Poster session 1 and Exhibition

Introduction: Food accompaniments (e.g., side dish) are widely used in advertisement and in-store display to make main food more appealing. This research aims to investigate the psychological mechanism through which a ‘matching’ accompaniment increases the purchase intention toward the main food.

Method: In three experimental studies, participants viewed print advertisements of food items displayed with food accompaniments. In each of the studies, participants were randomly assigned to a congruent condition, where the accompaniments match the advertised food items (e.g., a burger with cola) or an incongruent condition (a burger with milk). The congruency of stimuli pairs was assessed in pilot studies.

Results: Across all three studies, participants in the congruent condition consistently reported higher purchase intention towards the advertised foods than those in the incongruent condition did. Study 2 asked participants to report the content and the vividness of mental imagery of the consumption experience after being exposed to the advertisements. The results demonstrated that the food-accompaniment congruency had an effect of embodied mental simulation, and a higher degree of the embodied mental simulation was associated with a higher purchase intention to the advertised food item. Study 3 manipulated participants construal level before viewing the stimuli, and the results showed that an individual’s construal level moderated the relationship between the food-accompaniment congruency and the purchase intention. Specifically, compared to the individuals with high construal level (abstract thinkers), the effect of the congruency on the purchase intention was significantly more salient for the low-construal level individuals (concrete thinkers).

Discussion: This study reveals that the embodied mental simulation is a critical psychological mechanism behind the effect of food accompaniment, and concrete thinkers are particularly sensitive to this effect. The results shed light on intervention strategies of using mental simulation for healthy eating promotion.

Food brings unity and pride to African consumers. Stock cubes are key components to African cuisine and play a crucial role into elevating the flavour of daily dishes.

The challenge for the food industry is to understand how to bring innovation for an everyday product used so uniquely by African consumers.

This paper addresses this challenge and describes the use of a holistic approach under the format of an in depth culinary trek. This methodology consists of 3 steps: a local market immersion into chefs’ traditional cuisine, a consumers’ ethnography and a street food vendors’ investigation. In total 48 consumers participated in the research in Nigeria & Ivory Coast.

1. The street food vendors’s investigation enabled to refine our understanding of traditional dishes and identify new flavours, ingredients and techniques. One challenge to take into account is that they are ready to share insights only with people from their close community.
2. Cooking workshops with local chefs provided us a culinary perspective on innovation for future flavour development; however their creativity sometimes needed to be refocused.
3. At-home immersions with consumers allowed observation in natural environment and facilitated a deeper understanding of cubes benefits, challenges and expectations.

One surprising insight was the large number and variety of stock cubes used in one dish to ensure both bold taste & colour. African women are identifying themselves through their cooking. Hosting a group of researchers at their homes put pressure on them and was identified as a potential challenge.

Based on the insights collected, different ready to eat concepts were successfully developed.

This paper highlights the use of an in depth holistic approach in which each step provided unique insights complementary to each other. In emerging markets it is really important to use multiple approaches to understand consumers from all possible angles.

Introduction: in a context of an alarming situation in terms of public health (obesity, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes) in the French West Indies compared to the metropolitan French territory, a national research program has been launched to study food supply and behaviour in these islands. The program includes studying sensory liking towards sensations of fat, sweet and salt assumed to be higher in these islands.

Methods: an adaptation of PrefQuest (Deglaire et al., 2012) to the French West Indies foods was developed. This questionnaire is composed of 83 items from which individual indices of liking for sweet, fat and salt can be derived. In addition, socio-demographics, tobacco and alcohol consumptions and health status were recorded. 1787 Martinican consumers aged 18 to 80 filled in these questionnaires.

Results: liking for sweet, fat and salt decrease sharply with age and are higher in males compared to females. Alcohol consumption is associated with higher liking for sweet, fat and salt in males and for fat and salt only in females. Tobacco consumption is associated with higher liking for fat and salt in women only. However, no clear association was found between health status and liking.

Discussion: this very strong age effect was not so large in metropolitan French territory. It is hypothesized that it is due to a greater generational gap in diet caused by a more recent, but also more rapid, arrival of fast food type of alimentation in the West Indies.

Deglaire, A., Mejean, C., Castetbon, K., Kesse-Guyot, E., Urbano, C., Hercberg, S., & Schlich, P. (2012). Development of a questionnaire to assay recalled liking for salt, sweet and fat. Food Quality and Preference, 23(2), 110-124.

Only recently did sensory descriptions made in everyday life started to be taken seriously by the sensory scientific community. Previously, most descriptions were performed by trained panellists, using accurate, well-established methodologies. Nevertheless, sensory scientists moved away from traditional methods and borrow a variety of techniques from psychology. In recent years, social media applications have become a source of new types of study, that focus on the natural and spontaneous lexicon of consumers. Thus, the objective of this study was to explore consumers' sensory descriptions on social media, through the descriptor "floral". A social media study was performed, collecting data over a one-year period in six different English-speaking countries: UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Singapore, New Zealand, and seven Caribbean Islands. Words associated with wine and floral were filtered on social media mentions. A total of 217,634 mentions were obtained from different types of social media such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. A contingency table were arranged by country * descriptors and analysed with a Correspondence Analysis. The results explain a 69.6% of variance in two dimensions. Three clusters merged from the HCA: Caribbean Islands, Singapore and the third cluster composed by UK, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. Rose was the most cited in all countries. Surprisingly, some flowers that are not originally grown in the countries were used in its respective consumers descriptions, such as Lavender by Caribbeans, the alpine Edelweiss by South Africans as well as the tropical flower Hibiscus by British consumers. British, Australian, South African, New Zealander and Canadian consumers use more taste notes as bitter, salty, sweet and acid and other words like fresh, natural, green than people from Singapore and the Caribbean Islands. Although people speak the same language, cultural aspects have a stronger impact on the use of the floral sensory descriptors.

Free-Comment (FC), as a response to open-ended questions, provides sensory descriptions of a set of products with no bias induced by the use of a predefined list of descriptors as used in Check-All-That-Apply (CATA). However, pre-treatment of FC data is cumbersome, FC data robustness is not documented and tools for their statistical analysis are scarce. The paper aims at addressing these issues and extending FC to temporal sensory evaluation and ideal profiling.

Based on 7 FC datasets, bootstrap resampling and analysis of sub-datasets demonstrated that product structures and sensory interpretations were stable with a minimum number of 40 and 60 consumers respectively.

In a consumer study at home, FC provided a stronger product discrimination and a richer sensory interpretation than CATA on the same set of products.

The Attack-Evolution-Finish (AEF), a recently introduced temporal sensory method, is extended to the Free-Comment-Attack-Evolution-Finish (FC-AEF) where subjects are asked to provide FC descriptions of the products according to 3 successive temporal periods namely Attack, Evolution and Finish. In a consumer study at home, FC-AEF improved product discrimination and temporal sensory interpretation as compared to AEF on the same set of products.

The Ideal-Free-Comment (IFC) extends the concept of Ideal-Profile-Method (IPM) to FC. In IFC, subjects are asked to provide FC descriptions of a virtual ideal product in addition to actual products. This enables determining the location and the confidence region of the ideal product on the sensory map given by the Correspondence Analysis (CA) of FC descriptions of actual products.

Some new sensometrics tools were developed to support these methodological achievements: a semi-automated pre-treatment of FC descriptions to create latent-words, a dimensionality test for CA, a test of product differences and a test of associations between products and latent-words.

The paper will review and illustrate these recent sensory and sensometrics innovations.

Introduction:

Consumption context can impact both hedonic & emotional profiles evoked by products. This study aimed to evaluate influence of testing context on product metrics & discrimination to understand if context ‘tools’ available can move us closer to ‘true’ contexts.

Methods

A total of 39 consumers tasted 3 porridges within four testing paradigms (Fig 1):

• Central Location Test (CLT), Evoked Context CLT (EvokeCLT), Virtual Reality (VR), Home Use (HUT)

EvokeCLT - written context to trigger participants memory of ‘breakfast at home’, VR - ‘Breakfast at Home’ 360° computer generated context, combining visual & auditory stimuli, and HUT - participants consumed products in ‘usual’ breakfast context.

Products presented in balanced randomised order & participants took part in one session/week, balanced across the 4 contexts. Key metrics captured included overall liking, flavour attributes, emotional profiles (emoji) & test engagement.

Results and Discussion:

Consumers perception of product performance was shown to be influenced by the testing context, with most discrimination between products seen within CLT setting; possibly suggesting consumers are more focused & analytical in assessment. However, when understanding overall product experience is the key objective, using a VR simulation of a real context resulted in product discrimination most close to ‘real’ context.

Emoji profiles indicated VR evoked feelings of surprise & thoughtfulness, whilst standard CLT (sensory booths) associated with bored & neutral emojis (Fig 2). This finding was supported by the engagement data, VR evoked significantly higher consumer immersion & realism than EvokeCLT, but also brought more discomfort/difficulty eating.

Computer generated VR offered an immersive ‘Breakfast at Home’ context with broad flexibility including;

• variable lighting to alter perceived time of day & season,
• multiple product forms assessable as product is not embedded in VR, (augmented-virtuality region),
• VR embedded screen creates ability to view externally linked information within the experience (including questionnaire).

This work was supported by PepsiCo R&D. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of PepsiCo, Inc.

Our daily food choices have a huge impact on the environment and on climate change. However, most consumers are not aware of the environmental impact of food production and consumption. Since there is no valid and reliable measure of knowledge regarding food sustainability, a 16-item multiple-choice knowledge questionnaire was developed. An example item reads: ‘Which of the following meals is the most climate friendly?’ - Organic beef burger, Organic salmon burger, Quinoa burger, Do not know). The Food Sustainability Knowledge Questionnaire (FSKQ) was tested in a Swiss and German consumer sample (total N = 1810) and meets standard psychometric criteria. The FSKQ showed good internal consistency across the adult samples. Validity was supported by small to medium sized positive correlations with constructs of environmental (e.g. environmental apathy) and food (e.g. perceived pro-environmental food purchase behavior) attitudes. By using a food buffet made of replica food items, it was shown that consumers with higher knowledge scores are better able to compose lunch menus with lower environmental footprint. The new scale will help to identify potential areas of misconceptions in people’s understanding of the sustainability of foods and in what respect a lack of knowledge poses a barrier for behavioral change. It also enables to research the efficacy of educational measures such as campaigns and decision aids for sustainable food consumption.

Introduction - With the issues of the present world, it is conceivable that, dairy in the future will become more of a premium product, either due to demand from the population growth or the need to reduce emission intensity for climate change. Animal-based products put a burden on environmental resources, so we must look for sustainable options, which are liked by the consumers in terms of the sensorial aspects, and are nutritionally rich, imparting health benefits to the consumers. We consider yogurt, being a fermented product, is healthy as it’s a carrier of probiotic microorganisms.

Methods - A series of experiments were conducted to understand the sensory space using a qualitative approach of focus group discussions, and to find out the white-spaces in the yogurt sector. A tasting session was conducted with 117 participants, with 6 commercial yogurt samples, shortlisted from focus group discussions, to understand the drivers for liking of different yogurt products.

Results - It was found that plant-based yogurts are an opportunity space for consumers. Consumers are willing to try the plant-based yogurts, due to drivers of dietary changes such as growing vegetarianism and concerns over sustainability. Linear model was established that showed a positive relationship between overall liking and texture ratings of products. This was confirmed by the rheological and texture measurements of samples, showing that texture plays an important role in acceptability of yogurts.

Discussion - The correlations developed between consumer liking for specific product characteristics of different yogurts are important to know the attributes that need to be improved upon, when developing a new plant-based yogurt substitute, for the product to deliver against the promise of yogurt in the marketplace.

Plant protein isolates and concentrates are increasingly being applied to commercially available products. However, the typical characteristic (off-)flavour of some of these plant protein concentrates and isolates are often perceived as qualitatively inferior, especially in the Western world and prevent its fields of applications.

In order to produce more bland products and increase the field of applications, it is important to identify the aroma compounds responsible for the characteristic (off-) flavour and develop strategies for preventing or masking these off-flavours.

In this study, volatile compounds of various plant protein concentrates/isolates were identified using GC-MS. Of the identified volatile compounds, the sensory relevant flavour compounds, the so-called key flavour compounds, were identified by applying GC-sniff. Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) was applied to map the sensory flavour profile of the plant protein isolates/concentrates. The outcome of the QDA was correlated to the key flavour compounds.

Based on this study strategies are discussed to prevent or mask the typical key (off-)flavour compounds. Strategies can range from preventing the off-flavours by looking at the source of the plant or adaptation of processing steps or by masking the (off-)flavours in order to obtain a more bland product to increase the consumer’s acceptance and broaden the field of applications.

Cancer patients often suffer from a loss of appetite and reduced food intake, which can negatively affect patients’ nutritional status and treatment outcome. 3D food printing, which allows food to be built-up layer-by-layer through a deposition printer, offers the potentials to create layered model systems that modulate the sensory properties in food matrices to stimulate desire to eat for patients. For this purpose, the effect of layered model systems on appetitive responses was first investigated in healthy participants.

Bi-layered lemon mousses with inhomogeneous distribution of citric acid across layers were developed, in which the sour taste was dynamically contrasted when consuming each spoon of dessert. Liking and desire to eat were evaluated (n = 66, age: 43 ± 13 years) for six handmade lemon mousses (bi-layered or monolayered). Based on the results, three lemon mousses were selected and further evaluated for ad libitum intake in laboratory setting (female, n = 30, age: 39 ± 12 years).

Significant differences were found in liking (p < 0.001) and desire to eat (p = 0.001) between the six lemon mousses. Bi-layered samples with a sensory design of sour-to-sweet taste were more liked and desired than their respective monolayered samples. Ad libitum intake of the three selected lemon mousses were significantly different (p = 0.004). The intake of bi-layered sample was 161 ± 61 g, which was 12.7% higher compared to its respective monolayered sample (141 ± 57 g) and 17.6% higher compared to the monolayered reference sample of the hospital (136 ± 50 g).

Layered model systems in lemon mousse can create greater desires and ad libitum intake in healthy participants. The findings can be useful for designing further research with patients, applying the layered model systems to different food matrices to improve hospital food.

Sweet liker phenotype has received renewed interest in light of excessive free sugar intake and WHO guidelines to substantially reduce sugar intake. Latridi et al (2019) proposed a single 1M (34% w/v) sucrose solution “cut-off” phenotyping method, advantageous for large populations. In this study we used the single solution method with adults and children, comparing it to a taste paper method in both groups. In children we investigated whether their phenotype influenced their liking of sweet foods, and whether it was related to their parents liking of sweet foods.

97 children (age 11-15) and 48 adults (age 18-24) were phenotyped. All children completed the food liking questionnaire, additionally 78 had one parent complete their food liking ratings. The perceived sweet intensity of sucrose impregnated taste papers was substantially less than for sucrose solutions and, therefore, did not lead to robust phenotyping.

The proportion of Sweet Likers to Sweet Dislikers in the child group was 52:48 whereas in the adult group it was 40:60. Mean recalled liking of sweet foods was not significantly affected by the child’s sweet liker phenotype. The only significant correlation between the parent and child recalled liking ratings was between parent liking for sweet foods and child liking for fatty foods (r=0.26, p=0.026). The overall mean liking of sweet foods was not significantly different between children and parents.

This study demonstrates that the single solution method can be used to phenotype sweet liker status in children as well as adults. The higher proportion of sweet likers in the child cohort, whilst expected, did not lead to a clear increased liking for sweet foods. This data suggests that parent and child liking of sweet foods are independent and, hence, interventions to modify sweet preferences in children outside of the home are worth further investigation.

Online qualitative research tools and techniques are not new, though they have seen a strong uptick in adoption by researchers due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Historically, many researchers have been hesitant to prioritize online tools over in-person approaches, particularly for product research, largely due to concerns over the ability to read body language¹ and a lack of control over serving protocols.

This presentation will compare the use of a selection of qualitative product research tools in both an online and face-to-face setting. Trade-offs and strengths of methods such as focus groups and in-depth interviews (IDIs) in each environment will be discussed, alongside the effectiveness of techniques used to control product serve online.

A case study involving eight two-hour in-depth interviews was conducted with sensory screened consumers (four males, four females, aged 20-55 years), to assess a snacking product and conducted both online and in-person.

The in-person interviews involved 16 target consumers attending a sensory screening session, where they were screened based on their sensory acuity, articulacy and creativity to select the best performing eight. The interviews were then held in the consumers’ homes to allow for a real-life context when evaluating the products.

Comparatively, the online interviews involved target consumers being screened for their sensory ability online, and then taking part in online interviews via the Zoom video conferencing platform.

Learnings and observations from this case study will be discussed, including the success of online sensory screening, the role of context, the ability to read body language, control during product serve and differences in the depth of findings. These will be supplemented by additional learnings from MMR’s experience of running online product focus groups during the Covid crisis.

¹ Janghorban et al. 2014. DOI: 10.3402/qhw.v9.24152

The current situation with COVID-19 pandemic bears the risk of transmission whenever many consumers are together and physical distancing is difficult to achieve, e.g. in a Central Location Test-Setting at a facility.

Against this background new procedures for CLT’s were developed. First developed as a pilot-study “CLT at Home” including two different product categories, each of them with 6 products, was successfully carried out with German consumers to show the capabilities of the approach. Subsequent to the success of the new procedure, CLT @ Home studies were conducted during 2020 in several European countries.

With this presentation we want to give a guideline how to use CLT @ Home and its benefits in circumstances in which for whatever reason traditional CLT’s cannot be conducted. Hence, the lecture will give answers to the following questions:

• How is it possible to transform a multi-product CLT at a facility into a “CLT at Home”, …
  • maintaining the monadic sequential approach,
    testing several products in one session?
  • ensuring a fully balanced test-design across the participants?
  • with blind evaluation?
• What must be considered in this particular approach?
• How can the test-design be monitored to ensure validity of results?
• What are the limits of this approach?
• What impact does the modified approach conducted in different countries have on …
  • … timing?
  • … test-control?
  • … pricing / cost?

The approach will consider different product categories, distinguished by time and temperature sensitivity, including the hygienic handling of portioning, the labeling requirements, and the maintenance of the cool chain.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the social-distancing rules led to a large systemic shock to consumer behavior in the food and beverage industry. Although behavioral changes during the pandemic have affected the global food market, it is unclear which COVID-based trends will remain in a post-COVID world due to shifts in consumer preference. The objective of this study is to identify post-COVID consumer preference trends based on predictive sensory analysis.

Analytical Flavor Systems has undertaken a continuous longitudinal study sampling perception and preference data from over 40,000 consumer respondents, dating back to 2009. To model COVID’s impact on consumer behaviors, a stratified sample of over 600 individuals within the United States were surveyed to capture consumer preference trends before, during, and after the pandemic.

By combining the predictive model outputs and empirical consumer survey results, this study shows that COVID-19 acted as an accelerator for certain pre-existing trends such as reduced consumption of sweetened carbonated soft-drinks, and reverted other trends to the prior stable preference state such as comfort-snacking and home baking (Table 1). This study further proves that various machine learning models, including category learning and applied topology, have proven effective in predicting preference evolution from rates of flavor-profile-exposure resulting from behavioral changes. The result from this study illustrates that the acceleration or reversion of preferences is not categorically predictive of the stability of the new preference states, thus higher order inference is necessary to predict preferences after sustained behavioral change. In conclusion, certain pre-COVID trends will reemerge or resume in a post-COVID world while others will remain forever altered.  We propose a predictive model to help guide the industry as the world recovers.

Table 1. Post-COVID Consumer Preferences Trends

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused France to impose a strict lockdown on its inhabitants for 8 weeks; leaving your home was allowed only under certain circumstances. This unseen situation affected families’ habits in various domains. This study wanted to evaluate possible changes in child eating behaviours, parental feeding practices, and parental motivations when shopping food during the lockdown, compared to the period before the lockdown.

Methods: Parents of 498 children aged 3-12 years (238 boys, 260 girls; mean age=7.32; SD=2.27) completed an online survey with items from validated questionnaires (e.g., CEDQ, CEBQ, HomeSTEAD). They reported on their (child’s) current situation during the lockdown, and retrospectively on the period before the lockdown. Scores were calculated for both periods; thereafter paired student-t-tests were used to compare these scores. For some items, parents directly reported the changes.

Results: Many parents reported some changes in their child eating behaviours (60%), their feeding practices (60%), and food shopping motivations (85%). Child appetite, food enjoyment, food responsiveness and emotional overeating significantly increased during the lockdown. Increases in food responsiveness and emotional overeating were significantly correlated to an increase in child boredom at home (r=0.31 and r=0.34 respectively). Parents generally became more permissive when they changed their practices: less rules, more soothing with food, children gained more autonomy in deciding when, what, how much and where to eat. Parents more frequently bought foods their child liked, but also more healthy and sustainable foods. Many parents (66%) prepared more home-cooked meals, and spent more time cooking with their child(ren) (71%).

Discussion: The lockdown induced changes in families’ eating and feeding habits. Feeding practices became more child-centred and pleasure-oriented: the unusual situation drove some parents to turn a blind eye to the usual rules, and to privilege enjoyment and comfort at home.

Under normal circumstances, sensory testing is usually done in controlled laboratory conditions via strict protocols, to ensure scientific rigour. But for non-food products especially, these conditions might require extensive adaptation to mimic real consumer interactions (i.e. bathroom/laundry facilities).

These challenges and more were previously addressed by creating an Out-Of-The-Lab methodology. Trained sensory panellists evaluate products in realistic settings outside the laboratory, providing not only in-depth sensory characteristics, but also more qualitative evaluations that capture functional and performance metrics, akin to consumer evaluations.

When the COVID-19 pandemic restricted face-to-face research, Out-of-the-Lab methodology was adapted to meet local government regulations, to ensure everyone’s safety. Challenges included safe storage, transportation and delivery of products, materials necessary to prepare products and references in panellists’ homes, technology to connect panellists during discussion sessions and panel training, and study design plans to successfully blind and rotate products, as much as possible.

Conducting sensory panels at home also presented unique opportunities, such as venturing beyond objective measures to incorporate user experience, captured through quantitative ratings, qualitative usage feedback, and sometimes videos at key context-based touchpoints. Sessions were often more efficient and studies faster-paced, compared to in-lab conditions, although logistics and preparation upfront was more time consuming. Some product categories were also more cost effective when conducted Out-Of-The-Lab. For example, when assessing alcohol, panellists did not have to be taxied home afterwards.

We will present some case studies using Out-Of-The-Lab methods during COVID-19, showcasing how sensory panels can continue to operate during a pandemic, while ensuring the safety of all involved.

This presentation will highlight the opportunities and challenges of using trained sensory panels in contextual assessments, outlining the potential limitations and applications of stepping Out-of-the-Lab to capture truly essential product and pack insights in real-life settings.

The Covid crisis led governments to impose lockdowns on consumers. Fear of the unknown, movement restrictions and limited social interaction created multiple consumer behavioural changes related to food & beverage consumption habits.

The purpose of this research was to understand food, beverage and health products consumption changes in 10 countries in the EAME region. A group 5450 consumers, aged 18 to 65 years, were interviewed using an online survey. The survey focused on changes in consumption habits, flavours consumed and innovation for the future in sweet goods dairy, beverages, snacks, savoury & health care categories.

Results revealed 4 different platforms for innovation: value for money, back to basics, health versus indulgence & recreate out of home experience.

For the first platform, there was a 15% increase in purchase of “cheaper” savoury products, especially in South Africa, Poland and Italy.

Health was mostly about mental and physical health and how to stay in shape. Consumers paid more attention to nutrition, healthy eating and prepared homemade remedies. Ginger, garlic and citrus became more relevant to consumers. Some consumers presented a higher interest for health benefits in snacks, especially for boosting their mood (22%).

There was a shift to simplicity and going back to basics: 27% of the consumers reported paying more attention to the origin of the products and looking for traditional beverage flavours, especially in South Africa and Italy.

Consumers missed the out of home consumption, fresh pastries and fine desserts from restaurants. To kill boredom, discover new tastes, or to indulge, consumers baked sweet goods, 38% even more than before, especially in Italy, Turkey and South Africa. Most of them plan to continue after the crisis.

This study enabled understanding various behavioural changes of consumers due to Covid-19 and gave guidance to innovation in food, beverages and healthcare categories.

COVID-19 resulted in global changes, without no precedents. Not only in health, but mainly social, emotional and behavioral. An international consortium was created for a cross-country study about changes in eating motivations, dietary habits and food and waste management. The study consisted in an online survey, with questions about the different parts of food behavior. This survey was translated in the native language of each participating country (in a total of 18 countries).

Similarities and differences were observed between countries, which is particularly interesting taking into account the particular socio-economic and cultural conditions of each countries, as well as the severity of the pandemic in each of them. Motivations associated with getting pleasure and reward from foods were perceived to be increased during this time, comparatively to the period before pandemic. Also, increases in the intake frequency of cookies and chocolates were observed, although in several countries the consumption of vegetables was also referred to increase. It was noted a generalized lower concern about convenience characteristics of foods (namely processed and fast-food), with an increase in cooking. Even so, it was interesting to note differences among countries, which can be discussed in light with the severity of disease in each country and, mainly, with economic and socio-economic characteristics.

The comprehension about the changes and the main motivational factors that lead to them is of major importance to intervene in this and future pandemic scenarios, with the objective of lowering the negative behavioral changes and potentiate the positive changes observed.

More information about the consortium “Changes in Food Behavior – COVID-19”and the study objectives can be found here: https://foodcovid-19.weebly.com

This study investigated the effect of different levels of textural complexity on static and temporal measures of perceived textural complexity and hedonic response. Five gel-based model food stimuli were designed to represent a range of textural complexities, created via variation in the texture intensity and structure of each stimulus inclusion. Compression tests showed significant structural differences between basic elements of the inclusions (p < 0.05), and descriptive analysis (N=37) discriminated the stimuli in terms of texture attribute intensity. Temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) data (n=18) showed decreasing dominance rates corresponding to the designed levels of textural complexity, but increasing numbers of dominant attributes.

Participants (N=37) directly rated perceived textural complexity on a 100 mm line scale and a subgroup (n=18) took part in a temporal evaluation. Behaviour during TDS sequences as well as ratings of novelty, familiarity and liking were also examined. Direct and temporal ratings suggested that the perception of textural complexity was built around the intensity of a particular attribute (hardness); as opposed to intensity as well as structural complexity, as hypothesised. TDS sequences of the stimuli perceived to be higher in textural complexity were significantly longer and a higher number of total attribute selections was made. As expected, familiarity and textural complexity were negatively correlated, and novelty and textural complexity were positively correlated. Liking and textural complexity were negatively correlated; as perceived textural complexity increased, liking decreased.

It is common and certainly reasonable to relate increases in perceived sensory complexity of any modality to increases in the number of physical elements. However, as suggested in odour research, this work points to the importance of the intensity of specific attributes. A set of stimuli designed to vary systematically across a number of texture intensities and complexities is currently being developed to further investigate.

Food consumption habits and well-being are believed to be interrelated. As the proverb goes: “you are what you eat”. Subjective well-being as defined by Veenhoven is understood as the perceived happiness of individuals. Thusly, this paper investigates how people following distinct dietary habits compare according to their overall subjective happiness levels. In order to observe the phenomenon, a consumer CAPI survey has been conducted in Hungary. In the survey, data representative of the Hungarian population has been collected from 1445 individuals on their food and drink consumption habits. Using the frequency the respondents consumed different food and drink items characteristic of the local cuisine, we create a series of dietary clusters that are prevalent in the Hungarian society. Comparison of the clusters show a difference in their happiness, however, it seems that it is not eating healthy that leads to bliss, but a balanced diet, and a bit of coffee. Our analysis breaks with the traditional approach that considers the health related consequences of different dietary habits. Instead, we delve into the social aspect that is well-being. Most well-being indicators are beyond our own control, however, the food we consume is arguably within our reach. Thusly, it is worth to observe the connection between the way we eat and our well-being.

Previous works suggest that wine experts’ mental representations are organized around concepts such as appellations or grape varieties. Our hypothesis is that these representations depend on experts’ experience and evolve with time. To test this hypothesis, we explored how mental representations of different types of wine experts evolved when a new wine category appears. We used Beaujolais vineyard as a case study as a new mention “Pierres Dorées” emerged recently in this vineyard.

Three groups of wine experts participated in the study: makers, sellers and critics. To access to their mental representations, we used drawing elicitation. First, we asked them to draw a picture to represent the diversity of Beaujolais wine and to position the new category “Pierres Dorées” in that drawing. Afterwards, we asked them to explain their drawing. This explication step was recorded and transcribed. The analysis was carried out using both an automatic co-occurrence network approach with the software IRaMuTeQ 0.7 alpha 2 and a manual thematic analysis approach.

The automatic co-occurrence analysis showed a similar structure of mental representations for all types of wine experts organized around two poles: Beaujolais wine and Beaujolais vineyard and differences within those two poles. For all expert groups, “Pierres Dorées” was incorporated in the pole Beaujolais vineyard. The manual thematic approach provided elements to explain this position. For wine experts, “Pierres Dorées” was defined as a region with beautiful landscape and special architecture and not as a wine.

Drawing elicitation appeared to be an interesting indirect method to reveal experts’ mental representations and to understand the position of the new category “Pierres Dorées” in the mental representation of Beaujolais wines by experts. Automatic co-occurrence analysis, combined with a manual thematic analysis, makes it possible to obtain information on the structure of the mental representation but also on its content.

Aromatic characterization generally turns out to be a complex task, even for well-trained assessors. To gain ease, arrangement of aroma terms was proposed by means of aromas wheels. This study proposes a new methodology, joining Rate-All-That-Apply methodology (RATA) and hierarchical structuration of the attributes, presenting a user-friendly tool for the characterization of wine aroma. The aim is to facilitate data acquisition and to take into account the proximities between attributes during the data analysis.

The hierarchical structure included 114 odor attributes, encompassing generic and specific terms; specific attributes were structured into categories, representing generic attributes. The hierarchical representation was given to the tasters to facilitate navigation in the attributes. 74 subjects were involved in the study, including informed consumers and professionals from the wine sector. They characterized 6 wines by selecting all the attributes (specific or general) that applied to the wine and rating their intensity on a 3-point scale, using RATA methodology.

