Food Quality and Preference最新文献

Microbial protein obtained by cultivating hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria may provide a more sustainable alternative to conventional meat. The present study investigates the attitudes of the German population (N = 642) toward the microbial protein Solein® as a meat alternative and their willingness to consume it. In addition, the influence of selected nutritional and environmental psychological variables (Food [Technology] Neophobia, Perceived Consumer Effectiveness, Green Consumption Values) on Germans’ attitudes toward Solein® as a meat alternative and willingness to consume is analyzed. The study also examines whether framing, consisting of information on health benefits, environmental benefits, or technical aspects of Solein® production, affects Germans' attitudes toward Solein® as a meat alternative and their willingness to consume it. For this purpose, participants were assigned to one of three framing groups: health, environmental, or technical. The results show that Germans’ attitudes toward Solein® as a meat alternative were neutral, with a positive tendency. Participants perceived Solein® as modern, sustainable, and environmentally friendly, but also as artificial, exotic, and rather expensive. Germans’ willingness to consume Solein® as a meat alternative was neutral. Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that attitudes toward Solein® as a meat alternative were the strongest predictor for willingness to consume it. The three different information-based framings affected neither attitudes toward Solein® as a meat alternative nor the willingness to consume it. However, participants in the health and environmental framing groups had more positive attitudes toward Solein® than the control group and were also more likely to be willing to consume Solein® than the control group. A tendency toward a positive effect for these two framings was thus recognizable. Suggestions for using the findings of this study in the design of marketing strategies are presented.

For the sake of both the environment and human health, it is necessary to reduce meat consumption. However, increased consumer adoption of plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs) will only occur when such products are attractive. PBMAs with meat-like sensory attributes and those that can be cooked similarly to meat are known to be preferred, but the preference for meat-likeness varies depending on the consumer’s attitude towards meat. This study determined the relationship between consumers’ level of meat attachment (MA) on their sensory perceptions of and preference for commercial PBMAs, and their drivers of liking. MA was measured by the Meat Attachment Questionnaire (MAQ); consumers with either low or high MA (LMA and HMA, respectively) were invited to participate in the study (n = 99). The sensory characteristics of seven PBMAs were evaluated using a rate-all-that-apply (RATA) questionnaire, along with an ideal profile and product hedonics. Consumers with LMA had significantly higher overall, aroma, and taste liking, compared with consumers with HMA. Both LMA and HMA consumers similarly discriminated among the sensory properties of PBMAs and the ideal profile. Nevertheless, a further adapted penalty analysis showed subtle differences in consumers’ penalisation of sensory attributes depending on MA level. These findings could be used for future research and the development of PBMAs based on consumers’ MA; they could also be extended for application in a meal context where the PBMAs are consumed.

The shift to a vegetarian diet has multiple benefits, including the promotion of public health, sustainability, and animal welfare. Despite these advantages, vegetarian food choices often provoke controversy, particularly on social media platforms. On International Vegetarian Day 2021, renowned Chinese actress Zhang Jingchu endorsed a documentary titled “Vegetarian” on Weibo, igniting widespread discussion among Chinese netizens. Considering China’s deep cultural and practical roots in vegetarianism, the predominantly negative response to the documentary was surprising. This study employs frame analysis to dissect the portrayal of vegetarianism in the documentary, utilizing topic modeling based on Latent Dirichlet Allocation and sentiment analysis to examine over 26,000 related comments. Our findings indicate that the documentary predominantly utilizes health and ethical frames to represent vegetarianism, with a greater emphasis on ethical considerations. Topic modeling of the comments uncovered 14 topics that reflect netizens’ dissatisfaction with various facets of the vegetarian advocacy presented in the documentary. Moreover, the comments reveal three primary strategies netizens use to justify meat consumption and alleviate cognitive dissonance: rationalization of meat eating, skepticism towards vegetarianism, and resistance to the advocacy message of “Vegetarian”. The results imply that for vegetarian advocacy to be more effective, it should align with local everyday concerns, food culture, and the current stage of social development.

Background

The evaluation of food neophobia in preschool-aged children is crucial as it helps in understanding their eating habits, ensuring their nutritional adequacy, and promoting healthier food choices from an early age.

Objectives

This study aimed to culturally adapt the Child Food Neophobia Scale (CFNS) for Pakistan, determine the prevalence of preschooler’s food neophobia and find out its correlation with different demographic characteristics.

Methods

The CFNS was translated into Urdu language following the WHO scale translation guidelines. After that, various validity (construct validity, content validity, discriminant validity) and reliability (internal consistency, test–retest consistency, and composite reliability) measures were used to test the translated CFNS.

Results

The sample size consisted of 260 mother–child pairs from four kindergartens across three cities. About 64.6 % of the preschoolers were aged 55 to 72 months. Whereas the maternal mean age was 30.1 ± 5.9 years. The Child Food Neophobia Scale for Pakistan (CFNS-PK) retained all 6 items from the original scale and exhibited satisfactory validity (χ2/df = 1.28; TLI = 0.99; RMSEA = 0.04; AVE > 0.05 and CVI = 0.80) and reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.80; Kappa > 0.07; CR > 0.7) indicators. Furthermore, the prevalence of preschooler food neophobia was found to be 22.3 %. Whereas preschooler age, gender and maternal education level was correlated with preschooler’s food neophobia occurrence.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that the 6 item CFNS-PK exhibited high validity and reliability metrics, making it suitable for use in food neophobia assessments among Pakistani children. Furthermore, the high prevalence of food neophobia among Pakistani preschoolers calls for attention.

