric B Rimm, Anne N Thorndike

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Public health nutrition, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  9. Commercial Determinants of Latinx Health: A Scoping Review of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages in the USA.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Rebecca L Franckle1Department of Nutrition,Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health,665 Huntington Avenue,SPH-2,Room 309,Boston,MA 02115,USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4327-9764
Douglas E Levy2Mongan Institute Health Policy Center,Massachusetts General Hospital,Boston,MA,USA.
Lorena Macias-Navarro4General Medicine Division,Massachusetts General Hospital,Boston,MA,USA.
Eric B Rimm1Department of Nutrition,Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health,665 Huntington Avenue,SPH-2,Room 309,Boston,MA 02115,USA.
Anne N Thorndike3Harvard Medical School,Boston,MA,USA.

Funding

Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center (UL1)UL1TR000170 · NCATS · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · PI NADLER, LEE MARSHALL · 2012 to 2013
$31.4M
TRAINING GRANT IN ACADEMIC NUTRITIONT32DK007703 · NIDDK · HARVARD UNIVERSITY (SCH OF PUBLIC HLTH) · PI CHRISTOPHER P DUGGAN, Frank B Hu · 1994 to 2026
$7.8M
CVD Epidemiology Training Program in Behavior, the Environment and Global HealthT32HL098048 · NHLBI · HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · PI Goodarz Danaei, ERIC B RIMM · 2009 to 2026
$6.9M
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR000170NHLBI NIH HHS T32 HL098048NIDDK NIH HHS T32 DK007703
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe objective of the present study was to test the effectiveness of financial incentives and traffic-light labels to reduce purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages in a community supermarket.

designIn this randomized controlled trial, after a 2-month baseline period (February-March 2014), in-store traffic-light labels were posted to indicate healthy (green), less healthy (yellow) or unhealthy (red) beverages. During the subsequent five months (April-August 2014), participants in the intervention arm were eligible to earn a $US 25 in-store gift card each month they refrained from purchasing red-labelled beverages.

settingUrban supermarket in Chelsea, MA, USA, a low-income Latino community. SUBJECTS: Participants were customers of this supermarket who had at least one child living at home. A total of 148 customers (n 77 in the intervention group and n 71 in the control group) were included in the final analyses.

resultsOutcomes were monthly in-store purchases tracked using a store loyalty card and self-reported consumption of red-labelled beverages. Compared with control participants, the proportion of intervention participants who purchased any red-labelled beverages decreased by 9 % more per month (P=0·002). More intervention than control participants reduced their consumption of red-labelled beverages (-23 % v. -2 % for consuming ≥1 red beverage/week, P=0·01).

conclusionsOverall, financial incentives paired with in-store traffic-light labels modestly reduced purchase and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages by customers of a community supermarket.

Indexed as

DietHispanic or LatinoAdolescentAdultBeveragesDiet SurveysFemaleFood LabelingHealth PromotionHumansMaleSocioeconomic FactorsSweetening AgentsYoung AdultSweetening AgentsFinancial incentivesSugar-sweetened beveragesSupermarket traffic-light labels

Identifiers

PMID29493476
PMCPMC6276364

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.