This Hierarchical Rate-All-That-Apply methodology was well appreciated by the subjects as it provided them a user-friendly tool for selecting odors from a wide variety of attributes (either general or specific according to their individual sensitivity). The hierarchical structure made it possible to link the attributes together rather than considering them as independent attributes. The data processing offered a wine characterization at several levels from general to specific, using the categories of odors.

Sensory evaluation is conducted using either experts or consumers, often on one or two sips of a product. However, evaluations over multiple sips may provide better insights into the full consumer consumption experience and the type of panel used may deliver different outcomes. This work compared data obtained from expert versus consumer assessors when using Temporal Check-All-That-Apply (TCATA) over multiple sips to characterising dynamic perception of a model milkshake system.

Three milkshakes varying in fat, sweetener and thickener content were evaluated by nine expert assessors and 104 consumers. Expert assessors developed the descriptor lexicon (sweet, vanilla, creamy flavour, creamy mouthfeel, thick, mouthcoating, astringent and liquorice). Both experts and consumers were trained on TCATA and evaluated eight sips of each milkshake. Temporal attribute discrimination across samples was analysed using estimated citation proportions at selected time-slices within and over the sips using generalised linear models and Analysis of Deviance (R Version:1.1.453).

Both expert and consumer panels differentiated between the products for each attribute, within sips and between sips, but how this differed was dependent on assessor type. Interestingly the consumer panel reported more differences in attributes across sips than experts. The only attribute that changed significantly over sips for the experts was astringency, an attribute which untrained consumers find notoriously difficult to evaluate.

The research emphasises the importance of capturing sensory assessments over multiple sips to understand true consumer experience. It highlights that data from expert and consumer panels are not interchangeable. Perhaps due to their more analytical approach fewer changes in sensory perception were noted by experts over sips compared to consumers. However, for difficult attributes such as astringency more discrimination was provided by experts. This indicates that researchers should carefully consider the objective of their work, and attributes of interest when selecting which type of panel to use for TCATA.

There is a growing consumer interest in flexitarian diets, which has resulted in the commercialisation of new hybrid meat products, containing both meat and a plant-based ingredients. Consumer attitudes towards hybrid meat products have not been explored and it is not clear which factors could affect the success of such products. This work firstly aimed to analyse the UK hybrid meat product market and secondly it explored consumer’s attitudes towards hybrid-meat products in 201 online reviews by utilising tools and techniques of corpus linguistics. A total of 38 hybrid meat products have been launched in the UK in the period 2016-2020 of which 12 are still available in the market. The messages used to promote hybrid meat products have changed in time, with the latest trends being “5-a-day” and vegetables used for flavour and convenience. From the online reviews, the dominant consumer opinions who bought and consumed hybrid-meat products were identified. In the positive reviews, consumers emphasised mostly the taste dimension of the hybrid meat products. Consumers valued hybrid meat products as healthier options, highlighting positively the texture and the ease of preparation. The largest category of two-word combinations highlighted the healthiness of the product, followed by the novelty and positive surprise associated with the purchase. The negative reviews were related to the poor sensory quality and not to the concept of hybridity itself. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, these findings provide valuable consumer insights on factors to consider to effectively market new hybrid meat products.

The number of people aged 60 and older is growing worldwide. Current dietary reference values in the Nordic countries recommend that older adults increase their protein intake in order to reduce risk of sarcopenia. However, many older adults have a small appetite, and it is thus essential to develop appealing protein-enriched foods to help elderly meeting their nutritional requirements. Currently, during the slaughter process of chicken, large amounts of by-products are generated such as mechanically deboned meat (MDM) that contains a high proportion of protein with excellent nutritional value. Therefore, this study aims to develop sustainable protein enriched foods with acceptable sensory profile by exploring different matrices with chicken protein as the functional ingredient.

Three product matrices including risotto, sausage roll, and rum ball were firstly explored with addition of extra chicken protein. A consumer test with 44 older consumers (mean age = 70.5+6.0 years) was conducted. Consumers tasted samples and evaluated their hedonic liking and familiarity of products. Results showed that rum ball was the most liked. Cocoa worked well to mask the chicken flavour in the sweet product. Age and gender did not have a significant influence on consumers' evaluation.

A larger scale of consumer test with older consumers (n=100) is conducted with rye bread and chocolate bun cake. Prototypes with different levels of protein powder are tasted for each carrier. Two trained panels are recruited to assess the sensory properties of each product carrier. Consumers’ hedonic likings, purchase intent, emotional response to each product are also collected.

It was shown that chicken protein can be included to develop protein enriched food that have an acceptable sensory profile and consumer acceptance with older consumers. By utilizing the side stream in the meat sector, this may reduce the environmental impact and climate change of chicken meat production.

Using cute images on food packaging to attract consumers’ attention has become common marketing practice. Although numerous studies have shown that packaging cues like images and colors affect consumers’ (sensory) expectations and experiences, the effects of cute cues on food packaging has not been investigated in detail yet.

In some languages, “cute” and “sweet” are used as synonyms, suggesting that cuteness and sweetness are semantically and conceptually linked. Accordingly, we assumed that cute images on food packaging activate the concept of cuteness and, by association, that of sweetness, subsequently influencing consumers’ sweetness expectations and experiences. We tested this hypothesis by conducting four studies.

In study 1 (online; N=161), we showed that yoghurt with cute (vs. neutral) packaging was expected to taste sweeter. In study 2 (N=81), we replicated our findings for the actual tasting experience in a laboratory experiment: Cookies sampled from a cute (vs. neutral) package were experienced as tasting sweeter. In both studies, the cute product version was often perceived as being for children, so we carried out study 3 (online; N=300), using wine, a product for adults. Again, we found that wine with a cute (vs. neutral) image on the bottle was expected to taste sweeter. In study 4 (N=82), we conducted another laboratory experiment to further investigate the underlying process and cuteness sensitivity as a possible moderator. Subjects with a high sensitivity for cuteness who were primed with cute (vs. neutral) images before tasting an unrelated food product experienced it as tasting sweeter.

We show that cute images on food packaging affect sweetness expectations and experiences. We also show that the effect is moderated by individual characteristics. Based on our results, we conclude that for some consumers, cute images can serve as an easy tool for sugar reduction while keeping the tasting experience the same.

Emoji (graphical characters) are proposed as an appropriate tool to measure the emotional response in young population due to their familiar design and lack of verbal cues. However, their meaning and use have been reported to be dependent on culture, gender and age. The aims of this study were (i) to create a short list of emoji suitable to be used with school-aged children by considering their own perception of the icons and (ii) to identified food-specific emoji.

To achieve these objectives, three focus group were performed with 20 children from 6 to 12 years old to develop the emotional lexicon associated with 41 facial emoji through spontaneous words. Emoji without ambiguity were selected and children’s understanding was validated with a larger population. In this way, 300 scholars (6-12 years old) participated in an online survey in 2020. Emoji were presented monadically in a randomised order. Following an incomplete experimental design, meaning (CATA question), valence and arousal dimensions (100-units VAS) were evaluated without context (150 complete answers). Scholars also reported which emoji conveyed an emotion related to the context of food (CATA question).

The results showed that 24 emoji had a clear meaning and 19 emotional words were proposed to describe the main emotions conveyed by them. Secondary meanings and nuances were also identified and were driven by the age. Emoji were mainly classified as positive or negative in valence, and neutral or high in arousal. By inducing a context related to food not all the emoji were applicable, identifying the effect of liking and the emoji associated with disgust.

To conclude, two lists of emoji that are suitable to study the emotional response in scholars have been developed. The longer list is unspecific and could be used in other fields of research, however the shorter list is food specific.

The sensitivity to the texture and trigeminal sensations, and their role on food preferences and choice, are poorly investigated. This work aimed to develop a new approach to measure the individual sensory sensitivities to specific key attributes, by conducting four experiments. Simultaneously, the effect of individual sensitivities on food preference and choice was also investigated.

The first experiment aimed to develop the method to measure the texture sensitivity, using the graininess as key-texture attribute. Cocoa-based creams with different levels of graininess were instrumentally characterized and evaluated by the consumers in terms of perceived graininess intensity and liking. Using the instrumental characterization to predict individual sensitivity allowed clustering people according to their ability to discriminate different levels of graininess. The approach was validated in a second experiment using a larger consumers sample and measuring the hardness sensitivity in jellies varying in gelling agent concentration. The method resulted valid and individual characteristics, such as gender and age, showed to play an important role in hardness perception and liking. The third experiment aimed to explore the role of viscosity sensitivity on food choice. After clustering people in three sensitivity groups, a food choice index was calculated from a Food Choice questionnaire based on texture dichotomies. Data showed that different sensitivities led to different preferences and different texture choices.

In the last experiment, the roles of familiarity and consumer characteristics were explored on the sparkling sensitivity. That was independent of consumption frequency of carbonated beverages. Conversely, both liking and perceived sparkling intensity of carbonated water were affected by the consumption frequency of sparkling water.

In conclusion, differences in texture and trigeminal perception exist, the proposed methods are valid to measure them and to cluster the people with different sensitivities. Also, individual characteristics play an important role in individual sensitivities and food liking.

Hypertension and diabetes are the most frequently occurring chronic diseases in South Korea. According to protection motivation theory, people with health problems will tend to change to healthier habits.

Previous studies that examine habit change after diagnosis have focused on food intake and consumer characteristics. However, assessment of grocery purchase records has been limited, and so the purpose of this study was to compare purchase patterns, including fresh produce, of consumers with and without chronic disease diagnoses using the Almost Ideal Demand System.

Consumer panel data gathered by the Korean Rural Development Administration between 2016 and 2018 was analyzed. The dataset consisted of grocery purchase records in the form of receipts, and diagnoses were confirmed in February 2016. Data from 756 household panels were divided according to diagnosis or family history of chronic disease (diabetes or hypertension), and the grocery data were classified into two groups: fresh (grain, vegetables, fruit, meat, and fish) and processed (beverages, snacks, ready meals, processed meat and fish, and etc.).

Following diabetes diagnosis, the budget shares of grain, vegetables, and fish increased while meat, beverages, and snacks significantly decreased (Table 1). In the hypertension group, the budget shares of grain, vegetables, fruit, fish, and processed fish increased while beverages, snacks, processed meat, and ready meals significantly decreased (Table 2).

The results show that, after diagnosis, the purchase of fresh and processed goods increases and decreases, respectively, except for processed fish. This potentially indicates that processed fish products are perceived as non-harmful and could represent a possible market for consumers with other chronic diseases in the family. In general, processed products were purchased less which means that consumers with chronic diseases may need alternative beverages, snacks, processed meats, and ready meals. Developing specialized processed foods for chronic disease has significant future potential.

Table 1 The results of AIDS Model about diabetes

Table 2 The results of AIDS Model about hypertension

One of the food industry’s priorities is to reduce waste and exploit by-products from the food production chain. Nowadays, several by-products from the food chain are considered as a promising source of valuable and functional compounds. Among these, phenols represent important functional compounds due to their antioxidant activity. Unripe grapes discarded during thinning operations in the wine production chain represent an interesting source of phenols. However, the development of highly antioxidant food added with phenols from unripe grapes is challenging due to the specific sensory attributes, such as sourness and astringency, of these compounds.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate consumer responses (acceptance and sensory attributes perception) to beetroot purees added with increasing concentrations of phenols rich extract from unripe grapes. Personality traits and behavioral attitudes were also evaluated to identify specific target of consumers more predisposed to accept these new foods.

Three hundred two subjects (55% females, age range: 18-60 years) evaluated liking and attributes intensity (sweet, sour, astringency and overall flavour) of four beetroot puree samples added with increasing concentrations of phenol extract (0; 0.41; 1.11; 1.93 g/kg). Subjects were also characterized for food neophobia (FN), Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ), Health and Taste Attitude Scale (HTAS), as well as for liking for and familiarity with beetroot.

Results showed that the liking decreased with increasing concentration of phenol extract, most likely due to the more intense sourness and astringency intensity in the samples with higher extract concentrations (1.11 and 1.93 g/kg). Interestingly, a segment of consumers, described by a low food neophobia level and high emotional eating, preferred samples characterized by sourness and astringency. These results suggest that the development of functional phenol-enriched products using winemaking by-products is challenging due to their sensory properties that negatively influence consumers’ acceptance. However, with appropriate segmentation strategies it could be possible to identify specific target consumers who could be satisfied by these new highly antioxidant foods.

This work is part of PRIN 2015 project (Prot. 20158YJW3W).

The study of product elicited emotions and the effect of context is getting increasing attention in the sensory and consumer research field. Despite this growing interest, the study of sensory-emotional and in particular sensory-context linkages remained under-investigated. Furthermore, recent research highlighted that sensory drivers of emotions could vary as a function of consumers liking patterns.

The present study aimed at understanding the interrelationships between sensory properties and emotional associations and contexts appropriateness taking into account the moderating role of liking patterns.

A consumer panel (n=159), cocktails consumers, balanced by gender, aged from 18 to 40 were recruited. Six different alcoholic cocktails were evaluated by the use of Global Profile methodology for liking, sensory properties, emotions, and contexts appropriateness, using consumer-led product-specific questionnaires. Three clusters with different liking patterns for alcoholic cocktails were identified: ‘Fruit-bitter lovers’, ‘New-bitter lovers’ and ‘Classic-bitter lovers. Associations between sensory properties, emotions, and contexts were studied using Multiple Factor Analysis.

Very different emotions-sensory linkages were found between the clusters of consumers. Thus, sour taste was associated with boredom for New-bitter lovers and with indifference for the Classic-bitter lovers, denoting some communality (low arousal, neutral to negative valence). In contrast, sweet taste, citrus, and peach flavor were associated with surprise and curiosity for the Fruit-bitter lovers, with indifference for the Classic-bitter lovers, while clear associations with emotions were not found for the New-bitter lovers. Instead, for this cluster, stronger associations were found between sensory properties and context appropriateness, with sweet taste, citrus, and peach flavor associated with summer and aperitif contexts.

This study provides further evidence that the linkage between sensory properties and emotions are strongly related to different liking patterns among different consumer segments. Furthermore, evidence of linkages between sensory properties and consumption contexts moderated by liking were also reported.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sensory perception, volatile profile and fatty acid (FA) profile of whole milk powders (WMP) derived from milk produced from cows outdoors on pasture (grass (GRS) or grass-clover mix (CLV)) vs. cows housed indoors consuming total mixed ration (TMR). WMP’s were produced in triplicate trials from mid-lactation milk and were stored at 21°C or 37°C and analysed every 2 months (T0, T2, T4 and T6) up to 6 months. Thirteen lipid oxidation (LO) volatile compounds (hexanal, pentanal, heptanal, (E)-2-nonenal, octanal, 2,4-decadienal, undecanal, 2-nonanone, 2-heptanone, 2-pentanone, 3-octen-2-one 1-heptanol and 1-pentanol) were used to track the oxidative stability of the WMP’s throughout storage. Twelve of the 29 FA identified varied significantly between samples based on diet. ‘Painty flavour’ and hexanal increased in all WMP samples, however, none were particularly susceptible to LO and the sensory attributes associated with LO were comparable across the GRS, CLV and TMR samples during storage. A dominant buttery/toffee attribute was identified in TMR WMP from T0 – T6 which was possibly a result of Maillard reaction products but this changed to a ‘painty’ off-flavour as concentrations of LO products increased above odour threshold levels.

Sensory perceptions of food are generally rooted in the complex composition of volatile and non-volatiles molecules in a food matrix. The contributions of these compounds to the aromatic and sapid perceptions are not a simple linear combination of their quantities. In pea-protein isolates, different types of chemical compounds were highlighted in the literature to be responsible for perceptions: volatile molecules for beany aroma, peptides and saponins for bitterness , polyphenols for bitterness and astringency. The aim of our study was to go further in understanding the role of volatile and non-volatile compounds on the perception of pea protein isolates and to build a statistical model taking into account different compounds coming from different chemical families to explain sensory perceptions.

For that purpose, 26 products were produced from commercial pea protein isolates following a mixing experimental design in order to create a range of chemical composition. Sensory responses (18 attributes) were acquired by descriptive analysis with 17 trained panellists, as well as chemical compositions (103 volatiles molecules by gas-chromatography-mass-spectrometry analysis, 6044 peptides and 103 polyphenols by liquid-chromatography-mass-spectrometry analysis). Responses were analyzed by regression analysis based on latent variables.

Results made possible to explore links between sensory and chemical data: 66 key peptides were found to be linked to bitter perceived intensity; 3 key polyphenols, as caffeic acid, to bitter intensity, 11 key polyphenols to astringent intensity; 38 key volatiles molecules, such as hexanal, 1-butanol, and 2-decanone, to aromatic intensities.

This consequent dataset allowed us to compare and test different statistical approaches, in particular partial least square regression path modelling, to model sensory perceptions with plant protein chemical composition. It provides also knowledge to a better understanding of the sensory perceptions of pea protein-based products.

Sensory scientists have been trained to carry out experiments in carefully controlled conditions to minimise variability in the data and thus ensuring that the results are able to demonstrate whether perceivable differences exist between products, which is important during fragrance development. Traditionally at Givaudan, fragrance sensory protocols have been developed and validated based on olfactive data but the development process could be enhanced by using analytical measurements in combination with sensory data.

This poster explains how analytical techniques have been applied to various sensory protocols to firstly determine the level of variability within the existing protocol from an analytical point of view and secondly how the sensory protocols could be improved by reducing the variability in the odour stimulus presented to the trained sensory panellists.

Studies were conducted using sensory and analytical techniques in parallel and the results from the studies allowed modifications to the existing sensory protocols which reduced the level of variability of the fragrance stimulus and thus lead to more repeatable and reliable testing techniques.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) is the highest quality olive oil available, extracted from the olive fruit by mechanical action without using any heat or chemical treatment. A high quality EVOO is distinguished for its aroma and is characterised by pungent and bitter taste imparted by the high content of polyphenols. Different consumers may perceive the same oil differently due to the inter-individual variability depending on differences in oral sensitivity for these “warning” sensations and/or in other physiological, psychological or behavioural variables. Furthermore, food consumption is a complex dynamic process that continuously affects both intensity and quality of sensory perceptions.

As part of VIOLIN project (Project AGER2-Rif.2016-0169), the individual variability in sensory perception of different Italian EVOOs was studied. A trained panel (19 subjects; mean age: 45.2 yo; 9 women) analysed the EVOOs using the Temporal Check-All-That-Apply (TCATA) sensory method. Simultaneously, volatile compounds released in the nose cavity of the panellists, wearing an oxygen nasal cannula, was monitored in real time by Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometry coupled to Time-of-Flight analyser (PTR-ToF-MS). In a preliminary phase, panellists’ individual sensitivity for known critical oro-sensory sensations in EVOOs (bitterness, pungency and astringency) was measured with a suprathreshold intensity test. Accordingly, two homogenous groups of individuals were identified: cluster 1 showing lower sensitivity; cluster 2 showing higher sensitivity. The cluster 2 provided lower TCATA curves for some flavour attributes (“tomato”, “grassy” and “artichoke”). A possible explanation could be that the intense oral sensations of critical attributes in these panellists could have a suppression effect on the perception of other flavour attributes.

Furthermore, systematic differences between the 2 clusters were found in the nose-space concentrations of several key compounds (e.g, (E)-2-hexenal and pentanal), despite the high inter-individual variability.

Introduction: High levels of dietary sodium are associated with increased risk of chronic diseases. The partial replacement of salt with dried edible seaweeds in processed meats could potentially reduce this risk. However, matrix changes may compromise sensory perception and thus consumer acceptability. The aim of this study was to investigate the volatile and odour profiles of four edible seaweed species, and study the sensory perception and volatile profile of these seaweeds in reformulated frankfurters, which had 50% added salt replaced with an equivalent amount of dried edible seaweed in comparison to a control.

Methods: Reduced salt frankfurters were produced with added individual brown (Himanthalia elongata, Undaria pinnatifida) and red (Porphyra Umbilicalis, Palmaria palmata) seaweeds. The volatile fractions of the seaweeds and frankfurters were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, post extraction using thermal desorption and HS-SPME, and gas chromatography-olfactometry was used to determine key odour active compounds in the seaweeds. Twenty five panellists performed a sensory acceptance test and a Ranking Descriptive Analysis of the frankfurters.

Results: Brown seaweeds were characterized by higher levels of terpenes, acids, lactones, ethers and furans and red seaweeds by aldehydes, esters, ketones, pyrazines, pyridines and sulphur compounds. Key aroma active compounds in brown seaweeds were hexanal, (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal, 2-pentylfuran, ethyl ether, butanoic acid ethyl ester and 2,3-butanedione, which had distinct ‘grassy, herbal, floral’, ‘fruity’ and ‘fatty’ aromas. Key aroma active compounds in red seaweeds were 1-octen-3-ol, 6-dimethylpyrazine, (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one with ‘green, vegetable’, ‘mushroom, earthy’ and ‘sweet, buttery’ aromas. Panellists found significant differences in colour, liking of appearance, aroma, flavour and texture attributes between the frankfurters.

Conclusion: GC-MS could discriminate each seaweed based on their volatile profiles, and key odorants were identified by GC-O. Sea Spaghetti at 1% was the most effective salt substitute in frankfurters with regards to aroma and sensory attributes and overall acceptability.

The breakdown of foods from mastication eventually leads to swallowing which furthers the digestion process. The shape and size, rate of food breakdown and texture combine to influence the sensorial experience and digestive outcomes. We hypothesised that for anisotropic food structures (such as meat), cutting samples with different fibre orientations may impact the way the food is chewed to swallow point. These changes to oral processing behaviour may then affect the temporal sensory experience and digestion rate of the bolus.

Commercial roast beef samples were cut (30mm x 20mm) either in parallel or perpendicular to the fiber axis with varying thickness (1 x 8mm, 2 x 4mm, 3 x 2.7mm and 4 x 2mm). The study combined human and instrumental evaluation of sample breakdown. Chewing behaviour of four replicates of each sample was observed in a single subject. Chew time, chew frequency, moisture content of bolus and number of chews required to reach an indicated swallow point were determined. Instrumental texture analysis using a slip extrusion test (SET) was used to characterise the expectorated boluses and breakdown of food structure was also evaluated by power meter outputs from a blender in which each of the samples was macerated in triplicate.

Results showed that the thickness of the samples and fibre orientation did not influence the observed chewing behaviour. The resulting instrumental measures of the expectorated boluses from the 8 treatments were also not impacted by fibre orientation or sample thickness. The chewing behaviour remained constant for these cuts of roast beef. The next steps involve whether perceptual sensory differences can be observed alongside measuring forces applied using fEMG to observe masseter muscle activity during mastication.

Introduction:

Correlations between attention, concentration, and physiological reactions during cognitive tasks have been widely studied in different fields and sometimes in interaction with other senses.

Several lighting characteristics such as illuminance level and uniformity, color temperature and color rendering indices are known to influence reading performances. However, new lighting technologies such as LED lamps and luminaires are associated with new characteristics such as temporal light modulation (TLM), rapid cyclic variations in their light output arising from their ac-powered electronic circuits. TLM has visible effects including flicker or stroboscopic effects.

The objective of this project was to study sensory and physiological signals during a reading activity carried out under three levels of TLM found in commercially available LED lamps.

Methods:

Twelve subjects, aged from 25 to 39, non-smokers, having a normal vision with correction if needed, were selected. For the needs of the study, their colors and contrasts vision were characterized.

Three LED lamps were used. They had no flicker but exhibited different levels of the stroboscopic effect, characterized by their Stroboscopic Visibility Measure: SVM=0, SVM=1 and SVM=5.7. The dominant modulation frequency of the light output was 100 Hz.

Sensory and physiological measurements (eye-tracking, electrodermal response, skin microcirculation, heart rate, respiratory rate) were used to record the responses declared by the subjects and their physiological reactions.

For the reading task, seven texts were selected from the ophthalmology literature and standardized for them to be homogeneous in length, font and size.

Fig 1 : Experimental set-up and eye-tracking devices

Results and discussion:

Variance analysis shows that the lamp effect is not significant on all the sensory descriptors used. The panelists therefore did not differentiate between the three lamps.

Fig 2 : Boxplots of the mean pupil diameter and total fixation duration obtained for each lamp

Besides, there is a significant effect of the lamps on the mean pupil diameter and the total duration of fixation. When SVM increases, the mean pupil diameter and the total duration of the fixations both decrease.

An important objective in the study of cellular bakery products is characterization of the sensory properties and relating those to the microstructural and mechanical properties. This present work relates data on cake crumb structure (C-Cell) of butter-based pound cake to sensory perception, evaluated by a trained sensory panel. In addition, samples were subjected to texture profile analysis (TPA) to determine mechanical properties.

Variation in crumb structure was obtained by varying baking powder composition and concentration. Sensory mouthfeel of cake was described with nine attributes. Sensory firmness and stickiness could be quantified with TPA measurements. Variation in baking powder did not result in differences in sensory fattiness. Sensory firmness, porosity, crumbliness, smoothness and cohesion were found to be strongly correlated to structure parameters. No strong correlations with structure parameters were found for sensory dryness, stickiness, solubility and fattiness. Cell wall thickness to cell diameter ratio was related to sensory firmness. Sensory crumbliness was strongly correlated with several parameters that were related to crumb cell size. Sensory smoothness was strongly correlated with several parameters that were related to crumb cell elongation and orientation.

The combination of sensory perception with texture and structure parameters is very useful in predicting the impact of making changes in recipes or developing new recipes based on butter-based pound cake.

To study the connection between physical and mouthfeel properties, sensory tests and rheological measurements were conducted for five oat-based yogurt-like products and two dairy-based yogurts. Instrumental measurements included shear thinning, storage modulus, and particle size distribution. In addition, mouthfeel properties and eating duration of the products were analyzed using temporal dominance of sensations with consumers (n=86). The attributes thickness, thin, creamy, watery, sticky and foamy were selected based on descriptive analysis with a trained panel (n=11x3). Attributes thickness, creaminess wateriness and thinness dominated in most of the products. Connections between these four mouthfeel properties and rheological measurements were analyzed by regression analysis. Dairy and plant-based products differed by their sensory and instrumental measurements, yet two of the plant-based products were fairly similar to dairy products by both of the analyzed methods. Storage modulus predicted the viscosity related attributes (thickness, thinness) and particle size distribution more complex attributes (wateriness, creaminess).

Texture analyzer is an instrument widely employed in food processing and quality control. Food industries are very interested in studying textural characteristics because of their essential role in how consumers evaluate a product, that sometimes can be even more important than taste, appearance, or smell. This technique allows us to have an objective evaluation of sensorial parameters so to verify information obtained by an expert food tasting panel. Many studies have been undertaken to examine loss of firmness in vegetable products as a result of processing. The textural characteristics of plant food are strongly influenced by the mechanical properties of the cell walls. The force required to disrupt vegetable materials during mastication will be determined, principally, by the easiness in cell separation or cell breakage, influencing the level of hardness/softness and crunchiness in plant tissues. In the present work, kinaesthetic properties of in-brine table olives within eight cultivars of Olea europaea L. (Bella di Cerignola, Peranzana, Termite di Bitetto, Nocellara messinese, Nocellara del Belice, Itrana, Kalamata and Taggiasca) were tested with several measurements of olive tissue texture by rheological and sensory approaches. The aim of this study was to relate the different kinaesthetic attributes assessed by tasters of the CREA-IT panel (flesh hardness, cuticle hardness, cuticle persistence, flesh fibrousness, detach flesh/stone and crunchiness) with the kinaesthetic attributes measured with the texture analyzer TA.XT plusC (Stable Micro Systems) equipped with an acoustic detector. Analyzing kinaesthetic data, flesh hardness measured with texture analyzer shows a good correlation with flesh hardness measured with sensory evaluation (R² = 0.8868). Moreover, all the samples with a flesh hardness ≥ 3000 g (as force), as assessed with texture analyzer, have a flesh hardness measured via sensory evaluation ≥ 4.0 (as median value).

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This research was supported by MiPAAFT, funding the project DEAOLIVA (DM 93882).

Instrumental assessment of texture when designing gluten free breads is difficult: sometimes due to the high superficial firmness (if water and hydrocolloids are not compensated), and usually, because of a low cohesiveness, it might be too crumbly to perform any compression test with the required repeatability.

The objective was to evaluate the capacity to discriminate between gluten free bread formulations of a new instrumental procedure based on Texture Profile Analysis (TPA).

Several gluten free bread formulations were assayed. All of them were manufactured using a fibrous extract obtained from apple waste products. The main differences of the samples were: extract type (depending on the apple varieties and pre-treatment of the by-product), amount of extract added (0%, 3% or 6%) and whey protein added or not. Instrumental texture was measured with a TA.XT2i Texturometer. Crust texture was measured with a spherical probe directly in the bottom surfaces, while crumb was extracted with a metal cylinder (Ø=1cm) to get 3.5-4.0 cm samples. This avoided excessive disintegration of the crumb and help standardizing sample dimensions. A 7.5 cm diameter plate was used to compress the samples horizontally. Compression was set at 25% with a crosshead speed of 2 mm/s.

1. b) c)

Fig 1. a) sampling procedure for measurement of the crumb texture, b) texture measurement of the crust, c) texture measurement of standardised crumb samples

TPA performed as described was able to measure lower values in hardness, chewiness and gumminess in 3% samples in comparison to controls and even lower in 6% formulations. This procedure was able to measure a significant increase in cohesiveness 6% when whey proteins were added to strengthen the structure. Thus, it can be proposed as a standard method for texture assessment in problematic matrixes such as gluten free breads. A minimum number of 7-10 samples are required to dismiss sample heterogeneity issues.

The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) has been developed to operationalize addictive-like eating, with obesity and binge eating disorder arguably being the most frequent groups associated. Food addiction may therefore posit a continuum of dysfunctional personality traits, including increased impulsivity and poor decision-making.

The current study explored addictive-like eating behavior from a novel triadic model of addiction. Specifically, we focused on the neuroanatomy of three interacting neural systems; a hyper-functioning impulsive, reward system associated with striatal structures, a hypo-functioning reflective control system governed by prefrontal cortex, and a disrupted insula-mediated interoceptive system responsible for integrating and translating interoceptive, somatic signals into feelings of anticipation, desires, or cravings.