Temporal visual deprivation increased sweet but not other basic tastes’ sensitivity in a Central European population as shown recently (Leszkowicz et al., 2023). We aimed to investigate whether this is a more general trait independent of ethnicity, or specific to a geographic region. We, therefore, assessed taste recognition thresholds for basic tastes: sweet, bitter, salty, sour, and umami, in a Southeast Asian population, and more specifically in the Vietnamese. The thresholds were measured in two conditions: when participants had their eyes open, and when blindfolded. Participants recognized sweet taste at a lower recognition threshold (lower sucrose concentration) when they were blindfolded than when their eyes were open (2.76 g/l and 3.80 g/l of sucrose, respectively, p = 0.024). Only sweet taste was sensitive to temporal visual deprivation; recognition thresholds for bitter, salty, sour and umami did not differ between the two experimental conditions. These results are consistent with those obtained previously in the Central European population, which suggests that the sensitivity of sweet taste – and only sweet taste out of the five basic taste modalities – to temporal visual deprivation could be a general trait independent of a geographic region and ethnicity. Our results suggest that a visual component could have a different share of the coding of different taste modalities in taste-responsive brain regions.

Sensory appeal is lost in pureed food compared to non-pureed food. This study aimed to investigate the differences in the availability of flavor (aroma and taste) compounds, texture, and flavor intensity between pureed food and non-pureed foods. We prepared samples consisting of food domains with different flavors: two three-layered foods as non-pureed food models and a mixture of layers as a pureed food model. The release of volatile and taste compounds and textural properties of the samples were analyzed using analytical instruments. We also conducted time–intensity analysis to measure the perceived flavor intensity, with simultaneous recording of eating behaviors. The total amount of released volatile compounds was decreased in pureed food; however, the release profile differed depending on the variety of volatile compounds. The release of taste compounds was decreased in pureed food. A compression test showed that the mixture sample was easily deformed with low stress. In the sensory analysis, the perceived flavor intensity of pureed food was lower than that of non-pureed foods. Mastication patterns were changed when consuming pureed food due to its soft texture, which was related to the reduced flavor intensity. Our results suggest that reductions in flavor intensity in pureed food were induced by changes in flavor release and mastication patterns caused by pureeing.

The size and shape of foods are geometrical textural properties that have been shown to influence food intake. Changing shapes and sizes of carrier food such as bread influences the spreadable surface area and this may affect the amount of toppings used. In a cross-over study, 37 participants (11 males, 24 ± 7 years old, BMI of 23 ± 3 kg/m²) consumed three times an ad libitum breakfast consisting of either small buns (SB: 34 g per unit), large buns (LB: 47 g), or squared sandwich slices (SA: 36 g), similar in nutritional composition. Participants were free to use four kinds of toppings similar in energy density (2.3–2.4 kcal/g): apple syrup, jam, cream cheese, and egg salad. The ratio bread(g):topping(g) differed considerably (1:0.49 for SB; 1:0.53 for LB; and 1:0.63 for SA, p < 0.001), but total meal intake did not differ (g or kcal) p = 0.27. In sum, the meal with SA leads to relatively higher intake of toppings and lower intake of bread, whereas the meal with small buns (SB) leads to relatively lower intake of toppings and higher intake of bread. Changing surface areas by shapes of carrier foods can be used to manipulate the amount of toppings, condiments or sauces and thereby modulate the macronutrient and energy intakes within a meal or snack.

Most descriptive or hedonic tests with consumers collect their responses after consumption of a small portion of the product. However, eating and drinking experiences are rather variable during consumption of the full portion. The first objective of this study was to determine if 3-step evaluations with full consumption of a product can bring additional information compared to a single evaluation. As a case study, the second objective was to identify potentially important sensory aspects that could help consumers of regular beers better accept beer alternative products. Japanese beer consumers were recruited to taste four beers, whose alcohol by volume was 5%, 0.5%, 0.5%, 0%, respectively. The consumers were separated into two panels. Both panels evaluated the beers based on wanting and satisfaction paired with Just-About-Right (JAR) scales for sensory attributes with their smartphones at home. One of the panels evaluated the questions for the beer, only once after finishing the full portion, retrospectively. The other panel evaluated the same questions three times, at the first-sip, after half of the portion, and after the full portion. Comparison of the results between the two panels showed consistent findings overall for product rankings of satisfaction, wanting, and JAR results, indicating no methodological bias (as compared to the single evaluation approach) caused by the repeated questions in the 3-step approach. Interestingly, wanting significantly dropped while drinking beers, especially for reduced alcohol beers, although satisfaction remained unchanged. Furthermore, a significant step-effect was observed for aftertaste and bitterness, indicating that these perceptions were changing over time.

Using bird-friendly coffee as an example, we investigated how sustainability information affects willingness to pay directly, to what extent this effect is mediated by taste perception and whether the effect of the sustainability information on taste perception is due to positive affect and/or due to a feeling of moral satisfaction. Stability of these effects was studied across two coffee tastings. Participants tasted two coffees prepared from two bird-friendly coffees, either after being informed about bird-friendly coffee and that the coffees they were about to taste were bird-friendly or in a control condition where tasting was blind. After each tasting, participants were asked to indicate their willingness to pay for the coffee using the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak procedure. Taste perception, moral satisfaction with drinking the coffee, and affective valence were recorded using questionnaires. Emotional responses were also identified by analyzing facial expressions. Results indicated that when tasting the first coffee served, information about the bird-friendly production affected willingness to pay (WTP) positively both directly and mediated by taste perception, where the effect of the information on taste perception was in turn mediated by affect valence and moral satisfaction. When tasting the second coffee served, however, a positive impact on taste perception via increased moral satisfaction and a negative taste inference from the information resulted in a net zero effect of the information on WTP. The results provide new insights on how sustainability information can affect WTP via effects on taste perception and the dynamics of these effects over repeated choice and consumption situations.