Exploring consumer affective response and sensory perception of a popular composite food made with a novel acidifier: a case study using verjuice in mayonnaise

Understanding cross-cultural variation in perception is essential for identifying culture-specific factors impacting product acceptability. While immigrants may initially maintain their preferences, acculturation levels vary. To understand to what extent immigrants can be used as a proxy to model overseas markets, this study investigated short (CHS) and long-term (CHL) Chinese immigrant responses to plain yoghurts compared to New Zealand (NZ) Europeans (E). Three groups (CHS, CHL and NZE, n = 222) evaluated liking of, emotional response to, and sensory perception of 10 plain yoghurts. Groups liked yoghurts similarly. Notably, NZE rated emotions lower than both immigrant groups, with a few exceptions. Both Chinese groups rated most emotions similarly, but CHL rated some closer to NZE. Positive emotions correlated with higher liking scores. However, cross-cultural differences existed for ‘guilty’ which was associated with yoghurts liked by NZE; and for ‘wild’ and ‘mild’ associated with yoghurts disliked by both immigrant groups. Citation proportions for some sensory attributes differed among all groups, dependent on the sample. But level of acculturation between immigrant groups was limited. Sweetness, vanilla, stone fruit and cream flavours, smoothness, and creaminess drove liking across all groups, whereas only the Chinese valued umami, undoubtedly due to positive associations with it. Some effects of acculturation for long-term immigrants were evident, but responses were often closer to their short-term counterparts. Therefore, immigrants in general provide a useful proxy for measuring consumer responses in early stages of product development for this overseas market, but with consideration of their residence time in the host culture.

BMI and gender related differences in cross-modal interaction and liking of sensory stimuli

Sensometric 2014: ‘Data that Works in the City that Works’

The objective of this research was to evaluate the feasibility of developing acceptable low-sodium products by using a salt-replacement technique, an oil-in-water emulsion system, and health benefit information to improve consumers’ awareness of low-sodium diets. Three experiments were conducted: (I) Sensory characteristics and optimization of low-sodium roasted peanuts by substitution of NaCl with KCl, and addition of glycine (Gly) as a bitterness blocker; (II) Rejection threshold (RjT) of KCl added to low-sodium roasted peanuts using a 2AC-test; (III) Development of acceptable low-sodium and sodium-free spreads by flavor modification and their use on turkey salad sandwiches. In study I, results showed that sodium content in peanuts decreased from 140mg/50g to 41.7mg/50g without affecting liking scores with positive purchase intent (PI) of >60%. Health messages (HM) related to high-sodium intake risks increased positive emotion responses while decreasing negative ones. The optimal range of 59-100/0-40/0-12.5 of NaCl/KCl/Gly yielded acceptable low-sodium peanuts. From Study II, up to 30-50% KCl did not significantly decrease overall liking (OL) scores, but OL scores decreased at 70-90% KCl; the same was observed for PI. Samples containing 70-90% KCl were perceived by consumers as “too salty,” and was associated with mean drops of 2.2 on the 9-point OL scale. No RjT of added KCl at 90% w/w in low-sodium roasted peanuts was reached under the conditions of this study. In Study III, consumers first indicated their willingness to purchase a sodium-free mayonnaise spread containing 1% KCl after a sodium claim was stated. Three levels of KCl (0.5, 1, and 1.5%) were tested with four selected flavors in the spreads. Acceptability of the flavored spreads increased by flavor modification. Bacon flavor significantly outperformed for all sensory attributes evaluated when compared to the rest of the treatments. Bitterness intensity of the samples was not associated with the mean drops on the OL scores. Low-sodium benefits HM increased PI for 10 treatments. Flavored spreads evaluated on turkey salad sandwiches yielded higher liking scores and PI than the spreads alone. Combination of a sodium HM and salt substitution with KCl increased liking scores, positive emotion responses and willingness to purchase low-sodium products.

Investigation of the influence of age, gender and consumption habits on the liking of jam-filled cakes

The impact of PROP and thermal taster status on the emotional response to beer

Effects of repeated exposure on acceptance of initially disliked and liked Nordic snack bars in 9–11 year-old children