Sixty-four healthy Chinese university students were scanned for high-resolution structural and diffusion imaging. Data from the YFAS, Binge Eating Scale, Eating Attitude Test-26, UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, and Delay Discounting Task were collected. Based on the YFAS symptom count, participants were divided into a High Food Addiction (HFA) and a Low Food Addiction (LFA) group.

Diffusion tensor imaging results revealed that the HFA (vs LFA) group had lower structural connectivity between insula and anterior cingulate cortex (aCC), insula and caudate, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and putamen (Fig. 1). The voxel-based morphometry analysis indicated marginally lower gray matter volume in the left vmPFC in HFA. Finally, behavioral results showed that higher food addiction symptoms were associated with personality traits exhibited in especially binge eating disorder including impulsive eating.

These results suggest that even in a healthy population, some individuals may be more susceptible to develop unhealthy relationships to food, which at least partially is manifested in lower structural connectivity between brain regions associated with interoceptive awareness, decision-making, and reward.

Fig. 1: A) Sagittal view, and B) axial view of the ROIs of which the structural connectivity between the HFA and LFA group were significantly different. In particular, the HFA group were associated with significantly lower structural connectivity between the insula and aCC, insula and caudate, and vmPFC and putamen compared to the LFA group ROI.

A better understanding of fat perception and preference is needed to tackle passive overconsumption of energy dense high-fat foods. This study examined the separate and additive roles of smell and mouthfeel cues in fat perception in low viscous (milk) and high viscous (quark) dairy foods. Fifty female participants (23.0 ± 2.8 years; mean BMI 21.8 ± 2.2 kg/m2) ranked fat intensity in milk and quark differing in fat content (1.5%, 3.0%, 4.5% and 6.0%), in three conditions of sensory exposure: 1) smell (sniffing), 2) taste + mouthfeel (participants wore nose-clips) and 3) flavour + mouthfeel (normal consumption). Ranking scores were calculated, -6 was lowest score and 6 highest score (right order of fat level). Shear viscosity was minimally affected by fat level in both products. Friction coefficients decreased substantially with increasing fat content in both products, and larger differences were found in milk than in quark. Fat levels could be discriminated in both products in all three sensory exposures (p<0.01, higher than random score of 0). Surprisingly, there were no differences in discrimination ability between the conditions of sensory exposures. Fat levels were easier to discriminate in milk than in quark (P = 0.008). In conclusion, fat is better perceived by smell and mouthfeel in low viscous foods compared to high viscous foods. Mouthfeel perception seems to be related to frictional properties in the present study. Fat discrimination ability by smell only might be sufficient to sense fat content of liquid and semi-solid dairy foods.

Thermal taste is a phenomenon whereby taste is perceived through temperature stimulation of the tongue in the absence of a taste stimulus. This phenomenon occurs in up to 80% of the population (thermal tasters or TT), who have also been shown to exhibit differences in taste perception compared to thermal non tasters (TnT). This may affect food choice. However, small sample sizes, driven by complex and inefficient phenotyping, has limited studies to date. The current method of phenotyping comprises two separate temperature exposures, followed by taste-intensity ratings on a gLMS.

Here we present a new, more rapid and combined thermal taste phenotyping (RapCoTT) method, and thermode device, which was developed by linking replicated dynamic temperature stimulation with temporal-check-all-that-apply (TCATA) taste data collection. The work evaluated the efficacy of the RapCoTT method by performing a validation study during which 132 participants were phenotyped using both the traditional approach and the RapCoTT method. It was found that RapCoTT was significantly more efficient (p < 0.01, odds ratio = 5.71) than the existing classification approaches, with only 7% of participants unclassified. Reassuringly, RapCoTT placed individuals into the same Thermal taster status category as the traditional methods would have, but further categorised the majority of those left uncategorised by those existing methods. Additional areas for improvement were also identified.

An added advantage of RapCoTT is that the exact temperatures at which tastes are occurring can be pinpointed, as well as to whether this was initially evoked during a cooling or warming phase. The higher efficiency of the RapCoTT approach for phenotyping makes studies on larger cohorts of participants more viable. Furthermore, the temporal data collection opens up potential to study the phenomenon of thermal taste and the mechanisms behind it in more detail.

Introduction:

Skin is innervated by sensitive afferents liable to encode thermic, painful, and mechanical stimuli. It is known that keratinocytes express olfactory receptors, the activation of which induces cell proliferation and promotes skin regeneration. We compared the long-term effects of cosmetic oil application upon tactile sensitivity, depending on the presence of fragrance actives or not.

Methods:

44 women (40 - 60 years) were included into a double-blinded controlled design. One group was exposed to the oil with specific fragrance actives, whereas the other one used the same base without any added fragrance. Participants had to apply the oil on their face, hands and forearms once a day in the evening for one month. Pressure sensitivity was evaluated on the glabrous skin of the hand, the forearm, and the cheek with Semmes Weinstein monofilaments. Tactile discrimination threshold was assessed with haptic touch at the index finger level by evaluating the distance between bands printed on PMMA sheets. A third test consisting of diffusing a jet of air on the skin at a constant pressure was set up to measure dynamic threshold. Both tests were conducted before and after the month of product application.

Results:

In the post-test session, sensitivity to pressure improved in both groups, but the effects were more marked in the group using odorous oil. Tactile discrimination and dynamic threshold improved only in this group.

This study shows for the first time that long-lasting application of a cosmetic oil improves tactile sensitivity, notably when aromatic compounds are included. The results observed regardless of the type of sensitivity tested lead us to assume a peripheral mechanism. In addition, we demonstrated that the odorous oil increases the presence of the olfactory receptor OR2A4 in keratinocytes. Beyond aesthetic considerations, these data open up clinical prospects for tactile disorders associated with peripheral neuropathies.

Cephalic phase responses (CPRs) are conditioned anticipatory physiological responses to food cues. They occur before nutrient absorption and are hypothesized to be important for satiation and glucose homeostasis. Cephalic phase insulin (CPIR) and pancreatic polypeptide responses (CPPPR) are found consistently in animals, but human literature is inconclusive. We performed a systematic review of human studies to determine magnitude and onset time of these CPRs.

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used to develop a search strategy. The terms included in the search strategy were cephalic or hormone response or endocrine response combined with insulin and pancreatic polypeptide. The following databases were searched; Scopus (Elsevier), Science Direct, PubMed, Google Scholar, and The Cochrane Library. Initially, 582 original research papers were found, 50 were included for analysis.

An insulin increase (>1μIU/mL) was observed in 41% of the treatments (total n=119). In 22% of all treatments the increase was significant from baseline. Median(inter quartile range, (IQR)) insulin increase was 2.5 (1.6-4.5) μIU/mL, 30% above baseline at 5±3 min after food cue onset (based on study treatments that induced at least an 1μIU/mL insulin increase). An pancreatic polypeptide increase (>10 pg/mL) was found in 48% of the treatments (total n=42). In 21% of the treatments the increase was significant from baseline. Median(IQR) pancreatic polypeptide increase was 99(26-156) pg/mL, 68% above baseline at 9±4 min after food cue onset (based on study treatments that induced at least an 1μIU/mL insulin increase).

In conclusion, CPIRs are small compared to spontaneous fluctuations. Although CPPPRs are of a larger magnitude, both show substantial variation in magnitude and onset time. We found little evidence for CPIR or CPPPR to affect functional outcomes, that is satiation and glucose homeostasis. Therefore cephalic phase responses do not seem to be biologically meaningful in daily life.

In this preregistered study we examined why people with an omnivorous diet (i.e., omnivores) would view vegetarians and vegans (i.e., veg*ns) as less socially attractive based on their status as stigmatized moral minorities. Drawing on a recently demonstrated distinction between perceived morality and sociability in research on universal dimensions of stereotype content, we expected that veg*ns would be perceived as more moral but less sociable compared to omnivores. A lower perceived sociability would predict a lower social attractiveness of veg*ns, supported by two additional stereotypes theorized to be specifically associated with moral minorities: moralistic and eccentric impressions. In addition, we explored impressions towards people who consciously reduce their meat intake (i.e., flexitarians) and we complemented our quantitative analysis with an analysis of stereotype content omnivore participants freely associated with the dietary groups. Accordingly, using a single factor between-subjects experimental design, we randomly allocated a diverse sample of omnivores from the UK to answer questions about either omnivores (n = 100), flexitarians (n = 101), vegetarians (n = 105) or vegans (n = 106). Results largely confirmed our hypotheses: Although veg*ns were perceived as more moral than omnivores, they were also stereotyped more negatively. More specifically, they were seen as more eccentric and, in particular, more moralistic, predicting a lower social attractiveness, although mediations via sociability were weak. Notably, vegetarians had a less negative image compared to vegans, and flexitarians shared positive attributes of both non-flexitarian groups (i.e., more moral than omnivores, but also more sociable and socially attractive than vegans and less moralistic than veg*ns). Free association data were largely consistent with our results and provide directions for further inquiry, for example concerning veg*ns’ (often) morally-motivated dietary commitment, in particular as “animal lovers”, and the lack of commitment attributed to flexitarians. Limitations and implications for theory and practice are discussed.

As the free sorting task becomes more common in sensory science, methodological research is needed to determine best practices for the test. Studies have shown that asking attribute-specific, “analytical” questions can bias the answers participants give to later “holistic” questions in a survey. For the free sorting task, this has led researchers to recommend only asking subjects to label or describe groups of products after they have finished sorting, but this approach is not based on empirical research. The present study investigated whether the separation of sorting and labeling steps is advantageous by having 80 panelists sort 12 cold brew coffee samples in 3 conditions: labeling and describing the groups afterwards, at the same time, or not at all. Results were analyzed with Hierarchical DISTATIS, an iterative modification of DISTATIS which allows for hypothesis testing of differences between a priori groups using a permutation test. No configurational differences were found based on the timing of labeling instructions (p = 0.66) and 38% of panelists labeled their groups without being told, suggesting future researchers may request subjects label when convenient. However, given the higher within-group agreement of subjects who sorted and labeled simultaneously, simultaneous labeling is suggested as best practice for future sorting tasks.

Background & Purpose

Imagine consumers experiencing a special sensory characteristic when tasting a new product. At the next relevant purchase decision they might remember that specificity, which will make their remembered sensory profile a better Gestalt. Bartlett (1886-1969) invented the Schema concept into psychology. His serial reproduction example demonstrated self-organisation (meaning creation, Gestalt building) during remembrance. Remembering may include simplification or elaboration of details in order to assimilate a schema; accentuation and even confabulations may occur. We try to demonstrate such self-organisation in flavour memory via remembered sensory profiles.

Method

Lay consumers are less able to express their flavour memory. A descriptive panel on the other hand is trained to work analytically, i.e. to separate the sensation for each descriptor, hence avoiding holistic schema building. Therefore, in remembered profiles of trained panelists schemata may only tentatively occur. We nevertheless apply a QDA-type panel (n 13) working for years with the product category of orange juice. The usual list of 42 descriptors was applied for the intensity assessment (0-10) of 4 products during tasting and from memory.

Results

As expected for analytical panelists, a PCA of 4 x 3 aggregated profiles (31 descriptors, significant with pre & post as replicate) show lower discrimination of the remembered profiles. Thus, each panelist’s distribution in a joint PCA of 156 profiles (4 products x 3 tasks x 13 n) was analysed separately: 3 panelists produced higher between-product-SD for remembered profiles; they are the models of lay consumers.

Fig. Resulting Schema Specificities for e.g. Panelist 5.

Understanding consumers, especially their perception of products, is crucial for industrials. Qualitative and quantitative studies are used for this purpose. These methods allow exploring and measuring dimensions of consumers’ perception. To complement usual techniques, researchers have started to focus on text analysis of open-ended survey responses (Ten Kleij and Musters, 2003). Through consumers’ talks, we can access to thoughts and insights.

Our research aimed at understanding consumers’ perception of their closeness with perfumes. Thus, we introduced a two-part qualitative method.

For this study, a sample of twenty-six French users of fragrances, balanced in terms of gender and age, was recruited. Each assessor participated in one individual session (duration between 60 and 90 minutes). The first part was a semi-structured interview. Consumers were asked to describe their relationship and particularly their perceived proximity with their perfumes. The second part was a free sorting task of 12 fragrances. Two sets of products were selected to represent both genders’ markets. After the sorting, participants were asked to rank their groups depending on perceived proximity (from close to distant). Then, they had to explain and characterize their closeness for each group.

All the interviews were recorded, transcribed, and aggregated under one single corpus. The lexical and structural analyses were performed using IRaMuTeQ (Version 0.7 alpha 2). The corpus was analysed using descendant hierarchical clustering and correspondence analysis. The sorting data set was analysed with a nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) with the R package FreeSortR 1.3.

This study allowed identifying the main dimensions of perceived proximity towards perfumes: identity, singularity, emotional experience and relationship. These findings may contribute to fragrance research which, for now, has paid very little attention to this subject. Moreover, our method helped to link sensory proximity (from free sorting task) to affective and cognitive proximities which were identified through interviews.

References:

Ten Kleij, F. & Musters, P.A.D. (2003). Text analysis of open-ended survey responses: a complementary method to preference mapping. Food Quality and Preference 14, 43-52.

To keep pace with the changing consumer desires, fast, inexpensive and effective food product development methods are needed. Mind Genomics is a scalable, affordable, rapid system, which requires users to choose a topic, deconstruct the topic into a limited number of questions which ‘tell a story’, create answers to the questions, and allowing consumers rate different combinations of these ‘answers’. The process is an ‘experiment’ which shows how the respondent thinks about the different aspects of the topic (cognitive), and how these different engage attention.  Mind Genomics reveals the ‘algebra of the mind,’ and ‘new to the world mind-sets,’ divergent ways that people think about and perceive the same products. In our presented case study, we introduce an experimental product development process of cultured meat products conducted in New York and California. Several topics related to sustainability, ingredients, sensory attributes and new product categories were tested. The large-scale, multi-topic database provides a snapshot of a large category, presented in easy-to-manage format.  While the key empirical finds show certain consumer segments strongly disagreed cultured meat would reduce animal cruelty, most participants felt cultured meat was healthier than real meat. There were weak mind-sets as to whether cultured meat would ever taste like premium meat, except for women from California who disagreed with the element. Californians (aged 25-34 years) had strong negative attitudes toward meat grown on bone, such as drumsticks. In conclusion, the science of Mind Genomics cost effective guided product design, creation, and messaging. We present both the database, ready for use and the PVI, personal viewpoint identifier, which allows the researcher to ‘mind-type’ any new consumer on the array of different topics in the database.

Introduction:

Feeling younger than chronological age has been shown to impact health outcomes positively. But how chronological and subjective aging are linked with food consumption and satisfaction with food-related life is not well researched. The present study examined these links, to explore selected psychological and behavioral relations with senior citizens’ self-perception of health.

Methods:

In an online survey, 499 seniors aged 55-90 (M_age 68.5 years), 47.3% women, 68.9% married/cohabiting, 13.6% single and 16.8% were divorced or widowed were recruited. Items included common food related practices, meal regularity and intake of age appropriate supplements (vitamin D), food-related life (SWFL), a general tendency to worry, subjective aging (referring to FEEL-, LOOK-, DO- and INTEREST-Age), perception of personal health status, height and weight (BMI), and appetite, as well as socio-demographic characteristics. Multiple regressions were conducted with subjective health as DV.

Results:

Average subjective age of respondents was lower than chronological age, a gap that increased with chronological age: A total of 48.9%/ 41.1%/ 33.8%/16.4% of respondents in their fifties/sixties/seventies/eighties matched their chronological age, whereas 42%/ 53.7%/ 65.6%/83.6% of respondents felt approx. one decade younger than their chronological age.

Perception of health related to age in opposite directions; chronological age had a positive association, while subjective perception had a negative impact, i.e., if one feels old, the perception of being in good health decreases. General tendency to worry, BMI and limited resources for food shopping were negatively linked, whereas being satisfied with food related life was positively linked with perception of health.

Conclusion:

Both chronological and subjective aging and food-related satisfaction contribute to the perception of being at good health, but further studies of the antecedents and consequences of a “positive” outlook on aging is lacking. For public health communication and private marketers, acknowledging the impact of subjective age on self-perceived health is important.

To understand the factors affecting consumer food choices the inter-relation between food preference and selected background variables were studied.

In an online questionnaire 189 adult volunteers from South Ostrobothnia/Finland were asked to evaluate pleasantness and willingness to eat selected everyday foods: salmon main courses, fruit salads, sandwiches, porridges, and a green salads varying in familiarity and diversity. Designed dish photos (n = 15) were used as primers during the study.

Food and health attitudes were studied with the Health and Taste Attitude Scales questionnaire (HTAS), Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ), Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ), Food Involvement Scale (FIS), Food Mavenism questionnaire (FM) and Food enjoyment questionnaire (FE). In addition, demographic variables (age, gender, education) as well as participants’ consumption and quality of dietary fats were assessed.

Statistical analysis was conducted using SAS software, version 9.4. Dependencies between food variables were described using Principal component analysis with Varimax rotation. Linear models with background variables as independents were estimated to explain variation of food variables. Stepwise selection was used to find a set of statistically significant independents.

Based on factor analysis of liking and willingness to eat the 15 foods could be categorised into three different groups of “exotic healthy”, “familiar healthy” and “comfort food”.

Several explanatory variables behind food preferences were identified. Health orientation appeared to be most common in explaining food preferences: liking of seven out of 15 food portions correlated positively or negatively with health attitudes. Pleasure and sensory appeal were important factors in four out of 15 foods, mostly explaining different foods than health. Mavenism is characteristic for individuals who have more information than the average consumer about the facets of the market, and are often in the key role to initiate new discussions. Interestingly mavenism appeared to be important explanatory variable in food preference of two example dishes.

Although nine years passed since the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in Japan, some consumers and distributors still avoid purchasing foods from Fukushima prefecture. Fukushima local government, agricultural and fisheries cooperatives, and even individual farmers inspect their products and disclose the level of radioactive cesium to guarantee they are safe. However, stigmatized products are still struggling in the markets.

Some results of consumer surveys conducted by administrative agencies show that consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions of products from Fukushima had recovered to almost the same level as the one before the accident. However, this is different from the actual situation farmers are facing. We doubted the result of surveys because they were self-administered questionnaires and might not reflect consumers’ real thoughts. Therefore, we collected the data of implicit and explicit attitudes and examined if there is a difference. We found that even though showing positive explicit attitude, some consumers have negative emotions toward products from Fukushima and which leads to not purchasing them. There is a prejudice against Fukushima products behind their positive attitudes and it makes the situation more difficult. Interestingly, their negative implicit attitudes are shown up when they are asked to imagine others’ reactions to Fukushima products. We assume that this is why Fukushima products are in a more severe situation in the gift-giving market. Some fruits such as peaches, pears, etc. used to be very popular and enjoy their good reputation, but they had been damaged. Our result suggests that marketing efforts should be paid to make a particular meaning of sending Fukushima products to others.

This research contributes to understanding the difference between consumers’ implicit and explicit attitudes through IAT and showing that this method is adaptable in the field of consumer behavior and marketing as well.

Visual behaviour paradigms reveal information that a conventional research would miss. Therefore, eye-tracking technology is very useful when aiming to measure visual attention and understand its role in decision-making processes. According to gaze cascade hypothesis, demonstrated by Shimojo et al. (2003), the longer a participant looks at an object, the more likely he is to develop a preference for it. However, connection between viewing time and preference is obtained with the use of alternative-forced-choice tasks with two or more simultaneously presented stimuli (relative evaluative processing). Using naturalistic food images as single presented stimuli (absolute evaluative processing), we present results that clearly deviate from the proposal that longer viewing time expresses preference. In presented paradigm the influences of gazing times have been investigated, with an eye-tracking device support, under two different tasks. In the Liking task, participants were asked to rate how much they liked the images from 1 (not at all) to 3 (very much). In the Shopping task, same participants were instructed to judge whether they wish to include presented image in their selection, postpone the judgment or exclude it. Our data pattern confirms that there is no general facilitative link between looking and preference, during the evaluative processing of single presented food images. We obtained inversed U-shape relationships (between viewing time and preference) in both, Shopping and Liking tasks.

Introduction: Adults consuming sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) are at increased risk of becoming overweight/obese and developing lifestyle-related diseases. Furthermore, a low water intake is associated with increased health risks, such as chronic kidney disease. These issues are especially pressing in Mexico where SSB intake is high. The present research aimed to describe the attitudes of Mexican adults who are considered high sugar-low water drinkers (HS-LWD).

Methods: HS-LWD were defined as adults aged 18-45 years, drinking at least 2 servings (500mL) of SSB/day and maximum 3 servings (750mL) of water/day. The study included 2.858 HS-LWD (58% males) living in the urban area of Mexico City. Data were collected using an online, self-administered questionnaire. Bayesian approach was applied to analyze attitudes in life and towards drinking.

Results: Results showed that social aspects, such as sharing with friends and family and self-image, were the dominant attitudes in life. The main reason to choose a beverage was to get sensations, resulting in two axes, one is for pleasure (taste and meal-related), the other one is health oriented. Getting sensations (linked to e.g., an intense taste, a beverage that is easily shareable and pleases everyone) was also a main driver to drink linked to a moment, together with self-image (associated with e.g., a modern and sparkling drink). The Bayesian network analysis demonstrated 5 attitude profiles, based on the most important attitudes defining each profile: mood and pleasure, self-image and body image, sharing and restoring, pleasure and energy, and health and success.

Discussion: This study allowed describing HS-LWD attitudes, in life and towards drinking. It constitutes a first step in understanding this target group’s attitudes and behavior, offering potential recommendations for tailored interventions to promote the adoption of healthier drinking habits.

Consumers must navigate the impact of their dietary choices across diverse outcomes, such as personal health and environmental sustainability. Despite efforts to promote healthy and sustainable food choices, it remains unclear how consumers prioritise and negotiate risks/benefits of their choices. Here, we compared the effectiveness of communicating nutritional, health, or environmental risks/benefits on consumers’ intentions to change their consumption habits for specific foods. Participants (N=901) viewed 25 foods presented with either no information (control), standard nutritional facts, Health Nutrition Index scores (HENI; healthy life minutes gained/lost per serving), carbon footprint scores (kg CO₂e per serving), or both HENI and carbon footprint scores (H+E). Participants rated the perceived healthiness, environmentally friendliness and their intentions to increase/decrease consumption of each food. Perceptions of healthiness and environmentally friendliness were significantly correlated with HENI and carbon footprint scores respectively. For foods that were health-beneficial and low carbon footprint, participants in the H+E condition reported a greater intention to increase consumption compared to the control condition (p=.014). Intentions across conditions for foods classified as high risk for health and environment did not differ. When foods were health-beneficial with high environmental impacts, participants in the H+E condition reported lower intentions to decrease consumption than those in the environment condition (p=.023). Foods harmful for health but with low environment impact did not generate different intention changes across conditions. Findings suggest that when health impacts of foods are presented in an intuitive manner (HENI), consumers may be more sensitive to benefits than risks. Notably, communicating both the health and environmental benefits/risks of foods (H+E) does not seem to motivate intentions to change consumption habits over encountering just the health or environmental impacts alone. However, participants may be willing to tolerate environmental risks of foods in the presence of health benefits.

The deficiency in vitamin D of the European population could to be alleviate using food enrichment, being pork a possibility since it is one of the most consumed meats. In the UE is allowed the addition of vitamin D₃ in pig feed, indistinctly it be synthetic or natural. A natural source can be mushroom exposed to UV light, which increases their vitamin D content. However, consumers are reluctant to incorporate some technologies in food processing. Then, we investigated if consumers are willing to consume vitamin D-enhanced pork meat from animals fed mushrooms treated with ultraviolet light. An on-line survey (4,9% error, 95% confidence, p = q = 0.5; k = 2) was conducted in Aragon (northern Spain) of 400 consumers (non-vegan, non-vegetarian). Sampling was stratified by province, gender and age group (≤18-25 years, 26-40 years, 41-55 years, 56-64 years) following National Institute of Statistics data (2017). The consumers have to choose the strategy they preferred (not enriching meat, enriching meat with synthetic vitamin D or enriching meat with vitamin D from UV-irradiated mushrooms). Also, they were asked about allergy to mushrooms and frequency of meat consumption. The sample was balanced by gender (50% men) those >55 years old (17.1%) and ≤25 years old (10.7%) were less represented than the rest. A 7.4% of consumers eats meat once/month or less, 23.2% do it 2-3 times/month, 37.5%, every week and 31.9%, more than once a week. The 93.9% did not have allergies to mushrooms, 1.0% did, and 5.1% are not sure. The 81.4% preferred no enrichment meat, 6.4% preferred synthetic vitamin, and 12.2% chose irradiated-mushrooms vitamin. None of the sociodemographic, health or behavioral variables affected the option chosen except age (p = 0.006) with those ≤25 years old presenting a higher frequency than expected for "synthetic vitamin" or "mushrooms vitamin”.

Following medical recommendations, many industrials are developing low-salt or low-fat meat products. Nevertheless, any change in the formulation of a product can cause a consumer rejection. The aim of the paper was to evaluate the consumer visual appraisal of low-salt, low-fat dry fermented sausages. We follow a factorial design with 2 fat (pork back fat or texturized soy flakes) x 4 salts (none, NaCl, and two commercial salt without Na+: Aranca®, Novosal®). Once elaborated, the sausages were distributed into four presentations, usually found in Spain: entire with or without intestine coat, sliced with or without coat. All the samples were placed on polystyrene trays and exposed in an exhibitor imitating commercial conditions. Sample were presented in pairs and consumers were asked to choose one of each pair by their visual aspect, as well as for the criterion used on the election (less fat, red colour, orange colour, well cured). A total of 52 answers were collected, being 29% women. Four age groups were established: ≤35 years old (15%), 36-40 years (11%), 41-50 years (37%), >50 (37%). There was no differences in frequencies neither by salt nor by format (slices/entire) or absence/presence of coat. Surprisingly, control batch was chosen less times than the rest (5.8%). Soy batches were chosen more frequently than pork back fat batches (62.5%). Age affected to preferred salt, then people 36-40 years chosen batches without salt less frequently than expected and people 41-50 years old chosen NaCl batches less frequently than expected. The two most employed criteria for election were “fatless” (40.4%) and “red colour” (40.3%). People ≤35 pointed mainly “fatless” whereas people 41-50 years old stated “red colour” more frequently than expected. Since slight differences in visual appraisal, it is expected that sausages formulated with a combination of soy-low salt would be well accepted into the Spanish market.

Introduction

In the pursuit of an explanation for food choice, we as researchers seek to explore various factors that could play important parts in eating behaviour. Psychobiological perspectives highlight the relationship between our appetite control system and food choice. Here, the homeostatic processes such as hunger and satiety sensations drive eating behaviour, reflecting a need or motivation to eat. Non-homeostatic processes also influence food choice, for instance eating/choosing food for pleasure and because of desires to achieve a hedonic reward. Exploring how sensory characteristics relate to subjective appetite and to desire for foods with similar and different sensory characteristics, can provide essential insights into understanding intake behaviours.

The main purpose of this research study was to investigate how Sensory-Specific-Satiety (SSS) generated by foods with a pronounced sweet, salty and combined sweet-salty profile affected Sensory-Specific-Desires (SSD).

Methods

Three consumer studies were conducted (n=89) where portions of foods with a pronounced sweet, salty and sweet+salty sensory profile were eaten to satiation. Dynamics in subjective sensations of appetite and SSD were studied in intervals over the course of each meal using 15cm Visual Analogue Scales. SSD was further studied by liking and wanting for food samples representing the sensory profiles: sweet, sour, salt, bitter, fat and spicy.

Results

Preliminary analyses indicate that SSS for salty foods decreases SSD for foods with salty profiles, and that these results are confirmed by liking and wanting when tasting food samples sharing this characteristic. Sweet desire on the other hand seems to be a unique sensation not related to appetite nor other desire sensations.

Discussion

Results from this study confirm the complexity of human eating behaviour and contributes to our understanding of sensory characteristics driving human appetite.

Non-communicable diseases associated with poor eating habits, such as overweight, obesity, and hypertension, continue to be a challenge for the authorities in charge of health. A recent Chilean regulation, called Nutritional Warning Labels (NWL), seeks to prevent and inform the population about processed foods with high content of sugar, saturated fat, sodium and/or calories. Under the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the study attempt to identify the effect of nutritional warning labelling on consumer behaviour with different body mass index (BMI). Through a convenience sampling, a survey was applied to 807 consumers in the central zone of Chile. The data were analysed through multigroup structured equation model. The results of the basic model show us that the TPB can explain the intention to avoid processed food with NWL (ꭓ2/df = 2.86; CFI = 0.994; TLI = 0.992; RMSEA= 0.048). The multigroup model reveals that the consumers with normal BMI show a negative attitude towards processed foods with NWL, but a positive perceived behavioural control (PBC). Consumers with overweight IBM, the attitude is not significant, but subjective norm and PBC have a positive and significant effect to processed foods with NWL. While consumers with Obesity just a PBC has a positive and significant effect toward processed foods with NWL. This means that a higher weight (higher BMI) of the consumers disappear the negative attitude and subjective norm toward processed food with NWL. Then, in the case of subjective norms is not relevant for obese people and NWL do not effect on these consumers. Therefore, NWL are a good tool to people with normal weight, however, the NWL must be supported by communicational and educational campaigns to overweight and obese consumers.

Consumer behavior and perceptions of the food chain is of importance regarding the emergence of alternatives to the mass market. The central objective of the European project SMARTCHAIN is to foster and accelerate the shift towards collaborative short food supply chains (SFSC), to introduce new robust business models and innovative practical solutions and promote a more favourable framework for sustainable, local, healthier and ethically produced food in Europe.

Interviews of expert stakeholder of the SFSC were conducted in seven EU countries to collect data related to consumer attitudes, values, expectations and preferences in relation to SFSC. Consumers were asked to talk about their behavior regarding this food consumption mode.

The results showed that experts believed that the support that consumers are willing to give is variable. There might be a cognitive dissonance between their statements and their actions. Purchase decision is mainly driven by freshness and price. In Switzerland, consumers would like to pay the same price and services as in the supermarket. The experts asserted that consumers are demanding for specialized and niche products. Their willingness to pay more for these products depends on the product type (e.g. wine vs. carrots).

