The influence the serving suggestion displayed on soft cheese packaging has on consumer expectations and willingness to buy

This paper studies the influence that serving suggestions on a popular Spanish soft cheese – known as “queso fresco”—packaging have on consumer expectations regarding certain attributes of the product, its ideal consumption time during the day and the consumer’s willingness to buy. Some 247 people participated in this investigation, evaluating 8 attributes and 5 possible consumption times of 5 different soft cheese packages with different accompaniments displayed on the serving suggestions. The results show that the consumer perceives the soft cheese to have the qualities and ideal consumption time based on the accompaniments shown in the serving suggestion. The study also shows that serving suggestion influences willingness to buy since there is a strong positive relationship between willingness to buy and accompaniments that are healthy and for special diets. These results have important implications for soft cheese producers, marketers, and packaging designers.     

Factors that affect and motivate the purchase of quality-labelled beef in Spain

The aim of the present study was to identify the factors that affect and motivate the purchase of quality-labelled beef in Spain. For this purpose a total of 364 surveys were carried out on buyers of beef in three Spanish cities. The sample was divided into three groups of buyers according to the frequency with which they buy beef with a quality label. A logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the differences between groups. The results showed the importance of the production region as a quality aspect. In general terms, variables such as income level and lifestyles would seem to be the variables that enable us to discriminate between quality-labelled beef buyers and non-buyers, whereas beef purchasing habits, a greater appreciation of production systems and attitudes towards quality-labelled beef, are the variables that may explain the differences that exist between regular and occasional quality-labelled beef buyers.     

牛肉酶解物对牛肉特征香味形成的影响研究

以五种不同水解度牛肉酶解物分别制备得到5种热反应牛肉香精。利用定量感官分析和GCMS-O分析考察了5种热反应牛肉香精香气成分的变化。结果显示,添加DH29.13%酶解液的牛肉香精样品其牛肉味、肉香味和仿真度相比于其它样品是最强的。GC-O分析也发现DH29.13%的牛肉酶解液赋予形成了种类较多的香气活性化合物,而没有添加牛肉酶解物的肉味香精缺失了这些特征化合物。利用PLSR进行了香气活性化合物、感官评价和牛肉酶解液的肽分子量分布之间的相关性分析,进一步解释了DH为29.13%的牛肉酶解液是赋予热加工牛肉风味的最合适风味前体。     

Determination and evaluation of the parameters affecting the choice of veal meat of the "Ternera de Aliste" quality appellation

The aim of the present work was to determine and assess the parameters affecting the choice of veal under the "Ternera de Aliste" quality appellation. The parameters affecting the choice proved to be colour, taste, odour, hardness and juiciness. Using these parameters, sensory evaluation, both analytical (with trained judges, QDA) and affective (with consumers, the home-use test) was carried out on four veal types, and the relative preferences for the samples assessed. Colour, hardness and losses due to cooking were also analysed instrumentally. The results revealed that the methodology is important for discriminating small differences between samples. The same trend was observed for the results of the panel of judges, consumers, and instrumental analyses regarding both hardness and juiciness. Regarding the determinant parameters in the choice of veal, in raw meat consumers prefer light colours but when expressing their general relative preferences for samples, juiciness, taste and hardness of the cooked meat had the greatest weight.     

A method to measure the effect of food appearance factors on children’s visual preferences

The aim of the study was to examine children’s visual preferences for two food products; yoghurts and smoothies, by using a conjoint layout. In total, 274 children performed an incomplete ranking of 8 pictures formed by three factors each with two levels (2³ design). The three food appearance factors were ‘colour’, ‘visible fruit’ and ‘portion size’. The children were segmented into one of eight groups given by 2 (grade) × 2 (urban/rural affiliation) × 2 (time of visit), and they completed questionnaires regarding background information. Finally, an actual product choice was performed for the eight smoothies.The children visually preferred the two products without visible fruit and colour had a large influence on visual preferences too. As regards the yoghurts, the children accepted a less simple variant whereas the most preferred smoothie was very simple. Significant synergetic effects between food appearance factors and segmentation factors were found. Additionally gender and ethnicity were found to be influential drivers for food choice.     

Risks and pitfalls of sensory data analysis for shelf life prediction: Data simulation applied to the case of coffee

Shelf life determination by means of sensory analysis is thought to be of paramount importance even in case of a microbiologically stable food. Several approaches are found in literature, both in terms of data collection and data processing. Whatever method is used, the subjectivity in the choice of some parameters for data collection and analysis can deeply influence the final result. We put in evidence some typical pitfalls that the researcher should avoid when planning the test and analysing data. A comparison between the most utilized techniques in sensory data processing for shelf life prediction is reported, taking as a fil rouge the case of coffee. In particular, a non-linear regression, a logistic regression and a survival models were applied to simulated data frames of coffee. We evaluated the influence of the choice of acceptability limits, as well as the effect of data variability and we found out that they strongly influence predictions, as well as the panel and the batch of product do. We suggest that in case of microbiologically stable food, like coffee, shelf life is not univocal and it is a choice of the company or the researcher, rather than the result of the interaction between product and consumer.     

Effect of varying the gas headspace to meat ratio on the quality and shelf-life of beef steaks packaged in high oxygen modified atmosphere packs

Beef steaks (M. longissimus dorsi) were stored in modified atmosphere packs (MAP) (80% O₂:20% CO₂) with gas headspace to meat ratios of 2:1, 1:1 and 0.5:1 for 14 days at 4 °C. The pH, surface colour, texture and microbiology of beef steaks were unaffected (P > 0.05) by varying the gas headspace to meat ratio. APLSR (ANOVA-partial least squares regression) and jack-knife uncertainty testing indicated that lipid oxidation (TBARS) was significantly positively correlated with days 10 (P < 0.05) and 14 (P < 0.001) of storage. Chemical and sensory detection of lipid oxidation in beef steaks were in agreement on day 14 of storage. The sensory quality and acceptability of beef steaks were similar in gas headspace to meat ratios of 2:1 or 1:1 and unacceptable in 0.5:1. Results indicate that pack size and gas volume can be reduced without negatively affecting fresh beef quality and shelf-life.