Changes in food preferences, taste, and smell following bariatric surgery have been previously described but with inconsistent results. We aimed to describe current food preferences and their perceived changes before and after the surgery. We further compared food preferences between patients with and without taste or smell alterations, before and above 2 years follow-up, and concerning the success or failure of their surgery. This cross-sectional study was conducted with a self-administered online questionnaire. Two years was the cut-off between short- and long-term follow-up. Success was defined as an excess weight loss (EWL) greater or equal to 50%. In total, 220 postoperative patients answered the questionnaire. Patients with taste alterations (64%) had significantly lower preferences for red meat, milk, cheese, desserts, fried foods, and water (all p < 0.05) relative to the non-taste alteration group, while those with smell alterations (38%) had significantly lower preference for cheese only (p < 0.05) relative to the non-smell alteration group. Patients with a ≥ 2-year follow-up had a higher liking for desserts, fried foods, fat, bread, hot drinks, and alcohol compared to patients with a < 2-year follow-up (all p < 0.05). Patients having success in surgery had higher liking scores for green vegetables and lower liking scores for starchy foods, milk, and sweet dairy products (all p < 0.05). Our study suggests that patients who underwent bariatric surgery have different food preference patterns according to their sensory perceptions, the duration of their follow-up, and the success of bariatric surgery.

Attentional bias for vegetables is negatively associated with acceptability and is related to sensory properties

Going beyond sensory and hedonic aspects: A Brazilian study of emotions evoked by beef in different contexts

The increased demand for home meal replacement (HMR) foods due to demographic changes requires research focusing on sensory evaluation. This study compares consumer acceptance, sensory profile, and emotional response of HMR based on test conditions (central location test; CLT or home‐use test; HUT) and cooking methods (microwave or pan cooking). The sensory evaluation involved 204 panels, and significant differences were observed in acceptance ratings between CLT and HUT (p &lt; .05). Texture liking was the only significantly different attribute between cooking methods (p &lt; .05). Sensory profiling indicated highly similar characteristics across test conditions and cooking methods. Emotional responses varied depending on the test conditions and cooking methods. In the HUT, positive emotions such as ‘active,’ ‘enthusiastic,’ and ‘happy’ were stronger than those in the CLT (p &lt; .05). Active and positive attitudes such as ‘adventurous,’ ‘aggressive,’ ‘enthusiastic,’ ‘interested,’ and ‘wild’ were stronger in microwave cooking than in pan cooking (p &lt; .05). The results showed that the ‘IKEA effect’ exists in the self‐cooking process, leading to higher liking scores and positive emotions in the HUT compared to the CLT, while intrinsic sensory qualities of the samples were unaffected by external factors, test conditions, and cooking methods.Practical applicationsOur research findings provide practical cooking guidelines for food developers who aim to enhance consumers' acceptance and evoke positive emotions during HMR food cooking. In addition, it was shown how the cooking process affects the evaluation of the products in liking, sensory profiling, and emotional responses by comparing CLT and HUT conditions.

Purpose – Temporal dominance of sensation (TDS) is a sensory method developed by Pineau et al. (2003) which studies the sequence of dominant sensations of a product during its consumption. TDS is believed to be more appropriate to explain consumer responses than static descriptive analysis due to its temporal element. The purpose of this paper is to define the temporal sensory profile of a new product: polenta stick. In particular, TDS method was used to measure the dominance of sensory attributes in polenta stick samples and dynamic consumer tests were performed in order to verify if the acceptability changed over time during sample consumption. Design/methodology/approach – Eight polenta sticks, different in terms of storage conditions, cooking procedures and serving temperatures, were analysed by means of TDS with 13 assessors. During two preliminary sessions, the attributes list, constituted by the nine most cited sensations, was generated. Five replications were carried out. In dynamic consumer tests, 50 subjects were asked to give their liking on a seven-category scale for the frozen samples, in different five moments during the evaluation. Findings – TDS results showed a significant effect of the experimental conditions on dominant attribute perception of polenta sticks. For the oven-cooked samples, more flavour attributes were perceived as dominant, whereas for the fried samples, the attributes crispness and oiliness overcame with a high panel dominance rate and for a long time. For the chilled samples, crispness had the highest panel dominance rate; whereas for the frozen samples, creaminess was the most dominant attribute. Consumer liking scores did not significantly change over time during consumption for all the samples. The fried samples received the highest liking scores, at both serving temperatures. Practical implications – The chosen sensory methods gave the authors important information about the real perception of the products during consumption. A lot of foodstuffs show several sensory properties that appear in different times during evaluation and/or consumption. These properties could affect overall liking so they should be taken into account. Originality/value – New dynamic sensory methods were used to characterize a new food product, i.e. polenta-based sticks. The procedure used to evaluate the liking by consumers was completely innovative, whereas the sensory method used to characterize the samples was recently developed. The new food product was developed as an aim of an Italian research project funded by MiSE (Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico) for the valorization of maize flour (MAISFOOD, Industria 2015).

Autochthonous starter culture selection for Salame Piemonte PGI production

Comparison of two sugar reduction strategies with children: Case study with grape nectars

Liking and consumption of vegetables with more appealing and less appealing sensory properties: Associations with attitudes, food neophobia and food choice motivations in European adolescents