Some regional differences were reported, with souther European consumers more concerned about local specialties and tradition, while northern European consumers have a greater understanding of environmental and social issues. Besides, consumers have a positive image of local food in terms of quality and production standards. However, trust, food hygiene and safety are highlighted issues. They are expecting the same criteria as long chains/supermarkets to buy local food (i.e. diversity of products available in one place, accessibility and attractive price). Finally, education of consumers to improve their engagement in SFSC should be realized.

Business recommendations as in the figure below can be drawn from the conducted study.

Introduction:

PDO Salers Tradition is a farmer cheese, produced during a specific period, from 15th April to 15th November, with Salers cow’s milk. This cheese stands out for its reputation of the Salers breed and for specific cheese-making. Having say that, Salers cheeses can be made with milk from “others cows’ breeds”. Professionals agree to say the fact that flavor differences could be developed between these two categories of cheeses with a long duration of ripening time: Salers cheeses, produced with the Salers cheese cow’s milk and Salers produced with the “others breeds cow’s milk”.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the specific contribution of Salers cow’s milk on the cheeses’ sensory properties in order to add value PDO cheeses produced with the kind of milk.

Method:

Two categories of cheeses: Salers and Cantal cheeses will be selected, produced using either raw salers milk or other breeds raw milk. After 11 months of ripening and storage in the same maturing cellar, ten cheeses will be analyzed (four farmers and six dairy industries). This process is implemented to precisely control the ripening conditions of the cheeses.

In the first step, free sorting method will be carried out by different groups of professional (n=30) from different geographical areas and a group of consumers (n=40). In the second step, sensory profiles will be carried out by a trained panel of 10 subjects (panelists), who will evaluate all cheeses. In parallel, a consumer test will be organized on a selection of cheeses according to the results of free sorting.

Results:

Overall outcomes could deepen the understanding of the impact of the Salers breed in the development of the sensory characteristics of cheeses. On this basis, a sensory argument could be developed adding value for the chain’s professional sector.

Saliva can affect the release of aroma in the mouth during wine consumption through different physicochemical mechanisms (non-covalent interactions, “salting-out” or enzymatic conversion). Recently, we have shown that some salivary components (salivary flow and Total Protein Content (TPC)) are correlated with the perceived intensity of specific wine aroma attributes when using dynamic sensory analysis. However, whether differences in salivary parameters are related to aroma perception in regular wine consumers is yet unknown. Additionally, considering that salivary secretions could vary due to the age or gender of individuals, it might be expectable some differences on aroma perception and liking between young or senior wine consumers.

To check this, 103 regular wine consumers of different ages: <35 years old (n=58; 34 women, 24 men) and >55 y.o (n=45; 23 women, 22 men) were recruited. Their salivary flow and TPC was determined. A red and white wine with two predominant aroma attributes (black pepper and pineapple, respectively), were selected for this study. The retronasal aroma intensity of both aromas attributes in both wines and the liking scores were recorded by using tablet devices and the Compusense software.

Results showed a strong effect of the wine type (red and white) on the perceived intensity of the two aroma attributes. Additionally, significant differences in the perceived intensity of pineapple in white wines and black pepper in red wines were found depending on consumer’s age and gender. Senior women perceived significantly lower aroma intensity (p<0.05) of both attributes. This group of consumers was characterized by having a lower salivary flow and higher TPC. A significant effect of TPC on liking was also observed for the red wine. These results confirm the impact of individual oral physiology on aroma perception and can be useful for the development of personalized wines for target consumers.

Deeper understanding is required to predict consumer preferences and choice of food products. In order to understand Chinese and New Zealand consumers’ behaviour, focus groups were performed to gain insights into their preferences for natural and strawberry flavoured drinkable yoghurts.

Focus groups in Beijing, China (n=10, 3 groups) and in Palmerston North, New Zealand (n=7-9, 3 groups) were divided into: icebreaker, warm-up, tasting of yoghurt products, projective technique for consumers’ sensory preferences and food safety/provenance activities. An experienced moderator used a predefined discussion guide to ensure consistency and the sessions lasted two hours with video and audio recordings. Data was input into NVivo software to aid extraction of key themes on sensory preference, ethnicity, provenance of yoghurts and food safety. The coding framework was based on words used during tasting, grouped by sensory modality and compared according to ethnicity. To extract the key themes an interpretive coding approach was applied.

Chinese and New Zealand European consumers described a preference for sweet yoghurt, but the preferred intensity differed, particularly in relation to the level of sourness. “Dairy flavour” was important to Chinese consumers. The expectation of “strawberry flavour” also differed between ethnic groups. Both ethnicities preferred smooth yoghurts, but Chinese consumers preferred a thicker texture. The discussions revealed that Chinese consumers had specific health-related cultural practices regarding time and temperature of consumption. New Zealand provenance was associated with high quality products by both ethnic groups; however, Chinese consumers were concerned that transportation time to China could affect “freshness” of the yoghurt. On the other hand, Chinese provenance was linked to “artificial” flavours.

This study has revealed key themes that should be considered in drinkable yoghurt product development across cultural groups, particularly for export markets with their own unique sensory drivers and cultural expectations.

Visual appearance and flavor are important attributes for consumers to evaluate the quality of tomatoes, which also affect their purchase intention. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the relative importance of the quality attributes, visual appearance and flavor, on consumers’ willingness-to-buy (WTB) for fresh products.

Data was collected using a combination of a CLT visual assessment and a sensory taste test. 78 respondents scored the appearance and the taste of 8 different tomato cultivars on a line scale from 0 (extremely dislike) to 100 (extremely like). Meanwhile, their WTBs, based on visual liking, flavor liking, and both, were asked respectively during the test process. Visual liking was first based on physical products as presented on a shopping shelf. After tasting in sensory booths, again visual liking was asked, based on a picture of the same vine of tomatoes.

ANOVA and correlation analysis per respondent were carried out in SPSS (IBM Statistics 25). Significant differences (p<0.001) were found in all quality associated attributes studied among 8 tomato varieties. No significant differences were found between visual liking of physical products and visual liking of pictures of the same products. The correlation between flavor liking and overall WTB (0,86) was significantly higher (p<0.001) than between visual liking and overall WTB (0,72).

In conclusion, flavor liking had a slightly, but significantly, greater influence on consumer’s willingness to buy than visual liking for tested tomato varieties. Additionally, the result also implies that pictures, instead of physical products, could be considered in future consumer studies on visual liking of fresh tomatoes. In further research also tomato varieties with a low visual liking in combination with a high flavor liking should be included to investigate the relative importance of visual appearance and flavor on WTB.

Introduction: In order to ensure a sustainable food system in view of the growing world population, the consumption of animal-based food would have to be drastically reduced. Plant-based milk alternatives might have an important role in this. However, their attractiveness and acceptance depends crucially on their sensory properties. Since the assessment of pleasantness is processed in the brain, monitoring brain activity is expected to provide basic insights for hedonic food evaluations (Minematsu et al., 2018).

Methods: The aim of the present paper was to investigate sensory perception of plant-based milk alternatives with a novel imaging technique called functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). It is of interest to validate the methodology and whether and how the association of taste is reflected in the neuronal data of the subjects. Seven subjects went through an experiment tasting three different plant-based milks, while their neuronal data were recorded.

Results: Participants rated overall taste, sweetness, bitterness, grainlike quality and nuttiness of the samples. Oatmilk had the best overall rating (mean: 4.0, SD: 0.65), soymilk worst (mean: -1.0, SD:1.94). Results of the other taste attributes can be seen in figure 1. With regard to neural data of the subjects, oat milk gave a response, detectable in the brain, over all participants, with significant increased neural activity in channel 8 (t=2.43) (figure 2), soymilk significantly increased neural activity in several channels (ch1: t=2.72; ch5: t=2.27; ch8: t=2.66; ch20: t=2.62) (figure 3).

Discussion: These results revealed that the less preferred soy milk tended to increase neural prefrontal cortex activation (in different ways) more than the preferred oat milk. The results can be seen as first approach to detect whether the monitoring of neural activity might be a useful approach for objective evaluation of hedonic food evaluations and whether fNIRS is a feasible tool for this.

Figure 1: Results of the taste attributes

Figure 2: Increased neural activity for oat milk (ch8: t=2.43)

Figure 3: Increased neural activity for soy milk (ch1: t=2.72; ch5: t=2.27; ch8: t=2.66; ch20: t=2.62)

Since the last years, the natural aspect of products drive more and more consumer choices whether in food or non-food market.

Naturalness dimension can be perceived according to different aspects of a product, such as formula composition, brand commitments and values, packaging or sensory properties. The contribution of the sensory dimension remains quite unknown in the naturalness perception.

This study focused on the link between naturalness and sensory aspects on cosmetic products. The aim of the study was first to weight the sensory properties in the natural perception of the products and then to investigate which sensory criteria drive to naturalness perception.

We especially focused on cosmetic products: a range of 40 commercialized face cares, organic or not, were chosen among 40 different brands currently found on the French market.

This study was divided in two parts:

• consumer study carried on 80 women, who performed a sequential agglomerative sort task in a CLT environment. Consumers were asked to sort all the 40 branded products according to their perceived naturalness, taken into account brand, formula, packaging, composition and sensory aspects
• sensory profiles on texture obtained with 20 panelists

To sort products, consumers used 194 different terms referring to efficacy, packaging, composition, evocation, hedonic and sensory aspects. The non-naturalness seemed easier to describe with more words used. 30% of used terms where related to sensory. Sensory profiles obtained with experts allow description of non-explicit texture terms (e.g. “natural texture”).

Considering whole dataset, an important diversity of perception is noted for sensory terms: a same sensation can refer to a natural or non-natural perceived product (e.g. “a strong perfume”). The naturalness concept is complex for consumers and sensory properties are not the ones which drive the more consensually its perception.

Many restaurant wine lists order wines according to their origin. Considering that most consumers have a very limited knowledge about wine, this kind of presenting the wines does not offer much information towards the taste of a wine. We conducted two online studies in Switzerland to test whether a modern way of ordering wines according to taste such as fresh and dry, light and fruity, or bold and fruity, rather than the traditional order by their origin would reduce people’s perceived difficulty to choose a wine. In the first study (N=893), participants from both the traditional and the modern wine list had a similar decision time and also had the same level of perceived difficulty to choose a wine. However, participants could not compare the wine lists. In the second study, participants received both wine lists and compared them. We found a strong bivariate distribution with participants either showing a slight to strong preference for the traditional wine list, or the modern wine list. The findings underline restaurant managers need to recognize their customers preference for depicting and ordering wines and may improve customer satisfaction.

Ideal sensory representation (ISR) can be explained as a sensory profile expected for an ideal product. Repeated exposure may lead to an awareness of sensory attributes that are not initially noticed for unfamiliar foods and may increase liking, affecting construction of ISR and liking. This study investigated changes in ISR of unfamiliar food, black tea in Korea, over repeated exposures. Ideal profiling method (IPM) was applied to identify ISR of six black tea (BT) samples. Liking, familiarity and 13 sensory attributes of real samples and an ideal sample were evaluated by consumers who infrequently drank BT (≤once/month, n=63). They were exposed to BT daily for 11 days and conducted IPM on the 1^st, 6^th and 11^th visit. Repeated exposure did not significantly change liking, but significantly increased familiarity. Astringency and bitterness were perceived significantly weaker after repeated exposure, but increase in perception of complex flavors such as fruity and flowery was not observed. The location of ideal sensory ellipses in the product space was not significantly changed after repeated exposures, but ellipses itself became more overlapped and smaller after repeated exposures, indicating that the group ISR became more consistent. In addition, sweet odor and flavors of fruit, flower, and black tea were less correlated with ideal BT after exposures. Results of this study suggests that consumers weighed attributes differently when they constructed ISR after repeated exposures, but this change might not be enough to alter overall liking for BT. Also it is assumed that such changes in liking may require a long-term study that exposes consumers for the period longer than 11 times.    

Background. Organic labels on meat products indicate more environmental- and animal-friendly meat products. However, little investigation has been done on the efficiency of the organic labels for guiding consumers´ decision making. The objective of this study is to investigate did participants use organic labels and to what extent would the organic labels influence participants´ meat choices. This study also tests whether to provide more information about the organic labels would change participants´ meat choices.

Method. Participants were randomly assigned to two conditions (N = 150) to complete a shopping task in a fully immersive virtual supermarket built by researchers. The Virtual supermarket is similar to local supermarkets, where participants can browse and interact with the environment naturally and realistically. In Condition 1, the same meat products (with or without an organic label on the package) as in the local supermarket were used. In Condition 2, the same meat products as in Condition 1 were used. Besides, for meat products with organic labels, videos about organically-raised animals (10 seconds) were displayed, while videos about non-organic-raised animals were shown on packages without organic labels. The choices of meat products were recorded and compared. Participant's attention data (such as the area of ​​interest) was tracked by an eye-tracking system and then analyzed. The correlation between attention data and meat selections was analyzed.

Results. Participants in condition 2 purchased statistically significantly more meat products with organic-labels compared to condition 1. Detailed results will be presented at the conference.

Conclusion. The study showed that the organic labels on meat products were underutilized by the participants. Providing more and appropriate information about organic labels can help participants make better use of these labels to make more environmentally- and animal- friendly meat choices.

Several researches have shown that different visual characteristics can vary consumers' perception of product attributes, even changing the perception of taste in food, as well as in some sensations such as spicy, where studies have shown that characteristics such as color can vary the intensity of spicy perceived. However, in the literature there is not much information on how other visual characteristics may be modifying spiciness in consumers. The aim of the present study was therefore to test the angular and rounded shape influence on the consumer perception in a spicy related product. For the present study different image were design of generic sauce container which presented neutral reference text and image that did not produce more distraction than the five (5) rated labels, these presented three (3) variations of hexagonal (angular and rounded tip), square (angular and rounded tip) and circular shape. Angularity / roundness were evaluated with visual analogue scales (VAS), where participants could determine to what extent the attributes could letting participants manipulate each one prior to answering the respective VAS-type questions per stimuli perceptions in correspondence to spiciness as if variation in the label presented. The results of the study were evaluated through a statistical model where trends toward the shape and the insight of spiciness could be observed, the study present association trend between more angular shapes with higher perception of spiciness compared with rounded shapes, more specifically in the case of hexagonal shapes could be possible to observed a tendency to perceived more spiciness. Accordingly, this development was looking for having an impact in the form is perceived form, shape, and perception of spicy, helping to increase in terms of the design of brands the congruence between the perception and product offered to the final consumer.

Demand for game meat is growing worldwide due to its nutritional value, specific organoleptic properties and ethical nature of production. Common eland have the potential for high-value meat production but further investigation is required to improve its tenderness. Although cooking methods are important for meat sensory characteristics, they have not been evaluated in eland. Semimembranosus muscles from ten male eland (~1.5 years) were wet-aged for 21 days before the muscle from each animal was divided into four parts and either sous-vide cooked (59°C, 4hours) or sliced into 20mm thick steaks and grilled (glass-ceramic double plate at 200°C) until reaching an internal temperature of 59, 69 or 79°C (3 grilling treatments). The samples were cut into 20mm cubes and placed into glass containers marked with randomized codes. Descriptive sensory analyses of ten sample sets (four different cooking method samples from same animal) were performed by a trained panel (n=10) using nine descriptors, scored on a 100mm unstructured continuous line scale (0= very low, very high =100). Aroma and flavour differences were insignificant (P > 0.05), whilst sous-vide meat scored higher in tenderness, juiciness, fineness, chewability and overall acceptance, thus improving the textural characteristics of eland meat.

Table 1. Effect of four cooking methods on sensory profile of eland semimembranosus

^{a, b, c} Values with different superscripts differ significantly (P < 0.05)

In the home and personal care sector, where the pack is often integral to the product’s performance, understanding the interaction between fragrance and tactile stimuli has particular relevance.

In a previous study, Krishna et al (2010) showed that when fragrance gender (male or female) was congruent with the tactile properties of the stimulus (rough or smooth), participants rated the haptic perceptions more positively than when the smell was not congruent.

This research investigated the impact of texture on fragrance perception, looking at whether rough or smooth tactile stimuli were congruent with the perceived gender of deodorant fragrances. It further explored the impact of texture on the emotions evoked by a fragrance stimulus, whether they be positive (happiness, relaxed) or negative (sad, nervous).

Participants (n=106) assessed nine samples of aerosol deodorant for fragrance intensity; perceived gender; liking and pleasantness using nine point category scales and emotional impact using RATA (rate all that apply). Samples represented a full factorial design with three commercially available fragrances (male, female and neutral) presented in cans with three different textures (rough, smooth and midpoint).

Whilst texture had no significant effect on the intensity, perceived gender, liking and pleasantness of any fragrance, rougher textured cans did evoke a different emotional response. Participants felt significantly more active, more shame and less happy (p<0.05) than they did when using smooth cans. This impact was more evident for feminine or unisex fragrances, rather than masculine ones.

It is likely that the consumer interaction with the deodorant can was insufficient to impact on fragrance perception and that fragrance was the more dominant stimulus.

In their review, Spence et al. (2010) found ambiguous evidence that food coloring influences taste and flavor perception. The present study supports the existence of crossmodal effects.

In a within-subject design, 103 respondents aged between 11 and 56 (65% female) tasted a milk chocolate having two shades of brown: Chocolate bars were carefully melted. Half of them were colored with taste- and odorless food colorant resulting in a darker brown; the other half was not colored. After cooling down, the chocolate was coarsely grated and finally presented in small plastic cups which were delivered sequential-monadic. 49 respondents started with the uncolored sample (u), 54 started with the colored one (c). Between samples, participants neutralized their sense of taste and solved a few distracting math exercises. Hedonic response was measured on a 9-point scale, sensory and product characteristics were measured on 5-point scales.

Significance was tested one-sided by paired-sample t-tests:

Differences were significantly in line with our hypotheses. Although both products were the same (except color), the dark brown sample was perceived as less sweet, more bitter, higher in cocoa content and of higher quality. Taste liking was analyzed regarding the first position effect. It was not found for the uncolored chocolate which supports the hypothesis.

The results support findings regarding crossmodal intensity perceptions and expectations. In addition to perceptual priming, even conceptual priming (milk vs. dark chocolate) by color can be discussed.

Spence, C., Levitan, C.A., Shankar, M.U., & Zampini, M. (2010). Does Food Color Influence Taste and Flavor Perception in Humans?, Chemosensory Perception, 3 (1), 68-84.

Introduction

Emotional state during food consumption is expected to affect food pleasantness. We hypothesize that a negative emotional state reduces food pleasantness, and more so for novel foods than for familiar foods because novel foods have not yet been associated with previous emotions. Furthermore, we expect this effect to be stronger when judging the food again from memory without tasting.

Methods

We induced a positive emotional state in 34 participants by telling them that they earned a monetary bonus, and induced a negative emotional state in 35 other participants by subjecting them to a social stress test (by asking them to sing a song loudly after the session in the lab). After this emotion induction, both groups tasted and rated a novel soup (sumashi soup) and a familiar soup (vegetable soup) with some explicit and implicit measures (rated valence, rated food-related emotions (EsSense25), willingness-to-take-home and sip size).

Results

All explicit and implicit measures indicated that while the negative emotion group did not experience the drinks as less pleasant than the positive emotion group, there was an interaction between food familiarity and emotional group. The positive emotion group experienced novel and familiar soups as equally pleasant, while the negative emotion group experienced the novel soup as relatively unpleasant and the familiar soup as pleasant. The latter result is consistent with a comforting effect of a familiar taste in a stressful situation. This effect tended to increase in the ratings given one week later based on memory and remained even after re-tasting.

Conclusion

Our results show that emotional state affects food pleasantness differently for novel and familiar foods and that such an effect can be robust.

The interest for the potential introduction of insects in the human diet is progressively increasing. This study aimed to evaluate the perception of French consumers and their experience about insect consumption, in order to understand the ways of consumption. For this purpose, 271 consumers were asked to complete a questionnaire comprising a word association and free listing tasks. In addition, participants had to endorse their degree of agreement with 21 statements using a 7-point scale. A total of 1168 associations were mentioned when participants were asked to write the first four associations that came into their mind when they read “eat insects”. The insects consumption was mainly associated with crisp, proteins, future and disgust. Regarding forms of consumption 42.4% of the participants agreed for using insect-based oil in their culinary preparations, 41.1% are not ready to introduce whole insects to their diet, 18.5% considered this introduction, being crickets and mealworms (2.92) the two least disgusting insects, compared to grasshoppers, mole cricket, bamboo worms and silkworms. Considering the powder of these insects, the average increases to 3.79 and 3.74 respectively. Consumers mainly listed bakery products to incorporate insect-based powder and as motivations for insect consumption, consumers listed curiosity and new experience, followed by ecological reasons and source of protein. Participants reported that eating a dish with insects would be likely too disgust, but they would not mind eating it if cooked by a recognized chef. Furthermore, they would not bother to discover that insect-based dishes are on the menu of a restaurant, 63% would be curious to taste it if properly cooked and 69% would eat an insect dish under special circumstances. The methodologies were useful and efficient to understand the population. These results are important for the development of successful products, according the needs of consumers.

Major type of bread consumed in Serbia is the one prepared from refined wheat flour, but in recent years consumers are more interested in consumption of alternative cereals and artisan-style breads, such as sourdough bread, considering them as more healthy. However, the consumers are not completely satisfied with the offer, diversity and even the quality of this kind of bread if they can find it in bakeries.

In order to meet consumers desires and bakers` capabilities, with this paper the authors aimed to identify decisive factors in the choice of local consumers in the region of Vojvodina toward sourdough bread consumption and preferences. Moreover, this study aimed to segment consumers based on these factors.

The survey consisted of focus group discussions and on-line survey in which participated 48 and 152 individuals, respectively. For the focus group discussions (five in total) participants were recruited from the university taking care of age range and gender (32 females and 16 males, aged from 22 to 60 years) and mixing them in order that in each group there are occasional, medium and heavy bread consumers. Respondents of on-line survey were selected from the university personnel and their relatives and acquaintances.

Frequency statistics, data graphs and simple Correspondence Analysis were applied to get the answers to the questions of the survey between the consumer segments. Participants were asked regarding bread consumption frequencies, place of purchase, price, bread appearance, taste, flavour and texture preferences, and they had to indicate the extent of agreement with some statements.

Consumer segments have been identified based on consumers` sensory, health and nutritional perception of sourdough bread. Sensory factors, such as texture, flavours and aromas uniqueness, were the most important motives for sourdough bread choice, followed by price.

In order to brand honey of some region and make it visible and recognizable in international market, the first step is to ensure their quality. Thus, the sensory characteristics of different honey types should be well known in order to properly determine honey quality levels. However, there are significant gaps concerning the sensory characterization of honey specificity between different types of Serbian honey.

This work aimed to create a sensory vocabulary to describe and differentiate the sensory profiles of locally produced honeys in Serbia which can be helpful not only for honey quality control but also in determination of sensory properties related to origin of locations – sensory territorial specificity that can be used in honey promotion strategy towards the consumers.

Sensory profiles of 40 locally produced unifloral (acacia, linden, rapeseed, white basil, and buckwheat) and multifloral honeys, from different parts of Serbia that were directly provided from the beekeepers, were determined. All honeys were produced in 2019. A panel of trained sensory assessors (8 woman and 2 man, aged between 25 and 50 years) evaluated honeys for their appearance, odour, taste, flavour, texture, trigeminal sensations and after taste intensities and persistence using Free Choice Profiling methodology. The consumer test (75 participants) was performed on the most specific and unique honey samples (n = 7) based on CATA method accompanied with questions on preference and usage of honey.

The results indicated that honeys displayed different specific sensory characteristics regarding their botanical origin and origin of location even within the same typology. Serbian consumers preferred honeys with more neutral and mild sensory profiles, such as acacia honey. Buckwheat and rapeseed honeys that were characterised with strong animal like odour and flavour, were less preferred by consumers and characterised as unpleasant.

Short food supply chains (SFSC) – involving a limited number of economic operators – are increasing in rural and urban areas. In this way, farmers have greater bargaining power and consumer can better trace the produced food, making it an interesting food system as it responds to both farmers' and consumers’ needs and opportunities. However, the knowledge of consumers´ opinion about SFSC is scarce. The aims of this research were to examine consumer attitudes, values, expectations and preferences in relation to food purchase and SFSC.

To achieve these aims, two focus groups were conducted in Spain: one was performed with consumers who live in rural areas and the other with consumers who live in urban areas. For each group, 9 participants (6 females, 3 males) took part in 2019. The results showed that both groups have different purchase profile, as rural consumers used to buy more frequently in smaller-local stores (buying fresh products), while urban consumers shopped in supermarkets. However, when they buy food, both groups pay attention to food quality and both perceive local products sold in SFSC as more expensive than the ones from supermarkets. Interestingly, all consumers choose local stores and markets to buy, because they trust most in their staff, as well as, allowing them to have a better traceability of the products bought. In addition, consumers suggest that an online platform for selling quality local food products would improve their accessibility and visibility for a broad audience. Including information on the platform about how the food is made would be a good way for consumers to be notified about the production process.

In conclusion, food consumers in the focus groups – rural and urban - considered that better information and accessibility of SFSC products would help to increase their food purchase frequency using the SFSC channel.

Parents and educators play an important role as model for children in relation with food, healthy diet and nutrition. It is important to consider that what children are used to eat daily will be a key factor for determining their health in their future adult life, especially during their primary school stage.

The study aimed to check the influence on children eating habits of a whole programme based on school lessons about healthy diet and habits. For this purpose, “¿Como como yo?” (How do I eat?), a Spanish education app web, was used to collect the data in 2019 in Spain and Poland. This application has been demonstrated as an effective tool to measure pupil’s perception of healthy or unhealthy food, neophobia behaviours, food preferences and scholars eating and healthy habits. The study has been developed in two-Spanish and three-Polish primary schools. The 407 participants (both genders, from 9 to 12 years old) went through the application twice, at the beginning (pre-test) and at the end of the intervention (post-test; 4 weeks later). Two groups were selected: an experimental group with lessons between the two tests and the control one without lessons. The intervention included five short-lessons (based on posters and short-videos) about healthy habits and food intake recommendations.

Results showed that the food preferences and food habits of Polish and Spanish children were significantly different. The lessons had a positive effect on eating-habits mostly in Spain between pre- and post-test groups, increasing the frequency to consume healthy products and decreasing the frequency to consume unhealthy products (sweets, crisps and fast-food). Also, there was a decrease in neophobia ratio and an increase in the practicing sports frequency. Concluding, it seems that the developed school lessons are efficient methods to improve scholars´ healthy food habits.

A study by Givaudan investigating consumers’ Oral Care routines in several different countries found that over 70% of consumers that use mouthwash will use it after brushing their teeth. However, typically for sensory testing, mouthwash products are assessed on their own. Therefore, a study was carried out to explore whether using toothpaste before mouthwash has an impact on the perception of sensory attributes of the mouthwash when compared to assessing the mouthwash alone.

The trained Oral Care panellists at Givaudan assessed an alcohol mouthwash and a non-alcohol mouthwash which both contained the same flavour. The mouthwashes were either assessed in isolation or were preceded by toothpaste and panellists were asked to assess a set of attributes immediately after use and 5 and 10 minutes aftertaste.

Our findings showed significant differences for certain attributes between the two conditions, with attributes rated higher on average if the panellists had brushed with toothpaste prior to assessing the mouthwash. This was consistent for both the alcohol and non-alcohol mouthwash products and attributes that were affected were mainly non-flavour attributes.

The results from this study suggest that using toothpaste before assessing a mouthwash can have an impact on the perception of certain attributes of the mouthwash. However, it should be noted that this study focused on one flavour of mouthwash and toothpaste so further tests with different types of flavours should be conducted to understand the full extent of this effect.

Introduction: This study was designed to determine the relationship between taste threshold (sweet, bitter, sour, salt, fat), food neophobia and food liking.

Methods: A total of 51 (60.8 % women, 39.2% men) non-smoking and healthy individuals (aged 19–44 years) were recruited in Ankara. Taste threshold was assessed using 3-Alternate Forced Choice Methodology(3-afc). Food neophobia scale (Pliner & Hobden, 1992) was applied to determine whether there was a fear of trying new foods. The food liking questionnaire (Cornelis, Tordoff, El-Sohemy & van Dam, 2017) had based on the taste classification. The individuals indicated their level of liking on a 10-point scale that ranged from 1 point (“strongly disliking”) to 10 (“strongly liking”).

Results: The mean food neophobia score was 41.56±8.72 and mean food liking score was 5.47±0.96. The mean taste thresholds of the neophobics were higher than the neutral and neophilics adults (p>0.05). The sweet threshold (4.83 ± 1.61mM) and fat threshold (8.27 ± 2.16 mM) of the neophobics were higher than the neophilics adults (p<0.05). The food liking scores of the neophobics adults were higher than the others (p>0.05). However, there was a positive weak correlation between sweet threshold and the cola liking score, the positive moderate relationship between fat threshold and beef meat, margarine liking score and positive weak relationship between fat threshold and hot dog, the chicken and skinned turkey liking score.

Discussion: This study showed that neophobic adults have higher taste thresholds and higher food liking scores than the others. We determined a correlation between food liking score and some taste thresholds. In this study we try to show there could be relationship between in these parameters. More studies needed to explain this relationship. In our country this study represents a first attempt at assessing about taste threshold and food neophobia and food liking score.

Significance: Smokers may reduce their health risk by switching to electronic cigarette use. As e-cigarettes are not harmless, their use by those who currently do not smoke, particularly youth, is better prevented. E-cigarette refill solutions (e-liquids) are available in many different flavors, increasing sensory appeal. Restricting e-liquid flavors could reduce appeal and thereby use among youth, ideally in a way that flavors attractive to smokers remain available. This study investigates which flavors are attractive to specific user groups by comparing liking of e-liquid flavors between adolescent non-smokers, young adult non-smokers, and adult smokers.

Methods: Adolescent non-smokers (n=41; mean age 16.9±0.8), young adult non-smokers (n=42; mean age 22.7±1.7), and adult smokers (n=56; mean age 39.7±11.1) smelled various tobacco (n=6) and non-tobacco (n=24) flavored e-liquids. Participants rated odor liking on a 9-point labeled hedonic scale, and familiarity, intensity, sweetness, bitterness, and irritation on a 100-mm Visual Analog Scale. Ratings were compared between groups and flavors.

