The Ohio State University Consent to Participate in Research

Study Title: Consumer Database for Quality and Acceptance Testing of Food and Consumer Products.

Researcher: Christopher T. Simons, Ph.D.

Sponsor:

This is a consent form for research participation. It contains important information about this study and what to expect if you decide to participate.

Your participation is voluntary.

Please consider the information carefully. Feel free to ask questions before making your decision whether or not to participate. If you decide to participate, you will be asked to sign this form.

Purpose:

We are developing a database of potential consumers that can be used to recruit participants for the sensory evaluation and consumer acceptance testing of food, beverages and/or consumer products (e.g. toothpaste) and assist in the scheduling of such testing.

Procedures/Tasks:

You will be asked to provide a variety of contact and demographic information including: name, address, phone number, email, gender, date of birth, ethnicity, individual income range, religious affiliation, marital status, household composition (e.g. children under 18), percent of household shopping completed by individual and employment status. Additionally, you will be asked to indicate which of the following foods and beverages you regularly consume: alcoholic beverages, artificially sweetened foods/beverages, breakfast sandwiches, candy/confections/gummies, carbonated beverages, coffee and caffeine beverages, dairy foods, desserts, eggs in foods, energy beverages, frozen entrees, gluten-free foods, highly seasoned foods, nutritional beverages/bars/foods, organic/locally grown foods, pizza with meat, pizza without meat, ready-to-eat/canned foods, ready-to-eat/frozen foods, reduced calorie/fat foods and beverages, reduced sodium foods, salty snack foods, sandwiches with meat, sandwiches without meat, spicy foods and sweet snack foods.

Duration:

Registering on this database will take approximately 5 minutes. In the future, should you be eligible to participate in the sensory evaluation and consumer acceptance testing of food, beverages and/or consumer products, you will logon to this same database to schedule your testing. Scheduling duration will take an additional 5 minutes per test.

You may leave the study at any time. If you decide to stop participating in the study, there will be no penalty to you, and you will not lose any benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. Your decision will not affect your future relationship with The Ohio State University. You may logon to the database at any time and delete or remove information that you no longer want stored.

Risks and Benefits:

There is a slight risk that email and demographic information can be accessed if the University firewall is penetrated.

You will receive no direct benefit for participating in this study. However, by registering, you are eligible to be recruited for food quality and acceptance tests that typically pay consumers for their participation. Registration through this database will facilitate recruitment efforts and make it easier for panelists to schedule testing appointments.

Confidentiality:

All information will be stored indefinitely in a secure computerized database maintained by the College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and protected by the University firewall.

Efforts will be made to keep your study-related information confidential. However, there may be circumstances where this information must be released. For example, personal information regarding your participation in this study may be disclosed if required by state law. Also, your records may be reviewed by the following groups (as applicable to the research):

• Office for Human Research Protections or other federal, state, or international regulatory agencies;
• The Ohio State University Institutional Review Board or Office of Responsible Research Practices;
• The sponsor, if any, or agency (including the Food and Drug Administration for FDA-regulated research) supporting the study.

Incentives:

There are no incentives for registering on the consumer database. However, registration increases the likelihood that you may be recruited for future sensory and consumer acceptance tests, many of which pay an incentive.

Participant Rights:

You may refuse to participate in this study without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. If you are a student or employee at Ohio State, your decision will not affect your grades or employment status.

If you choose to participate in the study, you may discontinue participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefits. By signing this form, you do not give up any personal legal rights you may have as a participant in this study.

An Institutional Review Board responsible for human subjects research at The Ohio State University reviewed this research project and found it to be acceptable, according to applicable state and federal regulations and University policies designed to protect the rights and welfare of participants in research.

Contacts and Questions:

For questions, concerns, or complaints about the study, or you feel you have been harmed as a result of study participation, you may contact the Principal Investigator, Christopher T. Simons at (614) 688-1489 or simons.103@osu.edu or the Sensory Program Manager, Melody Leidheiser at (614) 688-4793 or leidheiser.10@osu.edu.

For questions about your rights as a participant in this study or to discuss other study-related concerns or complaints with someone who is not part of the research team, you may contact Ms. Sandra Meadows in the Office of Responsible Research Practices at 1-800-678-6251.