Results: Mean liking ranged from 2.3 (whiskey) to 6.7 (peppermint). Within all groups, the typically sweet and minty flavors (e.g., bubblegum, watermelon, peppermint, menthol) were liked more than the 6 tobacco-flavored e-liquids. The set of tobacco-flavored e-liquids was liked more by adult smokers than youth non-smokers. No between-group differences were observed for sweet and minty e-liquid flavors. Liking correlated significantly positively with sweetness (R = 0.49) and familiarity (R = 0.48), and negatively with bitterness (R = -0.58), irritation (R = -0.47), and intensity (R = -0.27).  

Conclusions: Sweet and minty-flavored e-liquids are liked equally by youth non-smokers and adult smokers, and more than tobacco flavors. Banning all flavors except tobacco will reduce e-cigarette appeal for all groups, but more for youth than adult smokers. Further research is needed to determine whether tobacco flavors alone are sufficient for smokers to permanently switch towards e-cigarettes.

Preference for sweetness depends strongly on the type of food and past experiences with those foods. Therefore, sweetness preferences in familiar, frequently consumed foods, might be different compared to unfamiliar foods. More importantly, existing methodologies for assessing sweetness preferences are diverse across studies and there is currently no methodological consensus. We explored various methodological approaches and evaluated sweetness preferences across various familiar and unfamiliar foods in three studies with Dutch consumers. In study 1, 30 participants evaluated 5 different sweet foods (each with five sweetness levels) on liking, using three methods: ranking (n=10), rating (n=10) and structured napping (n=10). It was shown that the ranking method had the highest discriminative power, however it was not able to provide relative differences between ranked samples. Hence, rank-rating was used in studies 2 and 3. In study 2, 31 participants evaluated 5 food samples that differed in form (liquid, semi-solid and solid) and taste (sweet and salty), with 5 levels of sweetness or saltiness. For all products, typical inverted-U-shaped hedonic responses were observed and significant differences in preferences for different sweetness or saltiness levels were detected (p < 0.001). In study 3, 28 participants tested 5 newly developed unfamiliar foods and 5 familiar foods. Unfamiliar foods were created by adding food colorings and unfamiliar flavours. Overall, the familiar foods were more liked than unfamiliar ones across all sweetness levels (p < 0.001). The rank-rating method appeared to be simple to use among untrained consumers, allowing for side-by-side assessment and resampling. To conclude, the methodology described here along with the developed and tested foods represents a viable method to assess sweetness preferences amongst Dutch consumers.

Due to the increase in consumer demand for products that fulfil their nutrition needs and the growing awareness regarding environmental impact of food chain, the development of new food ingredients from alternative protein sources is emerging as a global challenge. In this sense, fungal biotechnology, and therefore, mycoprotein, becomes an interesting alternative. 

In this context, FUNGITIME project financed by EIT Food aims to develop products that cover consumer necessities by including the ABUNDA® mycoprotein ingredient in new food matrices. To achieve this objective, Spanish consumers were involved in product co-creation and evaluation. 

Data were obtained through a focus group conducted in Spain with 3 women and 4 men between 30 and 55 years old. All participants followed either vegetarian, vegan, high protein, or flexitarian diet and placed high emphasis on protein intake in their diet. Complementary, a consumer survey focused on testing acceptance and sensory characteristics of mycoprotein based products was carried out.

The results showed that the respondents were convinced that they have to reduce animal protein consumption in order to have a healthier lifestyle, but without decreasing their protein intake. However, they find difficult replace products like the meat from their diets, as they consider it an easy option due to the lack of nutritionally balance alternatives. 

ABUNDA® mycoprotein was considered a sustainable ingredient and it was positively welcome as an alternative to animal protein consumption by the participants. Nevertheless, they considered that its incorporation in food products must be related to a clean and healthy formula (reduction of transgenic ingredients, unnatural additives, and sugar and salt content), a more environmentally friendly packaging, and a clear and transparent label information. 

Understanding consumer motivations for selecting mycoprotein based products has important influence on product development process and its commercialization.

Families have a pivotal role in founding and modelling healthy eating behaviours in children. Nevertheless, struggling on finding balance in grocery shopping, food preparation, and general organisation of the dining activities are still a shared difficulty for parents. To help families with children in their paths towards a highly nutritious and balanced menu, and to provide food industry stakeholders with a higher insight on consumer eating patterns, it was developed the mobile app ASSIST. 

The app is integrated with a website of nutrition information nested in FoodUnfolded (with an interactive chatbot, scientific papers adapted to the public, surveys, forums and tips and recommendations for families with children in Europe). The app generates a profound knowledge of families eating patterns, through the training of an algorithm with their grocery shopping tickets, extracting behavioural data in its natural environment. The ASSIST app extracts, analyses, and interprets general information about the ticket, and the food items purchased. The grocery shopping data and the user profile of each of the families (which includes health information regarding their diet, and allergies) are combined to send daily diet recommendations by age and country. Families with children (0 to 16 years old) from Finland, Italy and Spain compounded the initial training of the app. The scanning process of the tickets was performed by each of the participant families and consisted of taking a picture of the ticket with their mobile phones. The test implementation of the app has been successful, and the app was launched in the last quarter of 2020. 

The future broader application of ASSIST will augment the knowledge on the eating behaviours and preferences of families with children, improve the recommendations for families given by the app, and provide more eating and purchase behaviour insights for the food industry and other stakeholders.

While current research has reported a wide range of crossmodal correspondences, associations between tastes and visual textures remain relatively understudied. Research has documented, though, correspondences between visuotactile stimuli (i.e., smoothness/roughness) and tastes. Visual textures are of interest to marketers in the food industry as they can impact both taste expectations and perception. Here, we investigated whether: 1) there are any correspondences between categories of visual textures used in graphic design and basic tastes and 2) this correspondence is mediated by common affective properties of tastes and visual textures.

A total of 194 participants evaluated the extent to which they associated different visual textures with five basic taste words (sweet, bitter, salty, sour, umami), and what emotions each texture and taste evoked. 24 visual textures from six different categories—crunchy, fluffy, noisy, porous, rough, wavy—and four levels of intensity were used (Figure 1). Participants indicated how strongly they associated each texture with each taste in visual analogue scales and which pair of emotions each image elicited following the single-response emotion word questionnaire.

ANOVA results on sweetness and saltiness revealed significant main effects of texture, intensity, and their interaction. Significant Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparisons of fluffy and crunchy textures versus all others showed fluffy textures are perceived as sweeter and crunchy textures are perceived as saltier. Furthermore, Cochran’s Q test revealed significant differences among textures for happy and tense emotions. Pairwise comparisons with Wilcoxon sign test revealed significant differences between fluffy and crunchy and all other textures for happy and tense emotions respectively.

Overall, the present study documents specific associations between visual textures and tastes and evoked emotions. Our results are relevant for food and beverage companies as visual textures can be incorporated seamlessly in packaging design to enhance the expectations of sweetness and saltiness in foods, therefore potentially compensating for products with reduced sugar/sodium.

Figure 1. Visual textures used in the study with six categories of textures and four levels of intensity.

Food appearance sets expectations, affecting food choices and intake. In packaged food much research attention has been devoted to design elements like colour, shape and textual claims, but less to the characteristics of the images used. Orange juice packages usually depict a glass of juice or an orange, either entire or cut in half. No study has investigated how the appearance of the food shown on the package affects consumers’ preferences. Juiciness being one of the most important parameters to assess oranges’ quality, we hypothesized that an orange with a juicier appearance on the package would improve the juice quality perception.

We adopted image cues found to trigger juiciness perception of oranges depicted in 17^th century paintings, to design four orange juice packages. In a 2x2 between-subjects design, we manipulated the highlights on the pulp (present vs. absent) and the state of the orange (unpeeled vs. peeled).

In an online experiment, 400 participants, each assigned to one of the four conditions, rated naturalness, healthiness, quality, sweetness and tastiness of the juice, package attractiveness and willingness to buy. Finally, they rated the juiciness of the orange for all four images.

A one-way repeated measures ANOVA (F(3,356)=11.4, p=.000) showed a significant effect of the presence of highlights on juiciness. A MANOVA showed that the presence of highlights also significantly increased perceived quality (F(1,351)=4.5, p=.03) and tastiness (F(1,351)=5.1, p=.02) of the juice. A mediation analysis showed that the presence of highlights increased quality perception because the highlights on the pulp made the orange look juicier, confirming our hypothesis.

In this study, we provided the first indication that material perception of the food shown on the package influences consumers’ evaluation of the packaging content. Hence, multidisciplinary insights from vision science and art can help to improve design decision making for packaging design.



The aim of this study was to understand how digital devices (with a focus on smartphones) are used during mealtime and what people’s attitude towards the use of them is. Furthermore, the study aimed at understanding how the use of digital devices affects people’s food intake and their social interactions.

An online questionnaire in German and French was distributed to a sample of students from a Swiss university and to another address pool outside the university environment. A total of 278 respondents were included in the analysis.

The results show that digital devices are used for different purposes during mealtime – however so far not very often. In general, the use of digital devices during mealtime depends on the owner’s attachment to the device as well as the eating situation. While the respondents find the use of digital devices when eating with other people rather inappropriate, at least some find the use when eating alone more appropriate as digital devices can be a welcome entertainment or make them feel less lonely. The age of the user plays a role in the attitude towards and use of digital devices. Regarding the use of digital devices during mealtime, younger respondents position themselves more openly than older ones. Finally, it was found that people who like to eat consciously use their digital devices less often during their meals than those who eat unconsciously or for whom eating is more a means to an end than a celebrated pleasure.

Even though digital devices such as smartphones are still rarely used during mealtime and many of the respondents deliberately put their devices away while eating (especially when in company with others), it can be assumed that the use during mealtime will increase in the future. This development can also be assumed for the older generation.

The aquaculture industry is actively trying to diminish the amount of fishmeal needed to maintain its protein demand. A wide range of alternatives has been tested, being insects a promising option. Two studies were carried out to evaluate the consumer perception of fish fed with different insectmeals (black soldier fly and mealworm) at different fishmeal replacement levels.

After both growth trials, sensorial analysis were performed, respectively, by 10 and 12 panellists on 2 fish per diet. A quantitative descriptive analysis of 5 attributes (colour, texture, odour, acceptability, and a 5-point scoring system similar to the QI method) was performed using an equal-interval scale on raw whole fish. A survey was also carried out between 70 different Spanish citizens, to highlight their perception towards insect-fed fish.

In the sensory analysis, no differences were found with control diet (without replacement). Respect to the survey, 33% would consume insect-fed fish without problem, 44% feel rejection, and 23% of this last group (10% of total) would not try insect-fed fish. When asked about a reason for the rejection, 15-30% of the people did not give a real motive, 36% considered that insects are unacceptable from a sanitary point of view, 23% opined that insects should only be used as a last resource for fish feeding, and 46% declare that insects are disgusting.

Contrasting the causes of the rejection with the sensorial results, it can be concluded that there are cultural motives and prejudices involved in the population opinions towards insects and insect-fed fish.

Work funded by INIA, co-funded by FEDER funds (Ref. RTA 2015-00021-C03). Acknowledgements to AEI for its funds through the financial help of reference BES2017-080567 for PhD contracts with FSE funds.

Various factors such as price and habits significantly influence consumer behaviour. Socio-demographic characteristics such as gender and age are important determinants with education being the main factor for environmental concerns and consumer behaviour. When it comes to consumption of organic food, stakeholders argue that socioeconomic characteristics and personal beliefs are the major determinants for the consumer’s decision. In this study, we adopt an econometric approach to the analysis of consumer behaviour in relation to organic food consumption in Greece and Sweden. More specifically, we examine the motivation and post-experiences of organic food consumers in these two countries of different socioeconomic profiles, one in northern and one in southern Europe. We use a Logistic Regression Analysis to map out the interaction between consumer attitudes and their sociodemographic variables. We used data from individual questionnaires with 133 respondents from Greece and 152 respondents from Sweden. Our results show that consumers in Sweden purchase more frequently organic foods than consumers in Greece. Health consciousness and family wellbeing are perceived as factors that increase the odds for Greek organic food consumers to buy organic foods.  Environmental protection and ethical values increase the odds for Swedish organic food consumers to buy organic food products. Moreover, the price of the organic food product compared to conventional food is more important final decision factor for Swedish consumers compared to Greek consumers. Finally, women with higher educational level have higher odds to buy organic vegetables or fruits both in Greece and Sweden.

Humans are born with an innate preference for sweet foods and beverages. However, excessive consumption of added sugars has been associated with several chronic health conditions, including obesity and type 2 diabetes. Sweet Liking (SL) phenotype may be an important factor for understanding individual variation in sweet taste perception and preference, in order to support the development of effective sugar reduction strategies. This study investigated the impact of SL phenotype on perceived sweetness in sugar solutions and chocolate products, and how the ideal sweetness level for chocolate varies across different phenotype groups. 

A total of two hundred and twenty-two naïve Caucasian subjects attended two tasting sessions held on separate days, where they rated liking and sweetness intensity of five sugar solutions (3, 6, 12, 24 and 36% w/v) and 5 bespoke chocolates, and provided their Ideal Sweetness rating for chocolate products. Hierarchical cluster analysis based on the hedonic ratings of sucrose solutions revealed three distinct consumer clusters. 36% of the subjects were identified as High Sweet Likers (HSL), 29% as Medium Sweet Likers (MSL), 15% as Low Sweet Likers (LSL), and 20% as an Unclassified group. HSL showed increasing liking ratings with increasing sugar concentration in solutions, MSL showed an inverted U-shaped response with maximum liking at 12% sucrose, and LSL showed a decline in liking as sweetness increased. Interestingly, the HSL group had a significantly lower level of perceived sweet taste intensity in sugar solutions compared to other clusters, indicating that their increased preference for sweet foods may be due to reduced sensitivity to sweetness. As expected, HSL also indicated their Ideal Sweetness for chocolate to be significantly higher than MSL and LSL. These findings suggest that SL phenotype may be an important factor influencing sweet food preference and nutritional intake across consumers.

The aim was to study the influence of the Périgord black truffle (Tuber melanosporum) on the aromas of sous-vide cooked light lamb. Both loins of carcasses of 10 light lambs were extracted, and cooked on plastic pouches until they reached to 75 ºC in the core. No salt and oil were used, but one loin per lamb were cooked with the 5 % w/w of truffle and the second loin without. Truffle was removed from loins before one sample of 1 cm³ from each loin of the same lamb were offered to one hundred consumers. Consumers were asked about detection (yes/no) of the following aromas: grass, milk, mushrooms, chocolate, leather, moisture, mineral, butane/gas and rancidity. In addition, they were asked about the preference for aroma, tenderness and juiciness from 1 (very low) to 9 (very high). The aromas detected by consumers with more frequency than expected were milk (21.8%) and grass (16.2 %) while mineral (4.5 %) and rancidity (4.5 %) were less frequent than expected (P<0.05).When aromas were studied by treatment, there were no differences between lamb with or without truffle (P>0.05). However, the frequency of detection of butane/gas, chocolate and rancidity was significantly lower (P<0.05) than the expected frequency in lamb without truffle. Surprisingly, the frequency of milk aroma was higher, and the mineral was lower, than expected in the lamb with truffle (P>0.05). These results could be explained by the thermal degradation of the truffle aromas. There were no differences between treatments on preferences for juiciness, aroma and tenderness with medians of 6.5±0.14, 7.0±0.13 and 7.0±0.14, respectively. The inclusion of 5% of truffle to sous-vide cooking of light lamb slightly affect to detection of aromas, and did not affect to preferences for juiciness, aroma and tenderness.

Over the last 40 years, conventional sensory profiling techniques such as Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) have been used with trained assessors to characterise products. Rapid descriptive techniques gained some popularity, but the question has always remained whether these methods, used with consumers, provide similar results to those given by trained assessors. Previous studies compared these methodologies using less complex products and sample sets with large sensory differences, but little research has used products with a more challenging and complex profile, such as non-alcoholic beer.

The objective of this study was therefore to compare conventional QDA with trained beer assessors (n=10), to different rapid methodologies used with consumers. These included Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) (n=104) and two different variants of Napping®: partial Napping with and without provided lexicon (n=40). A range of commercially produced non-alcoholic beers were selected for the study (n=8). Statistical differences amongst samples were calculated using; a two factor ANOVA and Tukey’s HSD post hoc test for QDA, Cochran’s Q test and correspondence analysis for CATA and multiple factor analysis (MFA) for Napping. Associations between QDA and each rapid methodology were evaluated using MFA and RV coefficients.

Results comparing QDA and CATA showed that although products were generally described similarly between methodologies, comparing cross modality sensory data (aroma vs flavour, taste and mouthfeel) meant that different conclusions were drawn in terms of consensus between panels. Although Napping gave similar product differentiation to QDA, consumers found it challenging to explain sensory characteristics behind the differences.

This study gives valuable insight to the sensory industry on the discriminative and descriptive ability of different rapid methodologies in comparison to QDA. It shows that dependent on the specified objectives of the study, using consumers rather than a trained panel may be a more efficient and cost-effective way to produce results with similar outcomes.

Sensory experience by customers shopping at physical stores and online portals

Abstract

Customers like to touch, feel, smell, taste, inspect, test and try on. McCole (2004) referred sensory experience as the experience that customers gain from their sight, taste, scent, touch and sound which together create experiential retailing. While in physical stores, tactile, visual, auditory and olfactory features are present, the environmental features in the online shopping environment are solely visual and auditory in nature (Citrin, Stem, Spangenberg, Clark, 2003). These environments cause the senses to become stimulated and lead to purchases (Allen, 2000).

An exploratory research was conducted to study the shopping environment of customers. 192 customers from Delhi, India and Santa Clara County, U.S. were selected for the study as they had firsthand experience of shopping in that environment. Standardized rating scale was adapted to interview customers.

Analysis revealed that sensory aspect in physical stores was rated very good. It was found that customers were attracted towards pleasing store interiors and ambience. In-depth interview revealed that interior design of store like beautiful finishes, colors, textures, wall display, interactive screen, lighting attracted customers to store and they felt pleasant being there.

Customers viewed the product online by zooming and changing the angle of product to complete rotation to get a clear idea. They watched live videos and demonstration of products. Augmented reality helped them to try-on products virtually to confirm their fit. The customers felt excited while shopping on bright and colorful online portal. Enlarged product pictures from various angles and virtual try-on function made shopping convenient for them.

Analysis for sensory aspect in online shopping portals revealed that customers felt good while shopping in both the locales. Many customers in Delhi and Santa Clara County felt that the way product was presented online, it gave as much sensory information about the product as experienced and interacted in store.

Introduction

The urgency for a sustainable diet boosts the need for meat alternatives made from sustainably produced proteins. Meat analogues, resembling meat, can be such an alternative. To increase appreciation and acceptance of meat analogues, it is important to understand consumer’s attitudes towards such products and the factors that play a role in appreciation and acceptance. It is important to take into account that THE consumer doesn’t exist, and consumers with different beliefs may have may differ in their attitudes towards meat analogues.

The aim of this study is to gain insight in critical factors in appreciation and acceptance of meat-analogues among different groups of consumers and chefs.

Methods

Focus group discussions were performed with meat-eaters (n=14), flexitarians (n=14), vegetarians (n=13), and chefs (n=6). Groups sizes varied from 6-7 participants.
The discussions started with free associations and discussion on meat analogues. To further stimulate the discussion, three types of products, varying in structure, form and flavouring were tasted halfway the discussion.

Results

Role of attitudes

In associating on meat replacers, the focus is mostly on taste for meat-eaters, naturalness of ingredients for vegetarians, and creating a complete culinary experience for chefs. Barriers for using meat analogues are:

• the image consumers have of the products and ingredients
• sensory attributes
• unfamiliarity with preparation
• the association with meat

Flexitarians appear to be most open to meat analogues.

Product attributes

Resemblance to meat (taste, scent and price) is important for meat-eaters and flexitarians, whereas for vegetarians and chefs the ingredients, versatility and “not looking like meat” are more important. Visual aspects, mouthfeel, texture, and pleasant smell and taste are important characteristics for all groups.

Discussion

Differences between meat-eaters, flexitarians, vegetarians and chefs imply that for these groups different products replacing meat are preferred. For meat analogues, flexitarians seem the most promising target group.

Packaging is an important marketing tool for food manufacturers and retailers because it reaches consumers at the moment of purchase, where consumers use it as a tool to evaluate products. While the impact of graphic and verbal package design elements on perceived product healthiness has been well studied, little research has addressed the impact of structural package design elements on perceived product healthiness. Thus, the present research extends literature on structural package design elements and food perception by exploring whether and how package shape (horizontal vs. vertical) influences perceived healthiness of food products. In an online between-subjects experiment with 153 participants (71% women, M_age = 35.58, SD = 16.36) we presented each participant, on a random basis, with a (a) horizontal or (b) vertical shaped package of cookies. No differences in product liking and familiarity between the two conditions were found.

(a) (b)

This experiment provides initial evidence that products in vertical shaped packaging (M_vertical = 2.13, SD = .94) are perceived as healthier than products in horizontal shaped packaging (M_horizontal = 1.83, SD = .98; t(151) = -1.93, p = .055, Cohen’s d = .31). The findings also reveal that perceived fat content of the product drives this effect (ab = .17, SE = .07; 95% CI .056, .357). Vertical (vs. horizontal) shaped packaging decreases perceived fat content, which, in turn, leads to increased perceived healthiness of the product.

Figure 1. Effect of vertical (vs. horizontal) shaped packaging on perceived healthiness via perceived fat content.

The notion that package shape serves as a cue that communicates healthiness of food products is substantially relevant to consumers, retailers, and public policy makers involved in promoting healthy consumer behavior. Moreover, we offer food manufacturers new insights into consumers' evaluations of their products and aid them in defining optimal food packaging strategies.

Introduction

Consumer trends are pointing towards local and regional food production, e.g. heritage cereals not least because of a rising interest for sustainability. It is well known that the sensory experience of a product is of greatest importance for the consumers, but also claims such as ancient, organic, or local may have a positive impact.

Aim

To investigate consumers’ awareness, attitudes and preferences towards heritage cereals. Further to study differences and similarities between different groups of consumers.

Methods

Swedish consumers, aged 18 years or older were invited to answer a web based questionnaire concerning awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards heritage cereals. Participation was anonymous and voluntarily.

Results

The total number of participants was 434.

Spelt was the significantly most known variety among all participants. Knowledge about other varieties differed with participants’ geographic location. Bread followed by pasta were the most consumed cereal products, more than 99% of the participants consumed bread. The consumption of pasta was high among all groups except for the older consumers who consumed significantly less.

Taste, flavour and freshness were the most important quality aspects of bread. It was found that texture, wholemeal flour as well as the origin of the cereal, were more important to women than to men.

Bread and pasta are the most preferred future products based on heritage cereals and most consumers, except for the younger, are willing to pay a higher price.

Discussion

In line with other studies it was shown that sensory properties such as taste and texture are the most important factors for the consumers, nevertheless more important for women than for men. The willingness of paying a higher price for products based on heritage cereals indicated awareness about the importance of sustainable food production. Still, well known product categories are the most preferred future products among all consumers.

Introduction: Pepeta, is a flaked rice-based snack commonly consumed in Tanzania. Its processing involves roasting fresh immature rice, pounding in a mortar to obtain flattened grains, and cleaning by winnowing to remove the husks ready for consumption. However, rice is low in protein, provides less of the required essential amino acids, whereas the problem is severe in countries like Tanzania where rice is staple. This study aimed to determine acceptability and preference of protein enhanced pepeta (PEPs) and whether the acceptability is influenced by non-sensory factors, with respect to consumers' demographic profiles and frequency of snack consumption.

Methods: Three PEPs samples prepared with milk powder(MP), raw groundnuts and egg(RWP), roasted groundnuts and egg(ROP), and pepeta as control were used. Seventy-five untrained students recruited from Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, evaluated the samples with respect to appearance, aroma, taste, texture and overall acceptability on 9-point hedonic scales ranging from 1(“dislike extremely”) to 9(“like extremely”).

Results: PEPs show 2-folds increase in crude protein content compared to pepeta, whereas mean hedonic rating ranged from 5(“neither like nor dislike”) to 7(“like moderately”) on 9-point scales. Three PEPs and pepeta samples differed significantly with respect to hedonic ratings of appearance and taste (p < 0.05), while pepeta liked higher or slight higher in all rated sensory attributes( appearance, aroma, taste, texture and overall acceptability) compared to PEPs. Overall likings of PEPs did not differ as a function of gender, age group, and frequency of rice-based snack consumption. With respect to preference analysis, consumers preferred pepeta(32.0%) and ROP(30.6%) the most, while they preferred RWP(18.7%) and MP(18.7%) the least.

Discussion: Dietary diversification interventions like PEPs are potential in reducing nutrition deficiency disorders. The study highlights the sensory attributes, consumer acceptability, and drivers of liking for possible promotion of PEPs in the local market of Tanzania.

Product familiarity reflects the set of experiences that consumers have had with a product throughout their lifetime. Individuals are exposed to foreign cuisines either in their home countries and/or when traveling, which increases their familiarity to ethnic foods (EF) (traditional foods from abroad). Nonetheless, the degree of exposure varies depending on the globalisation and immigration level of countries, making EF an interesting food product to study familiarity and its relationship to food acceptance. Therefore, we investigated how the level of product familiarity influences consumers’ perceptions and preferences when preparing and consuming ethnic foods.

Eight focus group discussions (n=24 per country) are being held in Chile (Santiago) and The Netherlands (Amsterdam) with female participants between 30-40 years of age who are (one of) the main cooks at home. Two EF are included to test different familiarity levels namely ‘Lasagna’ and ‘Hot pot’, which represent a high and low familiarity, respectively. The preliminary results suggest that when consumers have a higher familiarity to an EF (lasagna)—i.e. prepared by themselves and consumed—they come up with several adaptations to the original dish by easily changing its ingredients and/or cooking methods. On the contrary, when familiarity is low (hot pot)—i.e. neither prepared nor consumed—they would consume it at a restaurant for first time and then would prepare it at home following the ‘original’ recipe until gaining sufficient knowledge to start making adaptations to the dish based on familiar ingredients and/or preferred tastes. However, participants mentioned that specific ingredients and/or cooking methods need to be maintained in order to keep the traditional nature of the dishes. Since data collection is currently ongoing, the cross-country comparisons will be presented during the conference. Untangling the role of product familiarity during preparation/consumption can shed light on the understanding of consumers’ (ethnic) food acceptance.

Wine typicity is a concept that relates the impact of terroir and/or cultivar to the sensory characteristics of a wine. Historically, wine typicity has been used as a valuable tool for national and international trading, especially for Old World wine producing countries such as France, Italy, and Spain, where provenance is an indicator of wine quality. As the world’s fifth largest wine producer, the idea of typicity is also an important concept for Australia, where wine production regions are protected by Geographical Indications (GIs) and regional wines are becoming increasingly recognised. Tapping into this growing awareness can be helpful in promoting Australia’s reputation as a fine wine producer, but it is essential to better understand consumer knowledge regarding wine typicity, and to identify their expectations and needs. The aim of this work was therefore to gather information on the wine behaviour profile of Australian consumers and to understand how wine origin information might influence their expectations and preferences. The study included commercial Cabernet Sauvignon wines from three Australian GIs(Coonawarra, Margaret River, Yarra Valley) and Bordeaux (n = 2 from each region). Evaluations were conducted with 112 wine consumers separated into two groups: one group was informed about the region of origin of each sample they were tasting and the other group carried out their evaluations without any information about the regions. Consumers also profiled each sample using rate-all-that-apply sensory methodology and were asked about their wine consumption behaviour, preferences, and knowledge about wine typicity. Preliminary analysis of results showed that having prior information about the region will likely increase consumers’ liking scores, with the impact appearing to be larger when familiarity with the region was greater. Such knowledge could assist the Australian wine industry to better comprehend their consumers and to target them effectively using sensory cues linked to regionality.

Cold-smoked salmon (CSS) is a traditional food product in Norway, sold worldwide as a high-end product. Conventional smoked salmon is processed by using smoke derived from smouldering wooden chips. An eco-friendly technology for smoke processing is atomized purified condensed smoke (PCS) which is a smoke-flavouring technology. PCS is considered healthier than conventional smoking and is widely used in meat processing. Manufacturers of CSS are however sceptical due to expected consumer scepticism. The aim of the present study was to identify consumer attitudes towards smoke-flavouring of CSS in Norway.

A questionnaire was distributed in social media using the “snowball principle”, receiving 487 responses from Norwegian consumers, 18+ years old, consuming CSS at least once a year. The questionnaire contained 47 questions, including statements regarding attitudes towards smoke-flavouring of salmon.

The respondents concerned with additives and artificial ingredients were negative to smoke-flavored CSS as they believed it to contain more additives and to be less healthy, tasty, natural and safe compared to conventional CSS. Their willingness to buy smoke-flavored CSS, was low. The health aware respondents preferred conventional CSS in fear of additives, safety and environmental impact of smoke-flavoured CSS. People of young age and higher educated respondents were most tolerant to smoke-flavoured CSS. This was moreover confirmed by higher willingness to buy such products among these groups.

The expected consumer scepticism was confirmed. A large proportion of the respondents were either negative (mean 40%) or neutral (mean 49%) to smoke-flavoured CSS. The group of neutrals reported difficulties answering the questions as they lacked information and knowledge about technology for producing smoke-flavoured CSS. One assumption is that information about smoke-flavoured CSS will affect consumer skepticism, both the negative and the neutral group, towards a more positive attitude. Further investigation will be conducted to determine if this assumption is correct.

Perfume has a significant role in the positioning of a product. It promotes the identification and recognition of a product, a range or a brand. Faced with the European legislation banning the use of more and more ingredients, or the growing difficulty in obtaining certain materials, some fragrances have to be reformulated. However, it is extremely difficult to achieve olfactory parity. In addition, if consumers choose a cosmetic product for its benefits, they will especially be seduced by its sensoriality, its fragrance. Is there an adequacy between the fragrance and the expected benefits of a product? The challenge of this project was thus double.

Firstly, the study consisted to characterize the olfactory characteristics of 4 different Clarins skin care ranges. This could help to ensure that the reformulations fit into the same olfactory universe. A comparative study, involving 10 sensory panellists and 50 future professional perfumers from ISIPCA, was set up using a “free comment” approach. 14 different skin care products were evaluated by the both panels and the collected data were compared using the frequency of the citation and the Multiple Correspondence Analysis. The presented study will highlight:

-              The similarities and the specificities between the two panels’ languages. 

-              The products olfactory profiles, their similarities and differences

 Secondly, the study consisted to evaluate the congruence of the olfactory profile of fragrance of each product with its expected benefits. 4 consumer tests were performed. Focusing solely on the fragrance, the subjects had notably to guess from CATA lists the area of application, age group, function and possible actions of the product. Among the results, it is interesting to note that the fragrance of anti-age range is in coherence with its function and the same fragrance was not appreciated in the same way according to the galenic of the product.

Front-of-pack labels and the claims may impact consumer perceptions of a food product’s sensory qualities, even before it is tasted⁽¹⁾. Two online studies were conducted to determine how health and nutrition-related claims impact expected sensory characteristics of cheese.

The first study focused on ‘Heart Healthy’ and ‘Reduced Fat’ claims. Adult participants (n=149; 45 Males) were presented with four images of cheese labels: (A) Full Fat (B) Reduced Fat (C) Full Fat, ‘Heart Healthy’ and (D) Reduced Fat, ‘Heart Healthy’. Participants were asked to evaluate expected sensory characteristics based on the cheese label, on a 100-point scale, and select a portion size from a range of images, based on adaptations of previous methods^(1,2). Study two followed the same methodology, with new participants focusing on the impact of nutrition claims evaluating  ‘Reduced Fat’ and ‘Grass Fed’ claims: (A) Full Fat (B) Full Fat, ‘Grass Fed’ (C) ‘Reduced Fat’ (D) ‘Reduced Fat, Grass Fed’

The ‘Reduced fat’ claim significantly reduced expected aftertaste, liking, and flavour intensity (all P<0.001), relative to the other cheese types. Females selected smaller portions for ‘Reduced Fat’ cheese (P<0.05) than the other cheese types. This effect was not seen in males. The ‘Heart Healthy’ claim significantly reduced expected flavour intensity (P=0.025), but not aftertaste or liking (both P>0.05). There were no differences between males and females for expected liking or flavour intensity (P>0.05). Overall, females expected a stronger aftertaste than males (P=0.028). Results for the ‘grass fed’ claims will be presented after study two completion (September 2020). These preliminary results suggest that front-of-pack claims impact consumer expectations of foods, and that for cheese, a ‘Heart Healthy’ claim could maintain expected liking over a ‘Reduced Fat’ claim.

References:

1.    McCrickerd K et al. (2020) Food Qual Prefer 79, 103766

2.    Wilkinson L et al. (2012) Appetite 59, 933-938.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in deep socioeconomic and psychological disruptions at both the personal and societal levels. Previous research has demonstrated that actual and perceived insecurity of socioeconomic resources may stimulate appetite and increase energy intake. Yet it remains unknown whether personal socioeconomic impacts caused by COVID-19 and associated lockdown may facilitate this relationship between subjective socioeconomic status (SSES) and eating behavior. This study examined the influence of the impacts of COVID-19 on portion selection across income cohorts (low, middle, high) in Singapore at the end of a national stay-at-home lockdown (“circuit-breaker”). The income cohorts (n=295) differed in socio-economic and subjective socio-economic status. Participants completed an online survey which included measures of satiety goals that may guide energy intake (stop hunger, comfortable fullness, completed fullness), simulated portion selection task for diverse foods, and COVID-impact questionnaire (finances/resources). Results revealed that those experiencing high COVID-impact relied on the satiety goal of stopping hunger when selecting food portion. We also observed a mediation of the relationship between SSES and selected portion sizes by COVID-19 impact. Lower SSES participants reported greater personal financial/resource disruptions caused by COVID-19, which predictedselection of larger portion sizes. Consistent with previous research, these findings demonstrate the effect of subjective socioeconomic standing on food intake and appetite. Furthermore, these findings reveal how personal impacts generated by societal disruptions such as COVID-19 may have downstream impacts on motivations related to satiety, intended portion sizes, and ultimately socioeconomic disparities in dietary patterns.

Despite the importance of texture in food product development, few methodological approaches have been developed to measure lingual tactile acuity and little information exists about the comparison between children and adults. The aims of the present study were: to verify the suitability of Von Frey’s filaments and a gratings orientation test in children of different age; to investigate the relationships between lingual tactile sensitivity, preference and eating behavior. 147 children aged 6-13 years and their parents participated in the study, in addition to a separate sample of seventy adults. Participants completed two different tasks: 1) completion of questionnaires 2) lingual tactile assessment using Von Frey’s filaments and a grating orientation test.

The results of the study established that gratings enable a better separation of subjects according to their lingual acuity than Von Frey’s filaments. Filaments were not directly correlated with the gratings tool. This finding suggests that the two tools measure different dimensions of lingual tactile sensitivity and that the mechanoreceptors located close to the lingual surface respond differently to the two different stimuli.

No age-related differences were found in lingual tactile acuity performance among children and adults. A positive but weak (p<0.05) association between food neophobia and lingual tactile sensitivity was found, supported by multivariate analysis which showed a negative association between sensitivity and preference for hard food. This study reveals a possible link between lingual tactile acuity, food texture preference and food neophobia. Thus, we suggest that early life experiences with texture variety are necessary to encourage children’s acceptance and consumption of foods containing particles.

Introduction

A “teaser advertisement” is an advertisement that does not provide all the information but intentionally ends in a state where the consumer is curious about the continuation, thereby stimulating consumer interest. In this study, we conducted an eye-tracking experiment with a teaser advertisement and a subsequent interview to examine (a) the degree of attention to the mystery element in a teaser advertisement and (b) the effect of the degree of attention on the preference to the advertisement.

Methods

Using a screen-based eye tracker, a teaser TV commercial with a mystery object (a beverage bottle hidden behind a screen) in its scene was presented to 33 subjects, and their gaze data were recorded. After the experiment, the subjects were asked to rate the preference of the commercial on a 7-point scale. Also, they were to give an impression of the commercial verbally.

Results

The subjects’ visual attention to the mystery element was analyzed, and the result showed that the element presented in the scene got the highest attention. However, a multiple regression analysis indicated that the degree of attention to the element had a negative influence on the advertising preference. In addition, the result of text mining of the impression of the advertisement showed that incomplete information about the mystery element triggered an interest for the product for some subjects, but in some cases, it resulted in dissatisfaction with the advertisement.

Discussion

This study confirmed that the mystery element of the teaser advertisement attracted consumers’ high visual attention. It was suggested that this could lead to consumer interest in the product; however, it could also cause consumer dissatisfaction with the advertisement.

Introduction:

4 primary tastes accepted by people are known worldwide; sweet, salty, sour and bitter. In general, the perception intensity of these tastes is different. Many factors play a role in the formation of these differences, such as age, gender, psychological status, socio-cultural differences, characteristics and food habits.

In this study, we focused on the variability of food habits according to cultural differences. Knowledge of tastes, the way, type and frequency the food products are consumed vary from country to country. This study has been done to understand which country prefers which foods according to each taste.

Methods:

Food habits were studied in 7 countries (Brazil (N=80), China (N=160), France (N=136), Mexico (N=80), Turkey (N=113), United Kingdom (N=73), Vietnam (N=109)) using an online survey. Step 1 was to identify which country the participant comes from. Step 2 was appreciation of tastes. Step 3 was learning the consumer habits (e.g. most consumed food product related to 5 tastes, how familiar they are with the tastes and frequency of its consumption). Appreciation of tastes in food is evaluated using 9 points scale from "dislike extremely" to "like extremely" for each taste. Responses from people having chosen “not familiar” with the said taste were removed from data collection. Results were evaluated by ANOVA (comparison of 3 items or more), Student T-Test (comparison of 2 items).

Results:

The associations between taste perception and food habits were different between countries. People were most familiar with sweet taste followed by salty, sour and bitter taste. The most consumed food for each taste varies from country to country. The answer to the most consumed foods for sour taste was popular foods, while the answers to other tastes were more traditional foods. The frequency of food consumption based on taste was different for each country.

Coffee sensory properties are often communicated on the packaging through global intensity scores. Most of the companies use this information to attract consumers catching their attention. Is this information helpful for consumers or confounding?

Do consumers perceive differences in global intensity or this information does not affect consumer sensory perception?

The present work is focused on sensory properties perceived by consumers, their expectation and their assimilation or contrast towards the information reported on the package of products.

Seven types of ground coffee differing in communicated sensory intensity were selected.

The study was organized in three steps:

- Creation of vocabulary starting from consumer perception through individual interviews (n=20) applying a modified version of Repertory Grid Method focused on product sensory properties. A semantic analysis was conducted on these data and a questionnaire with 21 attributes was developed.

- 400 consumers participated in three sessions, during which the ballot has been presented in the three phases: blind (B), expectation for package with information about intensity (E) and informed (I). They also evaluated their ideal intensity for a coffee.

- Two samples were replicated in the informed phase, providing the false package, exchanging the two references.

Data were analyzed in order to define the Disconfirmation Index (DI) and the degree of assimilation/contrast of the product toward the expectations created by the package.

Partial assimilation toward expectations for overall intensity was found for five out seven products, while in one case we did not found any effect of expectations. Only in one case a complete assimilation was found. Taste, colour and odour intensity and body were the attribute more strongly correlated with overall intensity in all conditions (r>0.6) while watery was inversely related (r=-0.3). Sour was the only attribute never correlated with overall intensity in any condition. The study provides useful information for application in company communication.

Soy sauce is a popular condiment across Asia, made from soybeans fermented in brine (18-20% NaCl).The indonesian type has a unique flavour; hence to expand its exports, it is prominent to understand the correlation between its sensory perception and effect of culture on consumer’s choice. Previous studies have shown that colour changes affect sensory perception of foods (e.g. sweetness). Furthermore, the soy sauce industry aims for sodium reduction in their product. Hence, in this study, the preference and perception of saltiness of Indonesian soy sauce varying in colour were investigated. Emotional responses of Greek (Europeans; unfamiliar with soy sauce) and Indonesian were compared to evaluate the effect of culture on the perception.

Sensory analysis: Greek (n=108) and Indonesian (n=80) consumed both light and dark soy sauce versions of the same soy sauce paired with rice porridge and their preference was determined. Overall preference, color, and saltiness preference were evaluated with paired-preference test. Moreover, saltiness was assessed with an acceptance test using a 7-point hedonic scale.

Facial expression analysis: Panellists watched videos of a consumer handling and mixing light and dark soy sauce samples in rice porridge. Six facial expressions (happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust) of the panellists were analysed using FaceReader 8.0 (Noldus).

Chemical characterization: Reducing sugar, organic acid, viscosity, salt, and colour analysis were performed.

Indonesians preferred light soy sauce while Greeks preferred dark soy sauce, which was perceived to be richer in flavour. The Greek consumers demonstrated a more positive response towards dark soy sauce; while Indonesians showed neutral expression on both colours.

Consumer’s familiarity with the product seemed to have significantly affected preference and the perception of saltiness. This study could help to reduce sodium in soy sauce by taking advantage of the effect of colour.

The most powerful competitive advantage a brand has is its unique personality, setting it apart from competitors and distinguishing products to consumers. Understanding the synergistic perceptions of your brand AND your products can provide for better business decision making when it comes to both product design and messaging. But marketing and R&D teams often work in silos, contributing to a high failure rate of new market introductions, despite initial successful testing with traditional consumer research. A mismatch between product experience and brand expectations can lead to challenges to product acceptability and liking, begging the development of new approaches and methodologies that can offer more insightful consumer understanding of synergistic effects. This presentation will outline the challenge of brand harmonization in the sensory world, review the latest research in this area and discuss innovative research solutions.

This study investigates potential areas for research and development in the food sector in Serbia. The questionnaire regarding the future food intentions of children population was submitted at a science fair in Novi Sad, Serbia. 160 children answered what they would like to eat in the future, 189 asked to the question what would be their dream meal, 83 children what would be like their food of the future, and 70 children described their food for the good mood. Frequency statistics, data graphs and simple Correspondence Analysis was obtained for the data processing purpose. The results indicated that 45.0% of boys and 52.2% girls in Serbia answered that the dream meal of the future would be sweets, while 43.9% of boys and 42.0% of girls adopted sweets as the food of the future. It could be said, for both boys and girls that they would like to eat sweets in the future (30.9 and 36.8%, respectively). However, it was observed that fruits and vegetables are preferable as food for the good mood, for girls, while boys are more attracted to sweets.

Fat perception arises from a synergy between not only somatosensory and gustatory, but also olfactory sensations. This has been underscored by findings that humans are capable of discriminating between vapor-phase fatty acids, both ortho- and retronasally. However, evidence of orthonasal fat content discrimination in real foods is limited, and non-existent for retronasal olfaction. Objectives of the present study were to determine whether retronasal fat content detection in a real food context is possible; to investigate how the two olfaction routes (orthonasal; retronasal) compare in terms of discrimination ability; and to assess associations between habitual dairy consumption and discrimination ability. Sixty-six healthy, normal-weight, normosmic, non-smoking consumers (24 ± 3.3 y) undertook a series of dual reminder A-not A discrimination tests and filled out a dairy food frequency questionnaire. Three versions of dairy milk, manipulated to contain 0% (S), 1.5% (M) and 3.5% (F) fat were used as stimuli and presented in containers enabling ortho- and retronasal odour inhalation. R-index analyses revealed that orthonasally, subjects could discriminate between all three fat levels (p < 0.001), whereas retronasally they were able to do so between S-M (p < 0.001) and S-F (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in discrimination ability between the two olfactory routes for either of the comparisons (p_S-M = 0.499; p_S-F = 0.053; p_M-F = 0.408). No associations between the total consumed amount of dairy fat (p = 0.331), dairy products (p = 0.105) or dairy exposure frequency (p = 0.134) and discrimination ability were observed. This is the first study demonstrating the human ability of discriminating food fat content solely on the basis of retronasal olfaction. Results also suggest that this ability is not learned. Present findings will be extended in a follow-up experiment investigating retronasal fat detection in a wider fat concentration range.

In French gastronomy, food and beverage pairing is a traditional practice set down by pairing principles (Herrington, 2008; Herz & Conley, 2015; Eschevin et al. 2019). Among these, Eschevin et al (2019) highlighted the principle of “geographical identity”: pairing two products related to the same area. However, and to the best of our knowledge, no study investigated pairing across different senses e.g. auditory and gustatory. Yet it is well known that the auditory environment interacts with food behaviour (Dacremont & Sester, 2019). One can wonder whether the pairing principles identified for food and beverage are relevant for a soundtrack and a beverage and more precisely whether the shared geographical identity of a beverage and a soundtrack drive their association.

Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore multimodal interaction through the investigation of geographical identity association between a beverage and a soundtrack.

107 French volunteers (aged 18-30 years) were recruited. They were asked to taste one beer (either from Senegal, Ireland, India or the USA) while listening to a soundtrack (typical music from one of the four countries), and to rate liking, harmony and familiarity of the beer-soundtrack association. In addition, liking and familiarity of the beers and the soundtracks were rated separately.

The results showed that beer and soundtrack associations were considered as more harmonious, were preferred and perceived as more familiar with the Irish or American soundtrack compared to the ones with the Senegalese or Indian soundtrack, regardless of the served beer. This can be explained in terms of beer and soundtrack liking and familiarity. The results of the present study suggest that geographical identity is an applicable principle in beverage and soundtrack pairing.

The present study investigated to identify the sensory characteristics of Korea traditional rice wine (yakju) affecting consumer acceptability according to age groups by using check-all-that-apply (CATA) questions with ideal approach. The yakju sample consisted of 5 products from local producers and 3 nationally distributed products having large market share in Korea. Total of 166 subjects consisting of 80 younger (20-29 yr) and older (30-49 yr) consumers evaluated rice wines. Subjects rated the acceptance using a 9-point hedonic scale, and evaluated the sensory characteristics of the sample using a CATA method. They were also asked to select sensory characteristics for ideal yakju after evaluating all the samples. For data analysis, analysis of variance, internal preference mapping (IPM), correspondence, and penalty analyses were conducted. The younger and older consumers showed different sensory perceptions in general. Sample effect, age group effect, and sample by age group effect influenced the liking score significantly (p<0.05). IPM and correspondence analysis showed that young consumers especially disliked S4, which was characterized by soy sauce odour/flavour, rotten egg flavour, mushroom odour/flavour. The older consumers were divided into 2 clusters; one cluster preferred samples from local company and the other preferred from nationally distributed ones. In general older consumers discriminated the sensory characteristics of sample better than younger consumers. Sensory characteristics by CATA questions were highly correlated with acceptance in older consumer in contrast to the younger consumers who showed low correlations. In the results from penalty analysis, sweet odour/flavour and plum flavour were a “must have” attribute, which were frequently mentioned for the ideal product but not in the real samples, for young consumers. Sweetness was a “must have” attribute for the older consumers. For “must not have” attributes, astringency and bitterness were selected by the younger consumers, and alcohol flavour was selected by the old consumers.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of country of origin and label information on consumers’ willingness to purchase (WP) and their perception of the health properties of EVOO (PH) through conjoint analysis.

317 Uruguayan EVOO consumers completed an online survey. The conjoint design consisted of three factors: country of origin (Italy, Spain or Uruguay), health properties information (no information, ‘rich in antioxidants’ or ‘rich in polyphenols’) and olive oil contest award (no award or gold award). The stimuli were presented using packaging labels. PH and WP were evaluated using a 9-point structured scale. Utilities and relative importance were calculated and ANOVA was performed.

The results showed that the PH and WP were significantly affected by the three categorical factors (p < 0.0001). When the origin was Italy or Spain, consumers assigned the product significantly higher average values of PH and WP than when the origin was Uruguay. Consumers rated products with labels stating ‘rich in antioxidants’ with a significantly higher average value of PH and WP than those stating ‘rich in polyphenols’ and those without information. When the product labels included a gold award, consumers rated them significantly higher on PH and WP than products without an award.

Furthermore, the presence of ‘rich in antioxidants’, yielded positive gains in PH and WP while ‘rich in polyphenols’ and the absence of information yielded negative utilities. This suggests that using a chemical compound to describe the antioxidant properties of the product negatively affected WP.

Italian and Spanish origin had positive utilities while Uruguayan origin utility was negative on both PH and WP, demonstrating consumers’ lack of knowledge about the Uruguayan olive oil industry.

To conclude, a conjoint analysis was a useful method to explore consumer perception and how to communicate the health properties of EVOO most effectively.

Background and Objectives

Overweight and obesity are a growing global concern in children, which might be linked to sweetness preference of children. While data on sweetness preference in children is available, little research has been done on sweet taste thresholds (STT). The aim of this study was to investigate whether the STT can be changed (reduced) in children and whether an implementation is feasible within school settings.

Methods

In an explorative case study (n=40), STT in children (10-14 years) were determined in a school setting. As pre-test the taste thresholds of the children were captured, according to ISO standard 3972, with 9 concentrations of 0.34 - 12 g sucrose/litre. The concentrations from 1-9 in ascending order were given to school children, no re-tasting was allowed. A 14-day sensitization phase served as an intervention, during which the children received an apple drink developed for this purpose for tasting on weekdays. The sugar concentration of the apple drink was reduced daily by 10% of the previous value. Finally, a second STT was carried out with the same children. Weight, height, origin, of children were not collected.

Results

A trend towards a reduction of the STT can be seen, yet it was statistically insignificant. The implementation of the sensitization in everyday school life has turned out to be positive. Organizational as well as methodical arrangements in school settings are feasible.

Discussion and Conclusions

A change (reduction) of STT tends to be possible. Interventions with elements of nutritional education are feasible in school settings and could be part of further research. Further studies are needed that consider the complexity of the change of STT with respect to the influence of intervention environments or duration.

Novel techniques derived from psychology and consumer research, such as projective and holistic methodologies, have gained great interest in the food fields in order to study opinion and perception of specific group of consumers respect to different food-related products. In this context, the aim of this research was to study older people opinion about the concept “dessert” using two methodologies: Word Association (WA) and Sorting Task (ST). For WA, 102 older people (60-85 years old) were asked: what are the first 4 words that come to mind when you think of: healthy, ideal, light and palatable dessert? and for ST, they had to classify 15 desserts photographs into 4 conceptual groups (healthy-I like it, healthy-I don't like it, unhealthy-I like it, unhealthy-I don't like it). WA and ST data were analysed by correspondence analysis and multiple correspondence analysis, respectively. Respect to WA, older people generated 187 terms that were distributed in 5 main categories related to: sensory characteristics, types of fruits, diet-health related terms, dairy products and other desserts. The perceptual map showed that concepts “dessert” and “healthy dessert” were related to fruits, emotions and healthy characteristics; whilst the concept “light dessert” was associated to sugar-free or fat-free products and poor sensory characteristics (tasteless, boring and I don´t like it). The concept “ideal dessert” was related to traditional dairy desserts as rice pudding, flan. Respect to ST methodology, it was observed that older people classified desserts by their composition. Fruits, jelly and yogurts were grouped in the healthy category, whilst the products with high content of sugar and fat, such as cake, ice cream, lemon pie, in the unhealthy category. In conclusion, it is possible to know older people opinion about the concept “dessert” using WA and ST methodologies, where fruits and dairy based-desserts are considered healthy and appetizing.

In this research it was launched a web survey, open to all, about olives’ consumption and behaviour in choosing table olives. This product is a constant inside Mediterranean diet, as it is or as an ingredient for more complex dishes. Italy has a huge variety of different cultivars (4 has UE PDO certification), which are currently used for table olives’ production, together with many different processes, either traditional or international, to make them edible (natural fermentation, Californian method, Sevillian method and more). The aim was to collect opinions from common people, in an age range from 18 to 65+, with no restrictions except one: they should like and eat table olives. The survey was developed using Microsoft Forms by submitting 25 questions, partly as single answer and partly as multiple choices (including Likert-like answers). An equal number of males and females (210M vs. 214F) from all Italian regions was involved. The most interesting data obtained were the prevalent olives’ consumption at home (66%) and the predominant olives’ purchase at GDO/supermarket (57,4 % only GDO; 85,1% GDO+others). Focusing on the singles and families’ habits, it was clear that lunch and dinner were the most common in both subgroups (dinner: 81,4% families, 78,7% singles – Lunch: 54.3% families, 51.06% singles), but singles tend to prefer a “before dinner” while families a “before lunch” consumption (Cochran Q’s test – P<0,0001). More, families prefer consuming 1-2 times per month (48.8 % before lunch, 49.6% lunch, 56.2% before dinner and 52,2% at dinner) while singles are spread into different frequencies. This survey represents the first big investigation about olives consumption in Italy and shows a picture of Italian consumers; it is a starting point for further analysis considering also the other relevant data achieved. AKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This research was supported by MiPAAFT, funding the project DEAOLIVA (DM 93882).

South Africa is a net importer of wheat as the harsh climate is not very favourable for wheat production. The use of gluten-free indigenous climate-smart crops for bread products offers economic advantages. Here, insights on the perception (liking of flavour) of millennial consumers (n = 173) towards commercial gluten-free bread was determined. The consumers were classified based on their health (considering the general health interest subscale) and taste (pleasure subscale) attitudes measured according to (Roininen, Lähteenmäki and Tuorila, 1999).

Wheat bread flavour was preferred. The flavour of gluten-free bread was rated higher by those with a high health compared to a low health interest. Also, for consumers with a high health interest, liking was positively influenced by a gluten-free label. The flavour of gluten-free bread was rated higher by consumers with a low pleasure compared to a high pleasure attitude. The gluten-free label had a slight positive influence on the liking of one gluten-free bread for both pleasure groups. For consumers with a high pleasure attitude, liking for the other gluten-free bread was negatively influenced by a gluten-free label (p = 0.247).

Gluten-free bread is more acceptable to high health attitude consumers probably as it is assumed to be healthier. It was less acceptable to high pleasure attitude consumers, regardless of label information as taste is presumed to be very important to this group.

Bread from gluten-free flours of indigenous climate-smart crops (e.g. sorghum, cassava and cowpea) is likely to be acceptable to millennial consumers if the flavour would closely resemble wheat bread. Emphasis of the potential health benefits of such bread would entice those with a high health attitude while acceptability of the flavour is key to the pleasure-seeking consumers.

Roininen, K., Lähteenmäki, L. and Tuorila, H. (1999) ‘Quantification of consumer attitudes to health and hedonic characteristics of foods’, Appetite. 33(1), pp. 71–88. doi: 10.1006/appe.1999.0232.

This research aimed firstly to examine whether sweetness with or without calories affects short-term appetite and energy intake (EI) and secondly to investigate the effects of repeated exposure to sweetness without calories on EI in healthy adults.

In the first study, 20 healthy participants (27±5y, 21.8±1.5 kg/m²) completed five separate visits after having fasted for 3-4 hours following breakfast, where they consumed five beverages in a randomised crossover double-blind design: 330mL of water (control-no calories, no taste) and either 330mL of water containing 40g glucose or sucrose (sweet taste, calories), maltodextrin (calories, no taste), or 240ppm stevia (Truvia RA-95-sweet taste, no calories). Stevia and glucose beverages were matched for sweetness. Subjective appetite and EI to ad libitum lunch (30 min post-beverage consumption) were measured. In the subsequent randomised controlled open-label study, 28 healthy participants (25±5y, 21.2±1.7 kg/m²) were randomised into the stevia group (n=14), consuming 5 drops of a stevia extract with their habitual drinks twice daily, or the control group (n=14). Study duration was 12 weeks, EI was assessed at weeks 0, 6 and 12.

Both calories and sweet taste influenced appetite in the first study. Significantly lower ratings for hunger and desire to eat 30 min post-consumption were shown for all the caloric, sweet, sweet and caloric beverages compared to water. Total EI (summation of beverage and lunch) was significantly lower (P=0.038) only for stevia (727±53.4 kcal) compared to water (832±44.2 kcal). Results of the second study demonstrated that EI significantly decreased at week 12 compared to week 0 only in the stevia group (ΔEI at week 12: -344±80.6 kcal, P=0.003).

The data support a consistent beneficial effect of sweetness without calories toward moderation of EI, however our findings may be specific to stevia. Future work focuses on the exploration of neural brain responses underlying this behavioural effect.

While big data is transforming industries, collecting large volumes of consumer data on flavour / fragrance preferences has always been a challenge. But at the same time consumers are also increasingly seeking digital experiences even when shopping. This presents scientists with a unique opportunity to fill this gap.

Aroma Kiosk [Givaudan Corporation] is a self-service, interactive device able to deliver endless combinations of flavours to consumers through the Virtual Aroma Synthesizer (VAS™) while collecting their perception (eg. liking). In return, consumers are rewarded by learning about their sensory preferences, optimal flavour profiles and they get matched with products according to their preferences. The calculation of consumer’s optimal flavour and match with products is powered by an artificial intelligence based algorithm, Advanced Tools of Modelling (ATOM™) [Givaudan Corporation], integrated in Aroma Kiosk.

Since Aroma Kiosk is a self-service device, it can be placed in the public arena to collect large volumes of consumer data from un-recruited consumers in a relevant environment and mindset. Moreover, consumers are engaged in a fun interactive way by offering personalized recommendations.

In this study, 2 Aroma Kiosks were open in the exhibitor space during the 13th Pangborn Symposium 2019 Edinburgh, to collect consumer preference data for margarita drinks and mango candies. Conference participants (400+) smelt and based on their responses, ATOM recommended “market” products and presented sensory profiles that contributed positively and negatively to their perception in real time.

The results provided insights into consumer preferences for various target groups (age, gender, region). For the mango, Europeans liked green melon, Americans liked carroty fleshy and Asians disliked a fruity juicy note.

The Aroma Kiosk technology provides access to a large volume of consumer preference data in a very efficient manner opening the door to broad (geography, targets) and granular (individual) understanding of flavour preferences.

Sensory food cues in our surroundings, such as odours, trigger decisions that may lead to (over)eating. Therefore, it is crucial to better understand the effect of food odours on behavioural responses. Exposure to food odours has been shown to enhance appetite for food products with similar properties: sensory-specific appetite (SSA), inferring that we can detect nutritional information about our food, via smell. Our previous research showed that aware exposure of macronutrient-related odours influenced SSA but not food intake. Therefore, in our current study, we aimed to determine the influence of unaware exposure to macronutrient-related odours on appetite and intake. 34 healthy, normal-weight and unrestrained Dutch females (21.3 ± 1.8 years old) underwent four sessions where they were unconsciously exposed to odours representing food high in carbohydrates, protein and fat, and low-calorie. Their eating behaviour was assessed through: a) questionnaire to rate specific appetite before and after odour exposure (‘How much would you like to eat ‘[specific product]’ at this moment?’ on a 100 mm VAS; ‘specific product’ consisted of in/congruent food products that did/did not match the odour condition); b) actual food intake (ad libitum lunch by means of a salad bar buffet, including toppings representing the different macronutrients). Preliminary results suggest that unconscious exposure to macronutrient-signalling odours did not influence congruent appetite nor food intake. Follow-up research could focus on intensity of the odours, or exposure time to further assess if and how odour priming can affect eating behaviour.

Background: previous studies showed very few effects of consumption context (laboratory, immersive- and real-life context) on repeated food evaluations when only location was varied and other variables such as the social context were kept minimal. The present study explores the effect of repeated exposure to foods in immersive contexts that are either congruent or incongruent with specific food products on food evaluations .

Methods: two groups of participants (N=23 and 18) were exposed repeatedly in seven sessions to three test foods (sushi, popsicle, ice tea) in either a simulated beach or sushi restaurant context. These contexts were switched in the eighth and final session. Aspects of perception and the appreciation of the foods were measured before the exposure (in session 1), and after the exposure in either the same (session 7) or in a different context (session 8).

Results: the results showed that (expected) liking, desire to eat and sensory attribute ratings varied with the type of immersive context, whereby congruent food-context combinations, such as popsicle at the beach and sushi in the restaurant, triggered more positive hedonic responses before tasting and more stable hedonic responses after tasting than incongruent combinations. Other context effects were not food-specific: foods consumed in the restaurant tended to taste more sweet and sour than the same foods consumed at the beach. Also, desire to eat was in general lower in the restaurant compared to the beach. Some of the effects persisted after the context switch in the eight session (food still tasted sweet in the restaurant when repeatedly consumed at the beach), other effects were affected by the location (desire to eat sushi). Conclusion: the results demonstrate that 1) consumption contexts need to be taken into account in consumer tests, and 2) immersive (simulated context) technologies may be a viable tool for consumer research.

The consumption of sauces has significantly increased during the last decades, with the continuous incorporation of new product references on the market. According to a Nielsen´s market study, the success rate of new food product is around 10%, mainly due to the mismatching between the products characteristics and consumer expectations. The aim of this study was to investigate the consumption patterns of sauce, including habits, preferences and sauce purchase drivers in four European countries.

An online survey was conducted in 2019 among 1,600 European consumers (males and females) from Spain, France, Germany and Italy (400 per country), aged from 18 to 75 years old and responsible or co-responsible for shopping home food products. Consumers responses were statistically analysed to identify differences among countries, age and gender.

The results revealed cross-cultural differences between the countries sited in the Mediterranean basin and central European regions. Overall, Germans showed a different profile regarding the places of consumption, the preferred flavour and sauce usually bought and consumed at home. Among the 22 drivers selected in this study (related to taste, ingredients, health concern, versatility, nutritional information and convenience), the taste of the product was selected as the most important purchase driver by 7 out of 10 consumers. In addition, 50% of the consumers selected “natural ingredients”, “no additives” and “ingredients” as substantial purchase drivers (Figure 1). Finally, the consumers were forced to split the importance of purchase among “sensory aspects”, “health/nutritional aspects”, “convenience”, “ingredients” and “price”, being the sensory-related aspects the most important one in all the studied countries. In conclusion, the European consumers have indicated product taste as one of the main drivers to select a sauce to consume at home. The obtained results could contribute to the key points governing sauces consumption in Europe, reducing uncertainty in the launch of new products.

Due to the new recommendations to improve the nutritional profiles of the food products and the increasing social demand for healthier foods, the food industry is adapting the formulation of several foods, especially to reduce their sugar and fat content. In most cases, food additives are used to substitute them. However, consumers´ opinion about these changes has not been deeply investigated. The aims of this study were (i) to analyse the consumers perception about food additives and (ii) to describe the consumers willing to pay for clean(er) labels of sauces and patisserie products (i.e. no additives and reduced additives).

In this study, conducted in the EIT Food UnderPRESSURE project, 1,600 consumers from Spain, Italy, Germany and France (400 per country) took part in an online survey in 2019. Consumers (males and females) aged from 18 to 75 years old and responsible or co-responsible of shopping home food products were selected.

The results showed that 7 out of 10 consumers try to avoid preservatives or additives when they are listed on the product label, identifying the colorants as the less suitable additives, followed by stabilisers, starch and fiber. Regarding the willing to pay for clean(er) labels, cross-cultural differences were found. Spanish and Italian consumers were the most receptive to pay for the suggested products, since 7 out of 10 consumers would pay for products with clean(er) labels. On the contrary, Germans were the less receptive to pay for all the suggested products. Consumers would pay between 0% and 10% more for products with no additives and with reduced additives content.

In conclusion, our study reveals that the consumers are willing to pay for sauces and patisserie products with clean(er) labels. As the number of food additives decreases, more consumers are willing to pay for these products.

Eating experiences provide rich multisensory stimuli. Contrary to the unidimensional pleasure derived from visceral eating—the satisfaction of eating impulses—Epicurean eating emphasizes the appreciation of the multisensory and aesthetic aspects of eating experiences and has been documented to be associated with preference for smaller food portions and higher wellbeing (Cornil & Chandon, 2016). Research has demonstrated multiple relationships between environmental factors from different modalities and food perception. However, little attention has been given to the relative importance of different atmospheric cues in fine dining restaurants, and how this may be influenced by one’s Epicurean eating tendencies.

In the present study, a total of 110 participants who regularly eat at fine dining restaurants took part in an online questionnaire. Participants were asked to rate the importance of various atmospheric factors they encounter when visiting restaurants (Ryu & Jang, 2008), as well as respond to questions related to their Epicurean eating tendencies (Cornil & Chandon, 2016) and food expertise. Results to the atmospheric questions were grouped by relevant sensory modality (visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile), and participants were partitioned into those with low or high Epicurean eating tendencies.

The results revealed that participants viewed auditory and olfactory aspects of restaurant atmosphere as significantly more important than tactile or visual aspects, with women placing greater importance on olfactory aspects of the atmosphere compared to men. Moreover, those with higher Epicurean eating tendencies viewed atmospheric factors as significantly more important than those with lower Epicurean eating tendencies. These results provide insights to fine dining restauranteurs for improving the design of the eating environment by utilising stimuli of different modalities to enhance the eating experience and promote Epicurean eating.

Introduction: Consumers are increasingly aware of the impact of food and beverage choices on their health. Understanding how people perceive and value health aspects of wine may help to promote sustainable consumer behaviour and the development of healthier wine products. The aim of the present scoping review was to provide a structured overview of the literature published since 2012 about consumer behaviour related to wine and health and to identify gaps in this research field.

Methods: A systematic search of ten databases (2012 to October 2019) resulted in 631 records (after deduplication) for the title and abstract screening, with 155 relevant articles assessed for eligibility through full-text screening. Studies were included if they addressed topics related to wine and health and had a consumer perception or behaviour aspect.

Results: Forty-nine records met the inclusion criteria and were included in the present review. The included articles provided information about one or more of these five topics; perceived health impact of wine (n=19), perceptions of moderate wine consumption (n=8), role of health in wine consumption decision-making (n=15), perceptions and behaviour related to wine labelling (n=19), perceptions and behaviour related to wine innovations (n=25), which can be subdivided into wines with sustainability characteristics and wines with reduced alcohol content. The main study findings are summarised narratively per topic and an overview table is provided.

Conclusions: The review summarises the current state of published research concerning consumer perceptions of wine and health and provides a practical overview for different stakeholders, including researchers, policymakers and industry. Moreover, it highlights areas of intense research interest and needs for further investigation.

Introduction: It is generally believed that taste/flavor perception of food and drink is simply determined by their chemical and physical properties. However, there is an increasing number of studies showing that several factors other than food and drink itself, such as cutlery and plateware, slightly but significantly affect taste/flavor perception. Therefore, this study aimed to broaden the knowledge by investigating the effect of color of plateware on perceived sweetness of chocolate.

Methods: In this study, 48 Japanese university students participated (19 females, mean age = 19.9). Four different chocolates available on the Japanese market were presented as taste stimuli: ‘Milk’ (22% cacao), ‘Bitter’ (40%), ‘Dark’ (55%), and ‘High Cacao’ (70%). The order of presentation of the chocolates was fully counter-balanced across the participants. Participants tasted these chocolates (7 g each) and evaluated perceived palatability, sweetness, bitterness, intensity of chocolate odor, and liking on 100-mm VAS. While a half of the participants tasted the four chocolates from red platewares, the other half tasted the chocolates from black platewares.

Results: For perceived sweetness, there was a significant main effect of the color of plateware, showing that the chocolates were perceived sweeter when they ware tasted from the red platewares compared to when they were tasted from the black platewares.

Discussion: Along with the previous studies, this study demonstrated the effect of plateware: the red plateware significantly enhanced sweetness of chocolate. Since the majority of previous studies manipulated the color of plateware as within-subject factor, one can still suspect that the observed effect was simply driven by the experimenter effect. This study, on the other hand, manipulated it as between-subject factor and demonstrated a significant effect of the color on perceived sweetness of chocolates, which cannot be explained by the experimenter effect. Some practical implications will also be discussed in the presentation session.

The ongoing process of globalization significantly affects the level of socio-economic development of countries and the progressing economic convergence. Along with the economic development of countries, changes in the level and structure of household consumption occur as a result of them getting richer. In particular, there is an equalization of the level and share of household expenditure on food, related to the unification of consumption possibilities, determined by the convergence of disposable income. The aim of the study is to analyze the unification of demand for food in households of the EU Member States and selected OECD countries in 1995-2017, with particular emphasis on spatial relationships. The study also addresses the issue of the relationship between changes in the level and structure of consumption of households (in this case described by food expenditure) with their ecological situation. This relationship is very important due to the assumptions about the idea of sustainable consumption. In the study of the equalization of the level of expenditure on food, the approach of β-absolute convergence and β-conditional convergence (estimating the influence of significant determinants of demand such as disposable income) was used. In the second approach, spatio-temporal convergence models were also estimated, taking into account the similarity of food expenditure, conditioned by the geographical location of territorial units. Moreover, the similarity of the ecological situation between analyzed countries was determined, which is the basis for the creation of an additional connection matrix, used in the estimation of spatio-temporal convergence models. The spatio-temporal analysis was based on spatial autoregressive model (SAR) and spatial error model (SE).

Background

How reasonable is a descriptive analysis done by a European expert panel for an Asian market? Does the lack of familiarity inevitably result in insensitive perceptions and verbalisation problems (e.g., linguistic relativity, Whorf hypothesis)? Studies published by Prescott's team in the ‘90s favoured the hypothesis of universal sensory experience. Some EU-Asian comparisons made like conclusions (e.g. Torri et al. 2017, Teo et al. 2018), while others emphasized intercultural differences (e.g. Tu et al. 2010, Kim et al. 2013; Cecchini et al. 2019). Cross-cultural deviations from universality are demonstrated in order to derive recommendations for transcultural sensory description projects.

Method

Thai egg tofu soups were independently described by a Thai and a German expert panel (QDA-type). From 27 samples 3 were made with an EU base, 24 with a Thai base. Post-hoc three differences between procedures were identified: Each panel used its usual attribute list and generated only few new attributes for the resp. unfamiliar base. Additionally, they used their usual calibration sample. Serving temperature differed (+ 5°C hotter for Thai panel).

Results

Some attributes show intelligible differences: E.g., the Thai panel discriminated toasted and boiled garlic; the latter was neglected by the German panel but emerged as negative driver of liking in a Thai CLT. E.g., the Thai panel discriminated stem/leaf and root coriander, the latter a positive driver; the German panel merged both resulting in an optimal-point driver.

Lessons learned

1. Invest research in adequate preparation & consumption customs at the target culture.
2. Invest more training sessions to familiarize the panel with the product range.
3. Do not use the long-term agreed calibration product (i.e. the European calibration). Instead, invest in the development of agreed scores for a set-specific calibration to fully adapt the panel to the adequate frame of reference during attribute development and intensity assessment.

Measures of product performance that effectively predict food choices are highly sought after. A simple method to add value to hedonic data is that of item-by-use (IBU) “appropriateness”, where consumers are presented with a list of possible consumption situations and asked to indicate how well a product fits them. A persistent misunderstanding surrounding this approach is that it is relevant for discriminating between different products, but not between variants within the same product category, which is often the case in sensory and consumer studies.

To provide a deeper understanding of the sensory underpinnings of appropriateness, the present work presents experimental evidence from six consumer studies employing product variants within the same product category, and characterized by smaller (rather than larger) sensory differences. In all studies, consumers evaluated the products in blind (so that differences could be attributed to variation in sensory profiles) for liking and completed two CATA questions focusing on sensory and IBU terms, respectively.

In all studies, consumers discriminated products on the basis of appropriateness, even in studies characterized by unidimensional and controlled sensory differences (such as a basic lemonade recipe varying in sugar content). While product differentiation based on the sensory data was better/clearer than on the basis of the IBU data (as one would expect within a single product category), these results clearly show that sensory variation in an of itself is sufficient to elicit differences in perceived appropriateness. Furthermore, the degree of inter-product differences in appropriateness was approximately linearly related to the degree of differences in sensory profiles. Finally, while some sensory properties independently affected appropriateness, the intensity (and in some cases the direction) of the effects often depended on the level of liking for the product.

The talk will discuss possible explanations for these results, as well as highlight implications for sensory practice.

Central location test (CLT) is the most used condition in consumer studies. While being higher in internal validity this approach has lower external validity compared to a real-life context, like home use test (HUT). Evocation of specific consumption situations, congruent with own habits by imagining or with the help of pictures, is a way to provide to consumers a complete meaning of the product with control of the test conditions.

This study investigated to what extent the contexts generally used in sensory testing and the qualities pertaining to the wine itself impact Chianti wine appreciation, desire to re-test, wine-evoked emotions and perceived aroma, taste and in-mouth sensations. Measurements were obtained by central location testing (CLT), a controlled lab with evoked consumption situations (images and self-description of the own habitual context of consumption) (CLT-evoked) and consumption at home under natural conditions (HUT), on commercial Chianti wine samples by 108 regular consumers of red wine.

Discrimination of liking and desire to re-test the wines were detected in the test at home, where the participants had more time to perform the test. A decrease of emotion and sensory items scores was observed in the test at home where the test conditions lead to focus better on products, rather than on the first impression.

Pleasure of Chianti wine was associated to the emotions: pleasant, peaceable, joyful, amusing, and best correlated with the sensory attribute sweet. Unpleasantness was associated to the emotions: aggressive, disgusting, overwhelming, and with acid, dry, astringent terms. Level of arousal was positively associated with euphoric, keen and passionate, and well correlated with spicy and persistent as sensory items. The study provides interesting insights about changes of Chianti wine perception in relation to the drinking context, expanding knowledge on the topic.

Introduction: Sensory panels are widely used to obtain objective descriptions with aims as diverse as benchmarking, quality tracking, prototyping…

However, set this method up needs to be justified by important product quantities, as it implies an extensive process of building a lexicon, training panelists, monitoring them...

There is a grey area when one is looking for quick solutions to characterize products not justifying a whole panel procedure (i.e. niche products, innovations…).

Methods: Agile Panels were developed to answer this need of a flexible yet reliable method to obtain the sensory characterization of innovative / specific products

In addition to respect the sensory fundamentals (lexicon, training, monitoring…), this method funds its success in relying on 4 pillars:

- experienced candidates (already expert on the field)

- restricted yet representative set of products (pre-selection)

- pinpoint list of attributes (≈ 6-10 attributes maximum)

- quick sequencing (≈ 3 close sessions of intensive training)

Results: Results will be illustrated with the example of indoor futsal shoes, conveying an obvious “niche” nature.

Thanks to the recruitment of futsal expert players, a choice of shoes based on instrumental data distribution and a meaningful 10-term lexicon, this project allows after 3 training and 2 characterization sessions to obtain a valid cartography of the product performance.

Panelists show a high level of involvement and good individual performance, leading to high panel performance on all standard KPI (consensus / discrimination / repeatability)

Discussion: Selection of field experts appears as key when building agile panels. Their bond with the product guarantees a high involvement and reduces the set-up period.

Building on other multiple applications, the quick sequencing also appears as key, involving both

- Rigor, required to carry the different steps successfully (rationality…)

- Flexibility, allowing to transpose the method out of CLT and evaluate products in their “true” environment (sport field…)

Introduction: Sensory panels are widely used to obtain objective descriptions with aims as diverse as benchmarking, quality tracking, prototyping…

However, set this method up needs to be justified by important product quantities, as it implies an extensive process of building a lexicon, training panelists, monitoring them...

For certain categories of products, it therefore appears too restrictive:

- impossibility to test several products in a row

- CLT gesture too distant from the “natural” use

- variability inherent to the application mode or area

Methods: To uncover these constraints, carrying the panel out of the limited CLT context was found as a relevant and valuable solution but implies obvious counterparts:

- increase the number of panelists to cover the variability in application mode

- strictly frame the test to avoid bias induced by the environment multiplicity

Luckily, recent development of the online tools made it easier with real-time control over the data.

For the rest, keeping the sensory fundamentals (lexicon, training…), ensuring regular contacts with the panelists and monitoring performance continuously will guarantee the panel good overall performance.

Results: Through the example of shampoos, gathering on their own almost all the above-mentioned constraints (application in a constraining environment, product remanence, personal gesture, hair type…), we will detail guidelines to successfully transpose sensory evaluation from CLT to home.

Discussion: Even out of the CLT walls, the multiple applications of these in-home panels always demonstrate the high level of panelists’ involvement.

The fair KPI achieved compared to CLT panels allow to consider it as a useful and reliable tool for the sensory characterization of “restrictive” products.

Finally, the ad’hoc design of this method makes it easy to transpose:

- to other “restrictive” products (deodorants & remanence, razors & hairs, lighters & outdoor…)

- to an international context (US, China, South African township…)

Introduction: The UX method funds its principle in the “ecologic” testing of products, i.e. test products in an environment as close as possible to their final use:

- by re-creating them (experimental kitchen / bathroom in CLT to test food / cosmetics)

- by carrying the test out of the CLT comfort, when such “ecologic” conditions are impossible to re-create and require adjusting the UX evaluation protocol to the product specificities

Methods: This paper presents guidelines to adjust the general UX testing rules to build an ad’hoc protocol fitting the specific conditions certain products required to be tested.

These guidelines will be illustrated with the example of extreme cold gears and the set-up of a 4-day trek in Lapland, necessary to truly “experience” the products in an outdoor context and extreme weather conditions (growing fatigue by -20°C)

Results: Presence of the experimenters on the field all test long allows to collect and unify several sources of information to obtain a full 360° overview of the products

- instrumental measures of weather conditions

- objective and perceptive measures of body vitals

- technical performance of the equipment

- physical and psychological state of the respondents

Experimenters also follow the usage evolutions and adaptation strategies induced by familiarization, highlighting critical moments of truth for each material.

Their presence was also useful to enrich the study insights with qualitative verbatims and live videos.

Discussion: Compared to re-created contexts, real-life testing shows multiple advantages:

- more realistic, participants can truly experience the product

- wealth of information for designers and developers

- access to a diversity of behaviors

However, as all methods, this one also shows limits:

- requires important logistical undertaking

- diversity of situations and behaviors may be overwhelming

- agility and flexibility in face of unexpected events

Traditionally, sensory analysis methodologies are performed on sensory booths which are designed to minimize external stimuli. Nonetheless, evaluations performed in these traditional conditions lack ecological validity (balance between scientific control and the components of natural environment), and do not always predict the success of the products in the market. Virtual reality may lead to a high level of presence but faces several restrictions when evaluating real products as it is hard for the participant to interact with them. The main goal of this study was to evaluate an immersive mixed reality system, where a real product and the participant are placed into a virtual environment. A panel of 102 young adult consumers (aged 18-45 years) evaluated five different samples of commercial peach nectars. Evaluation occurred during three sessions, in three different environments: dining room, school cafeteria (virtual environments) and laboratory (sensory booth), following a balanced design with a one-week interval between sessions. Consumers rated overall liking on a 9-point hedonic scale, followed by open comments. At each session, participants tasted the five samples following a balanced sequential monadic presentation. After each session, consumers answered a 10-item Engagement Questionnaire [1] and a 6-item Presence Questionnaire [2], specific for virtual environments. The type of environment affected the hedonic discrimination between samples, with the immersive mixed reality environments promoting a higher discrimination between samples than in the laboratory setting. On the other hand, the level of engagement was significantly higher when using the mixed reality system, with this effect being more evident in the cafeteria and for the affective value sub-scale. Similarly, the level of presence in the virtual environment, was significantly higher in the cafeteria environment.

Fig.1. Environments evaluated (from left to right): mixed reality – dining room and cafeteria-, and sensory booth.

Acknowledgments: This research was supported through project MOBFOOD-Mobilizing scientific and technological knowledge in response to the challenges of the agri-food market, funded by COMPETE2020, Portugal2020, Lisboa2020 and FEDER-European Regional Development Funds. Author J.C. Ribeiro acknowledges Doctoral Grant No. SFRH/BD/147409/2019, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

References:

[1] Hannum, M. E., & Simons, C. T. (2020). Development of the engagement questionnaire (EQ): A tool to measure panelist engagement during sensory and consumer evaluations. Food Quality and Preference, 81, 103840.

[2] Slater, M., Usoh, M., & Steed, A. (1994). Depth of presence in virtual environments. Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments, 3(2), 130-144.

A potential barrier to introducing plant-based options in foodservice is that customers might perceive them as less satiating than meat-based options. Previous studies suggest that the way a dish is described on the menu influences consumers’ expectations regarding its healthiness, taste and value.

The objective is to investigate the impact of the description of a dish in a restaurant on its perceived satiety value. This study explores the impact of wording on the perception of meat and plant-based dishes.

The study took place at the Living Lab restaurant of the Institut Paul Bocuse Research Centre. 115 customers were given a menu with 4 dish options: 2 meat-based and 2 plant-based. Three wordings were tested: a reference (R), neutral with the ingredients’ description, (S) a sensory-based information (describing the tasting experience), (N) a nutrition-based information (describing the nourishing experience). Each participant received first (R) then either (N) (n=57) or (S) (n=58). For each option, participants were asked to rate: perceived satiety value², liking, economic value, perceived healthiness.

In (R), plant-based dishes received the lowest satiety and hedonic scores and the highest healthiness. (N) increased satiety scores except for one meat based option. (S) increased satiety values of plant-based but not meat-based options. Economic value increased for all options in (N) and even more in (S). Healthiness scores decreased for one plant-based option in (S) and (N). Hedonic rating were unchanged in (N) and (S).

This pilot study suggests that adding information on plant-based dishes changes consumers’ beliefs about perceived satiety value, particularly nourishing information. However sensory information seems more effective than directly referring to satiating properties to increase the choice of plant-based options. This effect is not consistently observed for meat-based options, possibly due to familiarity.

Enhancing menu descriptions might help consumers and professionals turn towards more plant-based choices in restaurants.

Visual traits of high-quality design pastry affect how consumers perceive and value pastry products. Immersive technologies are currently under constant development creating simulations of real-life environments. These technologies allow us to study the visual impact of pastry design quickly and efficiently [1] [2]. The objective of this study was to evaluate if a virtual environment may be used to properly evaluate consumers’ visual perception of design pastry.

For this experiment, five high-quality cakes were designed and selected according to a previous consensus from the research team. A panel of 87 consumers evaluated overall appeal, desired serving size, visual acceptance and perceived deliciousness of the cakes, both under live and virtual environments. In the real environment, consumer’ were exposed to real cakes at a standard tasting booth. Within the virtual environment, both the tasting booth and the cakes were virtualized through 3D modelling technology and consumers were exposed using a head-mounted display (HMD). A crossover experiment, with a three-weeks washout period, was performed for both real and virtual environments The five cakes were presented at each, following a balanced sequential monadic presentation order. At the end of the test, a questionnaire to assess virtual presence was collected. Differences in pastries visual evaluation were assessed using a 4-way mixed ANOVA (consumers-as random factor- and cakes, environment and sequence order, as fixed factors).

The results yielded significant differences (p<0.05) in the hedonic variables studied: overall appeal, serving size, visual acceptance and deliciousness between cakes. A significant increase (p<0.05) in the desired serving size due to the sequence order was observed, probably due to gained familiarity. However, no significant differences in visual hedonic data between the two environments were evidenced, with cakes being evaluated similarly. These data support the applicability of immersive technologies as an expedite way to evaluate visual traits of design pastry.

Acknowledgements: Authors acknowledge P.M. Rodrigues de Sousa Erasmus+ Mobility for traineeships scholarship.

[1] Bangcuyo, R. G., Smith, K. J., Zumach, J. L., Pierce, A. M., Guttman, G. A., & Simons, C. T. (2015). The use of immersive technologies to improve consumer testing: The role of ecological validity, context and engagement in evaluating coffee. Food Quality and Preference, 41, 84-95.

[2] Hathaway, D., & Simons, C. T. (2017). The impact of multiple immersion levels on data quality and panelist engagement for the evaluation of cookies under a preparation-based scenario. Food Quality and Preference, 57, 114-125

Researchers measuring odours continue to face the same problem: how to capture the dynamics of a scent – how it changes over time, from its introduction until it dissipates – in such a way that consumers can evaluate it, and a descriptive panel can characterize it? The use of hotel rooms, offices or unused apartments for such research are at best trade-offs, as they can be very expensive and often do not provide the required standardization or the ability to control ventilation.

A newly developed method, solving this complex issue completely is the simulated room approach, generating a closed, fully controlled and standardized environment in which all aspects of odour can be reliably measured. The simulated rooms can be built-up on external free space (e.g. a patio) or integrated into an existing room or hall. A typical customizable simulated room has 12.5 m³ of volume. Their configuration is highly flexible; up to 6 individual rooms may be set up and grouped together based on the requested test-design. Should the simulated rooms be set up outside, they are protected with an external covering in the form of a tent (see figure 1).

Simulated Rooms are equipped with standard furnishings representing the environment / context to be tested. A key-feature is their professional ventilation-system. This system is controlled allowing a smooth air flow for test purposes of 1.2 air change per hour (ACH) during application and measurement. In order to expel the scent-loaded air between measurements, 10 ACH is used.

Simulated rooms can be easily assembled and disassembled quickly, they are fully washable and residual odours can be completely eliminated during breaks between sessions.

Simulated rooms are an innovative method for scent-related claim substantiation of products, e.g. fragrances, air-fresheners, undesired odours, smoke, insecticides, aerosols and their residuals of any nature, incense-sticks, fabric-softeners, home-care products, just to mention a few.

Generally, food acceptability is determined within an implicit frame shaped by an integration of personal, environmental, and contextual factors. The acceptability rating is prone to change when the frame shifts.

We investigated the effect of implicit frame on the stability of liking ratings of instant noodles cross-culturally. Chinese(n=258) and Koreans(n=263) were recruited. The implicit frame was manipulated by exposing consumers to flavour principles with different ethnic origins prior to tasting the target samples. Two noodles with the highest market share in China(T_CHN) and Korea(T_KOR) were chosen as the targets. Consumers were split into five groups and were allocated to one of the five frame conditions (1_general Asian, 2_Chinese, 3_Korean, 4_ no frame T_CHN, 5_no frame T_KOR). Consumers in the Asian frame tasted three noodles popular in Indonesia, Thai, and Japan prior to the two target noodles. Three Chinese and three Korean noodles were served prior to the two targets in Chinese and Korean flavour frame. Two groups of consumers within each country served as control groups and tasted a single sample, either T_CHN or T_KOR, without exposure to other products. All consumers rated the liking of samples using a 9-point hedonic scale.

The Chinese control groups gave mean scores 7.0 and 6.6 on overall liking(OL) for T_CHN and T_KOR, respectively. Koreans gave 6.5 and 6.9 OL, respectively. The OL ratings of these target samples were relatively stable for the more familiar sample, T_CHN for Chinese and T_KOR for Koreans, when the consumers were exposed to different types of frames. For the less familiar sample, the liking score fluctuated depending on the type of flavour frame condition. This effect was more drastic among Koreans. For testing new products, researchers should consider that the OL score can vary easily depending on the contextual conditions, especially, if the product is unfamiliar to consumers.

Neuroscientific approaches in market and consumer research are becoming increasingly important not only in designing consumer products, but also in understanding how our bodies respond emotionally and physically to product experiences (from product use to product marketing). An applied consumer neuroscience approach of emotional profiling (though not the only important aspect of the consumer experience) has added a new and valuable dimension to traditional market, consumer, and sensory profiling. Market and consumer researchers are motivated to apply newer and more in-depth emotional and perceptual measures to understand the consumer experience and ensure BRAND HARMONY (consumer perceptual agreement between branding and product). The idea of brand harmony or brand harmonization is that there is importance in ensuring that all products within a particular brand portfolio have a consistent name, visual identity and, ideally, positioning across a number of geographic or product/service markets. This holistic experience, matching brand perceptions to product perceptions and vice versa, increases consumer satisfaction and brand equity. In this study, we explored psychophysiological, or biometric, consumer emotional reactions to fine fragrances and fragrance advertising. When a product and brand work together to tell one compelling and integrated story, brand harmony is achieved and product success is more likely.

The majority of current Western lifestyles include high-energy-density food of low nutrient quality, which leads to unmanageable and escalating medical costs globally. This problem can for a large part be solved by consumers making healthy dietary choices. The delivery of personalised dietary feedback and advice can be an effective strategy to change dietary eating patterns. Next to differences between individuals, the day-to-day variance within each of us could be of interest for personalized dietary advice. There are many factors that can influence a person during the day, for instance the situation someone is in, the people someone is with and the type of meal that is being consumed. The current study focuses on mapping how individuals vary between one another and within themselves between meal moments. In that respect, this study considers two potential psychological factors that are important when it comes to adhering to a personalised dietary advice: the ability to plan and monitor actions through goal-setting and self-monitoring (i.e., self-regulation) and the rules that people use to facilitate their healthy food choice process within different contexts (i.e., healthy eating strategy).

In an online experiment, conducted in January 2020, participants will be asked to monitor their self-regulation and preferred healthy eating strategy, among some other repeated questions, three times a week right before a meal moment for three weeks by means of a smartphone application.

The obtained data of this study is currently analysed. A mixed effects model is used to determine whether there is more variation between individuals than within individuals and whether there is more variation between meal moments than within one meal moment.

Insights gained from this research can further enhance personalised dietary feedback and advice, as knowledge on the variation between and within individuals reveals when personalising dietary advice can have the most benefit.

Introduction:

French cider producers would like to promote and develop new apple juices produced with French cider cultivars. These apples present a large diversity of tastes allowing sweet or sour or bitter-astringent balanced juices. The evaluation of these juices in traditional normalized booths without context could lead to an overliking for the sweetest juices, notably in comparisons with the bitter ones. Since this type of beverages is mainly consumed during specific occasion such as breakfast, snacking or the aperitif, it seems more pertinent to compare directly the juices under context situation. The aim of this study was to compare the hedonic performance of cider apple juices under two different contexts.

Methods:

Four different cider apple juices were presented to 400 French consumers in two different contexts. Breakfast and Aperitif were selected to integrate respectively a “sweet” and “salty” context. The contexts were elicited using a buffet situation to which consumers were invited early in the morning for the Breakfast and at noon or late in the afternoon for the Aperitif. Contexts were defined by specific moment of the day but also by the possible interactions with some other foods. For these reasons, consumers were allowed to eat some “sweet” breakfast pastry or “salty” appetizers. The room was organized to avoid consumers discussion about the products.

Results and Discussion:

The liking of the different products differs slightly depending on the proposed contexts. The implementation of context in the sensory lab open new perspectives for a better understanding of consumer behaviour and liking based on controlled hedonic tests.

Food innovation often gets inspiration in traditional recipes. However, the modernization of traditional dishes mostly relies on intuition and personal creativity skills. Several axes can be used by chefs and food designers such as the inclusion of an unfamiliar ingredient in a traditional recipe or the use of a non-tradition process to create a new format.

The objective of this study is to investigate and compare how chefs from different cultures modernize dishes. In order to understand creativity principles, consumers were asked to evaluate the dishes and describe the perceived differences.

Five culinary chefs in five countries (France, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, USA) were asked to create 2 variations of a typical dish: one traditional version and a modernized one.

Chefs were asked to provide recipes, with ingredients preparation steps and pictures of the dishes.

Additionally, chefs were asked what differences were made between the two dishes in terms of technics or ingredients and the reasons behind their choices. In each country, twenty consumers were asked to rate their liking of each designed dish (labeled with digit code), to evaluate their modernity and give reasons to explain their ratings.

Results indicated that consumers validated the greater modernity of the so-intended version, although preference were not always consensual. To explain the modernity of the dish, chefs used its appearance (plate dressing, aesthetic details…), the use of “new” ingredients, the use of new cooking technics (to save time, to have more flavors) and general trends (to be more balanced, to fit consumer trends).

This study confirms the effectiveness of a modernization strategy to innovate and reach consumers and the detailed analysis gives the different potential axes of modernization.

This research aimed at assessing the relative importance of two roasting parameters – color (i.e. roast degree) and time – on the sensory properties of coffee. We draw on data from eight studies conducted using sensory descriptive analysis with trained assessors, focusing on a common set of attributes.

The results indicated that, while both parameters significantly affected coffee flavor, color was the stronger predictor of coffee flavor out of the two. Effects direction for both color and time were similar, and related to the rate of Maillard reactions, with darker roasts/longer roasting times associated with an increase in bitterness and a decrease in acidity, fruitiness and sweetness.

With respect to roasting time, we distinguished two phases, ’time to first crack’, corresponding to the time between the onset of roasting and the moment where the accumulated steam pressure causes the beans to crack, and ’development time’, corresponding to the time elapsed from the first crack to the end of the roasting process. The results clearly indicated that, under the same color, time variation also influences flavor, and that in particular development time, rather than time to first crack, has the largest effect on coffee flavor.

Significance: E-cigarette refill solutions (e-liquids) are available in hundreds of different flavors and brands. Variety of e-liquid flavors is an important reason for e-cigarette use. To prevent e-cigarette use among youth, thereby protecting their health, flavor variety can be reduced, e.g. by banning particular categories such as fruit and candy. However, between-brand varieties would still exist within the remaining categories, and could even be increased in reaction to such a ban. It is unknown how liking of e-liquid flavors differs between brands. This study investigates differences in liking between e-liquid brands, but with the same flavor label.

Methods: Forty adults (35% men; mean age 36.8±9.8) smelled 24 nicotine-free e-liquids from 8 different marketed flavors (e.g. tobacco, custard, watermelon; 3 brands each). Participants rated liking, intensity, familiarity, and irritation on a 100 mm Visual Analogue Scale, and ranked the 3 products with the same flavor label on their fit with the flavor label. ANCOVA and post hoc tests were used to evaluate differences in ratings between brands and flavors; ranking results were analyzed using a chi-squared test.

Results: Liking did not differ between brands with the same flavor label. Within all flavors except cherry, participants were equally familiar with the three brands’ flavors. However, one of the three brands was more often rated as suiting the flavor label best for tobacco, cherry, custard, and cola, and least for watermelon. Overall, sweet flavors (cherry, watermelon, custard, mojito, and cola) were liked more than chocolate, coffee, and tobacco.

Conclusions:  E-liquids with the same flavor label but from different were equally liked, suggesting that reducing variety of e-liquid flavors on the market may reduce the number of e-liquids liked by potential consumers. This provides support for regulation of specific (e.g. sweet) flavor categories to reduce e-cigarette appeal and use among youth.

Brand has been described as one of the most fundamental competitive attributes. Branding plays an important role since it influences customer perception and drives product and store choice and loyalty. The main aim of this work was to study consumers brand perception of an own-brand supermarket chain.

Five different focus groups were performed in four areas of influence of an own-brand supermarket chain in order to identify the main values linked to the brand. Participants with different socio-demographic profiles were recruited (Ntotal = 40). Next, an online survey was held. A total of 231 customers of the own-brand supermarket showing different buying frequency were selected by means of a probabilistic sampling per quotas including age (20–70 years old) and gender (minimum 33% men). Participants filled in a questionnaire made up of different statements about the brand values identified in the focus groups.

Focus groups showed that the main values associated with the brand were quality, good prices, local products, no intermediaries, organization, transparency, leadership, trust, honesty and sustainability. The results from the online survey confirmed that, as expected, participants have a positive perception of the brand. The highest mean ratings were observed on quality, local products, no intermediaries and trust, indicating that these values were the most relevant and distinctive of the brand. Significant differences were observed in terms of age and frequency of purchase. Younger participants (millennials) considered the brand less organized than older participants. Regular customers were more predisposed to associate the brand with all the values evaluated except with local products and trust, in which no differences were observed between regular and occasional customers. The results obtained offers guidance to refine the company’s communication strategy and to improve the design of the shopping areas, thus facilitating a more effective transmission of key values.

Port wine, the most well-known and appreciated Portuguese wine, was established as a formal Controlled Designation of Origin in 1756. Despite the large potential of the Chinese wine market, Port wine still finds resistance there. This study aimed to understand consumer’s perceptions, liking and emotional response at two contrasting cultures: Portuguese and Chinese. A panel of approximately 200 young adult consumers (100 from each country) tasted four samples of Port Wine (Dry White, LBV, 10 years old Tawny and Vintage 1985), during 2019. For each sample, presented in a fixed order, consumers performed a word association (WA) task by writing the first three words or ideas that came into their minds while tasting the samples, classifying terms as positive, neutral or negative. After tasting, consumers rated their overall liking using a 9-point hedonic scale. To evaluate the emotional response, a Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) ballot using 33 emoji was used [1]. The results from the WA reveal that Port wine samples were generally associated with a positive sweet taste, conviviality, festive moments, thermal feeling and production concepts (the later for Portuguese). For Chinese participants, both the 10 years old Tawny and the Vintage presented approximately 20 % of negative associations, related with taste (Chinese medicine, bitter, spicy, aggressive). For Portuguese consumers, liking level was high for all the samples, emotional response was mainly positive (positive emojis). For Chinese consumers, there is a negative emotional response to Tawny and Vintage Port wines and a positive emotional response to Dry White and LBV. Participants indicate “festive moments” and “drink with a company” as moments to consume Port wine. This study reveals contrasting expectations and liking of Port wine for both consumers’ groups. Portuguese have a more positive response to premium Port wines, while the Chinese respond better to the more regular categories.

Acknowledgments: This research was supported through the project “4C’s - Consumer Cross-Cultural Context” (NORTE-01-0247-FEDER-033790), funded by COMPETE2020, Portugal2020, Norte2020 and FEDER-European Regional Development Funds.

[1] Jaeger, S. R. et al. (2017). Food Quality and Preference, 56, 38-48.

Disruptive innovation is an innovation that creates a new market or product, disrupts an existing market and displacing established market-leading products. Traditionally this process has been run by marketing teams using traditional research tools. However with a high failure rate of new products introduced to market, better innovation research methods are needed. Behavioral approaches have been found to be key in creating truly disruptive introductions to markets through better understanding of consumer perceptions and behaviors. Sensory is in a unique position to be able to effect real change and real understanding of the consumer experience. We will make the case for both sensory and behavioral science approaches in making successful innovation changes and campaigns.

Sensory perception while eating any food is, by its very nature, a temporal process. Over recent years, several different techniques have been developed to measure the evolution of sensory properties of foods.

This research set out to collect data on the same foods using three different temporal methods, alongside a conventional Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) approach. The principal objective of the work was to gain an understanding of the outputs from each, thereby enabling a recommendation as to how these different tools can be used within sensory research plans, with a view to providing clear guidance to the industry as to the type of research questions that are most effectively answered using each of the different approaches.

The panel initially generated a standard sensory profile of ten different sweet biscuits. The same ten biscuits were then assessed using Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS), Time Intensity (TI) and Temporal Check All That Apply (TCATA) methods. The output from the work was compared and a summary of the learnings prepared, demonstrating that each approach provides value to the product developer, but answers different research questions.

In summary, QDA provides a comprehensive description of every aspect of consuming these biscuits but does not detect differences in the sequence of attributes, providing a snap-shot of the main differences between products. Time Intensity provides an assessment of the evolution of a limited number of flavour attributes, enabling focus on this modality, but does not allow for any assessment of texture. TDS adds an additional layer of dynamism to the previously static flavour and textural profile yielded by QDA while TCATA builds upon some of the advances of TDS in that it allows the panel to select more than one attribute at a time; but does not identify which attribute is dominant.

The role of the invasive Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust) in Switzerland has been subject of discussion in recent years. Besides ecological and silvicultural aspects, there could be considerable potential for products with high benefit at regional and national level. The combination of this special wood with other products of the territory, such as wines and distillates, creates added value and could improve the image of the entire wood supply chain as well as the product appreciation by the public ("intangible value of the product").

Grappa distilled from Merlot grapes matured in Robinia wood-barrels has considerable potential as a niche product and in addition offers the possibility of an IGP-product (Indication Géographique Protégée) with controlled designation of origin – a quality label protected by Swiss law.

The objective of the study was to examine the suitability, economic potential and sensory characteristics of Robinia for the production of barrels and ageing of locally produced grappa. Specific aims of the project were:

1. to examine the technical aspects (minimum size of the trunks, production yield, seasoning and suitability of the wood, etc.) for the production of barrels made of Robinia wood;

2. to describe the sensory characteristics and evaluate the market potential of the local grappa aged in barrels of Robinia wood

For this purpose, three 50 l test-barrels each, from Robinia and oak wood, were produced by the cooperage Suppiger in Küssnacht. These barrels were filled at Agroscope at the end of November 2019 with Ticino Grappa (Merlot grape), which was previously distilled at the Azienda agraria cantonale in Mezzana using a mobile distillery. The barrels were stored at Agroscope in Wädenswil during six months. During this period, the Grappa-ageing was examined analytically (aroma and colour). A trained panel monitored it sensorially in order to gain a deeper understanding of different parameters and their effects on sensory characteristics. The aroma compounds in the distillates come mainly from the grape variety, its fermentation and the volatile compounds generated during its distillation. Another important source comes from the maturation process of the distillates in wooden barrels. The type of wood as well as its quality and origin brings a wide range of volatile compounds (eg. lactones, phenols) and non-volatile compounds (eg. tannins) to the distillate. As example, the presence of oak lactones in distillates aged in oak barrels appears after only a few days and their concentrations increase with time, contributing to the aroma specificity of the product. Final tastings, to assess the market potential, were carried out by expert judges, local winemakers and consumers.

Introduction: With the increasing globalization of the world, new unfamiliar flavors gradually find their way into local western cuisines. The mechanisms behind the successful integration of novel flavors into local cuisines are largely unknown. This study investigates the general effect of familiarity with soy sauces (frequency of soy sauce use and brand specificity), and levels of food neophobia on liking.

Methods: A total of eighty-nine (26 men and 63 women; mean age 47.5 ± 17.7 years) Dutch participants, both users and non-users of soy sauce, rated liking of five combinations of soy sauce and white rice with and without branding information. Four of five soy sauces had a similar taste, the other had a different taste.

Results: Overall liking of soy sauce increased with increasing frequency of use, and with decreasing levels of food neophobia. However, the dissimilar tasting soy sauce was always preferred most, irrespective of frequency of use. The results also showed an effect of brand information: branding effects on liking varied with the familiarity of the soy sauces. Unfamiliar soy sauces were liked less with branding information. Soy sauces that were familiar, i.e. recognized as their own brand, were liked better with branding information.

Conclusions: In conclusion, this study showed that liking of soy sauce with the typical savory salty taste, a relatively new condiment in the Dutch cuisine, was positively related to frequency of use and negatively related to food neophobia. Liking for a different tasting soy sauce was unrelated to these factors. Furthermore, in terms of the effect of brands, these results show that recognition of what is believed to be one’s familiar brand is an important driver for liking and preferences.

In the past decades, naturalness of food products has become increasingly important to consumers. Also on the babyfood market, parents perceive naturalness as a relevant and valued attribute. The aims of the current studies were to investigate (1) how parents define the naturalness of babyfood products, and (2) which front-of-pack cues parents look for to judge the naturalness of these products.

First, to identify the most important cues driving perceived naturalness, 13 Dutch parents of children (6-18 months) described, sorted, and ranked 10 jars and 11 pouches of different brands available on the Dutch market during interviews.

In the subsequent online quantitative study (N=86 parents) focusing on jars, the most important cues (claims, organic, and label background colour/transparency) were systematically varied while keeping brand fixed in a choice-based conjoint, to identify their impact on perceived naturalness, healthiness, and environmental friendliness.

Claims related to naturalness of the ingredients were the strongest driver for perceived naturalness, followed by being organic. Background colour/ transparency did not impact perceived naturalness. Largely similar results were found for perceived healthiness and environmental friendliness. When evaluating naturalness, parents stated that the ingredients were most important (more than e.g. where/how it was produced).

The current studies can inspire babyfood companies on how to convey naturalness of their products. Further research may look into the relative importance of additional cues on pack.

Introduction

Differences in taste perception have been related to eating behavior, nutritional status and the risk of diseases, such as obesity. More recently, taste receptors have been identified in several extra-oral tissues, such as the gastrointestinal tract, where they seem to influence processes like digestion, sense of satiety and food intake as well as energy balance and intraluminal changes occurring in obesity.

Our study aims to analyze differences in taste perception among 42 obese patients (OB) and 41 normal-weight subjects (LEAN). Moreover, genetic polymorphisms in the bitter taste gene TAS2R38 and its expression on the surface of the gastric mucosa were tested and compared among OB and LEAN.

Methods

We measured the taste intensity of PROP (6-n-propylthiouracil) and quinine on a labeled magnitude scale. We extracted DNA from peripheral whole blood samples and we performed the analysis of three polymorphisms in the TAS2R38 gene (rs713598, rs1726866, rs10246939). We also collected stomach biopsies during bariatric surgery in OB and during endoscopy in LEAN. RNA from the stomach was extracted and TAS2R38 gene expression was assessed by RT-Real-Time qPCR.

From all study participants, anamnestic and anthropometric data were recorded during baseline visits.

Results

Logistic regression analysis with gender and age as covariates showed that OB perceive PROP more intensely than LEAN (p=0.005), while polymorphisms in TAS2R38 did not differ among OB and LEAN. Moreover, we found a significant increase of TAS2R38 mRNA levels in the stomach of OB compared to LEAN (p=0.01).

Discussion

Overall, our results provide new evidence of a link between obesity and altered bitter taste perception and TAS2R38 expression.

Blue cheese tends to polarize the consumers’ affective response due to its strong flavour. Among other flavour attributes, it was reported that Gorgonzola cheese was perceived as “soapy”.

The aims of this work were to study soapy flavour in blue cheese by: 1) investigating the individual differences in its perception; 2) evaluating its role in shaping cheese consumers’ preferences; 3) identifying the volatile compounds contributing to this flavour; 4) testing if its perception could have a genetic component.

Six Gorgonzola cheeses were evaluated by 358 subjects (46% males, 18-77 years) who performed a liking test and a rate-all-that-apply (RATA) test. DNA was extracted from subjects’ saliva and analysed. Volatile organic compounds (VOC) were measured by SPME coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Based on RATA test data, subjects were segmented in Soapy Tasters (ST; 66.8%) and Non-Soapy Tasters (NST; 33.2%). Among ST, significant differences of perception intensity of soapy flavour were observed among different sub-groups of consumers (p < 0.05). Penalty analysis revealed that soapy flavour had a significant negative impact on liking.

Using Partial Least Squares Regression, the soapy flavour was positively correlated with the concentrations of eight VOC (1-nonene, methyl butanoate, 2-butanol, 4-methyl-2-pentanol, 1-pentanol, 1-methoxy-4-methyl benzene, 6-hepten-1-ol, acetophenone).

After logistic regression analysis adjusted for sex ad age, an association between the rs72921001 SNP and soapy perception of gorgonzola (p = 0.01) was found. This SNP falls within a cluster of eight olfactory receptor genes on chromosome 11 and was already associated with the soapy flavour and disliking of cilantro.

This preliminary work revealed an individual difference in the perception of the soapy flavour, associated to the presence of identified VOC, and indicates that a genetic variation could explain the consumers’ preference for Gorgonzola cheese, opening to a new knowledge about liking/disliking for blue cheese.

Sensory impairments play a critical role in the aging process by affecting health status and quality of life. In the present work, data on hearing ability, smell and taste perception in 1155 Italian adult (age range: 18-89) were analyzed with the aim of studying the genetic and non-genetic factors underlying multi-sensory deficits.

Senses were assessed as follows: a) hearing by an audiometric evaluation and the mean of frequency thresholds of 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz; b) taste evaluating different abilities (NaCl, quinine, sucrose, acid citric); c) smell using Sniffin Sticks Test. For each sense, the individual sensory ability was defined as “good”, “medium” or “poor”. The latter two were considered as signs of impairment. A multisensory impairment score (MIS) was then defined on the basis of the total number of impaired senses. Regression analysis was used to assess association between MIS and environmental factors while Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) were carried out to find genetic associations with MIS.

Results demonstrated that gender (male), age and low educational level were found to be associated with MIS (p-value<0.05). Smoking habit and high alcohol consumption were found to play no role. GWAS meta-analysis highlighted some suggestive signals (p-value<1x10^-6) such as the one within BCL7C gene that is involved in the HMG CoA reductase inhibitors pathway. Interestingly, several studies have already suggested a role of this pathway in the aging process. Another locus showing an association with multisensory impairments is the one involving MACROD2, a gene largely expressed in the brain and already associated to cognitive performance in literature.

Present data show that several factors – both environmental and genetic - influence multisensory impairment. Further studies are needed to confirm our results and better understand the biological mechanisms underlying MIS and aging.

Eating is a process that involves all five senses. Recent research has shown that both food-intrinsic and extrinsic sensory factors play a role in the taste of the food we consume. Moreover, many studies have explored the relationship between emotional state and taste perception, where certain emotional states have been shown to alter the perception of basic tastes. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for the design of eating environments which take into account both sensory attributes as well as their emotional associations.

Here, we used virtual reality to study the effect of colours and music, with specific emotional associations, on the evaluation of cold brew coffee. Based on an online study (N=76), two colours and two pieces of music with similar emotional arousal but opposing valence ratings were chosen to produce a total of eight virtual coloured environments (see figure). Forty participants were recruited for the on-site experiment, which consisted of three blocks. First, a blind tasting of four coffee samples (0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% sucrose) was carried out. Next, participants experienced the eight environments via a HTC Vive Pro headset and evaluated their expected liking, sweetness and bitterness of a mug of coffee presented in VR. Finally, they tasted identical 5% coffee samples in the same eight environments.

Results revealed that music had a significant main effect on expected ratings, whereby positively-valenced music significantly increased expected liking and sweetness while reducing expected bitterness. Furthermore, there was a combined effect of positive-valenced music and colour on expected bitterness reduction. In terms of actual rating, there was a significant main effect of music on coffee liking, but no effect of any extrinsic factors on sweetness or bitterness ratings. These results reinforce the importance of the extrinsic sensory and emotion factors on food expectations and liking.

Introduction: A decrease in dietary sugar intake is strongly associated with a decrease in body weight. Next to multiple structural functionalities of sugar in sweet bakery products it provides sweetness. In this explorative study with sugar reduced cookies, sugar was not substituted with non‐nutritive sweeteners, but the sugar was unevenly distributed in the filling. We studied if expectations based on a first bite might override lowering in actual sweetness in subsequent bites or that a recency effect from the last bite plays a role.

Methods: On top of small elongated biscuits (with the same sugar content throughout the study) three equally sized drops of a chocolate flavoured butter creme filling was applied. The sugar content of the fillings varied, according to the scheme below (% indicate the amount of sugar per bite as compared to the filling of the reference A).

The cookies were presented in randomised order to 86 participants. Participants were instructed to eat the cookies in three equal bites and to swallow after each bite. After consumption of the cookie in full sweetness was rated on a VAS-scale.

Results: The means±SD values for sweetness are indicated above. Cookies B, C, F and H significantly differed from A (reference) but D, E and G did not differ.

Discussion: A differential distribution of sugar in the filling on a sugar reduced cookie is able to compensate for a reduction in total amount of sugar, moreover there was not a reduction in sweetness perception. However, this explorative study showed that this cannot be solely assigned to a perceptual expectation based on a first bite. Also the sweetness of the last bite seems to be involved, and possibly this is dependent of the level of sugar reduction. To explore this further more research, also with other sweet products, is necessary.

It is widely accepted that a high sugar intake contributes to the development of chronic diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. Thus, sugar reduction in foods consumed on a daily basis such as yoghurt is an important public health strategy. However, there are other promising approaches to modulate sweetness perception. An interesting possibility is taking advantage of the known sensory interaction between sweetness and sourness. Sourness mainly due to lactic acid formed during fermentation can be influenced by bacterial composition of the starter culture. The lower the acid concentration in a yogurt the sweeter it is perceived.

In the present study yoghurt starter cultures with varying acidification characteristics were chosen for the production of set as well as stirred mocha yoghurt samples. Of all samples, intensity of selected sensory attributes was evaluated by a trained panel. Furthermore, concentration of sugars in yoghurts was analyzed to gain information about the sugar metabolism of the starter cultures.

As expected, yoghurts produced with a mild starter culture were judged as sweeter and less sour. These samples also showed a significantly higher aroma intensity compared to samples produced with strongly acidifying cultures. In addition, stirred samples were perceived as sweeter compared to set samples.

Results indicated that during production of set yogurts, starter cultures preferably metabolize saccharose, whereas in stirred products mainly lactose, the only sugar available in these products during fermentation, is used. Calculations of the relative sweetness intensity showed slightly higher values for the stirred samples. These results suggest that sugar metabolism of the starter culture might partially add to the sweetness differences between set and stirred yoghurts.

Ad libitum mixing will be applied to determine the amount of sugar which can be reduced in yoghurt fermented with a mild starter culture instead of a strongly acidifying culture.

The concept of work-family conflicts refers to the mutual interference of the work and family roles. Work-family conflict is associated with lower levels of well-being and satisfaction in the work and family domains. However, less is known about its relationship to the worker’s eating habits and satisfaction in the food domain, nor about the heterogeneity of work-family conflict. This study identified profiles of working women based on their work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict; it also distinguished these profiles in terms of diet quality, eating habits and satisfaction with food-related life, as well as sociodemographic characteristics and type of employment. Questionnaires were administered to 277 working women in Temuco, Chile. Women answered the subscales of Work-to-Family Conflict (WFC) and Family-to-Work Conflict (FWC) from the Work-Family Conflict and Facilitation Scale, Adapted Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), and the Satisfaction with Food-related Life scale (SWFoL). Participants also reported frequency of family meals, sociodemographic characteristics and type of employment. A latent class analysis was used to identify five profiles of working women: “Low WFC, medium FWC” (Class 1, 38.20%), “High WFC, low FWC” (Class 2, 21.89%), “Low WFC, Very low FWC” (Class 3, 17.83%), “Very low WFC, low FWC” (Class 4, 12.60%) and “Medium WFC, high FWC” (Class 5, 9.48%). Classes differed in the AHEI and SWFoL scores, frequency of consumption of fruits and vegetables, and type of employment. Class 3 and 4 had the highest AHEI and SWFoL scores, while Class 2 and 5 the lowest. Class 3 had a greater proportion of employed women, whereas Class 5 had a greater presence of self-employed women. Class 5 had the lowest frequency of consumption of fruits and vegetables. These results suggest that higher levels of work-to-family conflict are associated with lower diet quality and satisfaction with food-related life in working women. Acknowledgments: Fondecyt Project 1190017.

Introduction

The concept of sensory specific desires (SSD) can be described as a general desire for certain tastes (e.g. sweet, salty, or fatty foods) and an intrinsic motivation to eat a food that contains that characteristic. The main purpose of this research snack study was to study the transfer effects of SSD pre and post a real snack choice.

Methods

The study comprised a questionnaire including a real snack choice (chocolate or chips). Consumers (n=112) between 18 and 30 years old filled in questions within the appetite space i.e. Hunger, Fullness, Desire to snack, Sweet desire, Salty desire, Fatty desire, Energized, Concentration, and Sleepiness on a 10cm visual analogue scale.

Results

Significant time*choice interaction effects were found for Salty- and Sweet desire. For chips choosers, Salty desire decreased significantly after intake (p < 0.0001, d = 1.0), whereas for chocolate choosers, Salty desire remained statistically the same (non-significant (ns), p = 0.83). For chips chooser, Sweet desire statistically remained the same (ns, p = 0.11), whereas for chocolate choosers, Sweet desire significantly decreased after intake (p < 0.0001, d = 0.9). Fatty desire and Desire to snack significantly decreased for both chocolate choosers and chips choosers.

Conclusions

Notably, we saw that Sweet desire remained the same for chips chooser, and Salty desire remained the same for chocolate choosers, Transfer effects of SSD were thus demonstrated to occur due to consumer’s own snack choice.

Food reformulation is one possible lever against the rising childhood obesity, as it affects product properties, liking and consumer behaviour. In the context of children’s diet, the objective of this study was to identify possible reformulation levers by applying a multi-criteria approach while enhancing nutrition/composition/texture, sensory and liking aspects.

Based on children’s consumption and nutrition databases, we chose cookies as target for reformulation. To identify the diversity of the cookie range, we conducted an analysis of the French market and set the focus on cookies with chocolate inclusions. A selection of 66 cookies, as representative of the market, was selected using different variables (nutrition, composition and sensory aspects). Among them, we defined a sub-set of 18 cookies to perform instrumental analysis and classical profiling by a trained adult panel.

Our findings showed a large nutrition, composition and sensory heterogeneity among the 66 cookies. Results from multiple factor analysis demonstrated that cookies with different composition (high in fat, protein and fibre) and physical-chemical properties (high breaking strength and water holding capacity) were perceived as hard, crispy and sandy. On the other hand, cookies with high sugar content, high density and soft texture, showed a higher perceived disintegration in the mouth. Considering a certain samples of cookies, correlations between nutrition/composition and sensory variables were absent.

These findings confirmed the interest and the possibilities of reformulation for this product category. We identified potential for manipulate nutrition and texture aspects, without necessarily influencing the perception of cookies. In order to complete our multi-criteria approach and to anticipate children’s liking, a hedonic evaluation by 150 children at home will be carried out. Our new approach is applicable for all kind of food categories and it might be considered as new alternative to the classical reformulation method.

The production of sugar-free and/or sugar-reduced sweetened products is very important for the confectionery industry. The main strategy to reduce sugar intake is to partially or totally substitute added sugar with artificial and natural non-nutritive sweeteners.

Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni), is nowadays the most popular natural sweetener.

Siraitia grosvenorii (Swingle), also known as Monk Fruit or Luo Han Guo, has been known for centuries as a household remedy for colds, sore throats, etc. Some of its derivatives can be used as sweeteners (about 150-200 times sweeter than sugar) in beverages and foods like soft drinks, baked goods and confectionery products. Their use is legally permitted in the Americas and Asia countries.

The sweetness taste perceived by purified extracts is related to the diterpene glycosides stevioside and rebaudioside A, for Stevia, and to triterpene glycosides such as mogroside V, for Monk Fruit.

The aim of this study was to investigate by Time Intensity technique the sweetness intensity of commercial sweetener preparations derived from Stevia and Monk fruit, in the form of water solutions. Eventual after-taste was evaluated using the CATA methodology, by a list of taste and flavour attributes which can be triggered by side products of these two natural sweeteners (i.e. bitter, astringency, cool/balsamic, liquorice, etc.).

Based on the sweetness intensity declared by the manufacturers, six solutions of Monk fruit and Stevia at different percentages (A: 95% steviol glycosides, B: ≥ 95% RebA, C: ≥ 95% total steviol glycosides, D: ≥ 60% mogrosides, E: ≥ 3.5% mogrosides, F: 76% RebA + 6% Mogr.V) were prepared at a concentration giving an expected sweetness intensity comparable to a sucrose solution 40g/Kg.

Results on sweetness dynamic intensity measure show similarity between the solutions, with product D significantly sweeter than C and A, while CATA frequency results show that all products have different after-taste notes.

It was examined the possibility that color, typeface and angularity / roundness of a label affects consumers' organic perceptions. Organic is a complex element to explain as this is compounded by different attributes and the ones that were selected based on the literature review and validated with the analysis as they pertain to one factor to compound organic itself are: naturalness, healthfulness, chemicals involved in the production process and safety consumption. These attributes and angularity / roundness were evaluated with visual analogue scales (VAS) by the participants to determine to what extend those attributes lead to the positive perceptions which are related to organic, or the negative perceptions which are not related to organic with regard to the thirty (30) presented labels types. These labels have three (3) colors: green, blue and orange; two (2) types of typefaces: handwritten and machine-written; and two (2) shape characteristics: angularity and roundness for triangles (angular and rounded tips), squares (angular and rounded tips) and circles. Results showed that there is a direct dependence of each organic attribute with color and naturalness attribute with roundness, conversely angularity tends to be more associated with negative perceptions, and there is indifference with respect to the labels’ typeface. Accordingly, there was also found significant differences between each attribute means regarding color as factor, in favor of green as this color does not get only significant mean differences against blue and orange, but it is also linked to the positive perceptions of organic attributes in 100% of cases. Thus, green labels pertain to one different subset from blue and orange ones, which leads to recommend this color for labels that want to convey an organic message to the consumer, but if a more congruent message is wanted to be conveyed then the label must be rounded-shaped as well.