The insectivore’s dilemma,and how to take the West out of it

A number of health and agricultural organizations have been encouraging Westerners to integrate insects into their diet, without success. Appealing to consumer’s reason and responsibility, as they do, is likely to reinforce a dilemma in the mind of consumers: many know that they can, in principle, eat insects, and perhaps that they should eat some, but very few are willing to eat them. Here we argue that current strategies are on the wrong track in identifying the key obstacle to overcome as a question of the negative representation of insects. Decades of laboratory research, as well as years of experience in gastronomy, suggest that people’s food choices are relatively immune to rational changes of representation, and instead tend to be driven by taste preferences and exposure. Here we suggest an alternative sensorially-driven strategy, which stands a much greater chance of making people eat insects on a regular basis. The turn – or better said return – to entomophagy in this sense, needs to be driven by a psychologically realistic motivation and gastronomic interest.     

Do adults draw differently-sized meals on larger or smaller plates? Examining plate size in a community sample

BackgroundPrior research has reported that plate size may influence an individual’s perceptions and recall of food and meal size. Therefore, manipulating plate size could influence projected meal quantities and portion size among community dwelling adults.MethodsThe present study interviewed 281 adult parents in their own homes in a medium-sized city in the United States. Participants were asked to accurately draw and label the foods they expected to eat for dinner that night, drawing on either a 23 cm or 28 cm paper plate. The respondents were then asked to label each food drawn in order to ensure proper recording of meals.ResultsResults showed clear differences in drawn food sizes between plate sizes as well as between sexes. Larger plates had about 24% more food drawn on them than small plates. Men drew their meals on 28 cm plates to be 37% larger than men who received 23 cm plates, while women with 28 cm plates drew their meals to be about 17% larger than women given 23 cm plates. Most (60%) of the overall differences in food size between plates came from the biggest food that was drawn. Women and men both drew bigger meat portions on 28 cm plates when compared to the meat portions on 23 cm plates.ConclusionsOverall, these findings support the concept that adult participants’ estimates of dinner meal size may be shaped by plate size. The effect of differing plate sizes appears to be more powerful for men than women, and may encourage greater food consumption among men, primarily as meat products.     

东湖区学校、幼儿园餐饮具检测分析

为了解东湖区下属部分大、中、小学及幼儿园食堂的餐饮具的卫生状况,采用《中华人民共和国国家标准》GB14934-1994食（饮）具消毒卫生标准的纸片法对40个单位（大、中、小学校及幼儿园）食堂的820件样品进行检测。餐具的总合格率为64％,幼儿园、小学的餐具合格率高于中学和大学。卫生达标的情况也是幼儿园、小学高于中学和大学。餐具的煮沸消毒和蒸汽消毒效果较化学消毒和红外线消毒效果好。餐饮具的卫生状况说明我区学校食堂的卫生状况还有待改进,卫生行政部门要加大监督力度,同时需加强与教育行政部门的联系,督促所辖学校改善卫生状况。     

The relationship between disgust sensitivity and BMI: Is the food disgusting or am I?

Core disgust is a negative emotion, comprised of disgust in response to food, animals, and from the body itself (and its products). Individual differences exist in the level to which people experience the emotion of core disgust. Sensitivity to disgust has been associated negatively with Body Mass Index (BMI) in overweight and obese people, and to eating disorders independently from BMI. This study investigates the relationship between disgust sensitivity and BMI by examining data from the Italian Taste Project (n = 2317). We hypothesized that the relationship between disgust sensitivity and BMI, after accounting for age and gender, may be mediated by other factors, such as 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) sensitivity or eating restraint, and that this relationship might differ in non-obese and obese individuals. Results showed that the relationship between sensitivity to disgust and food behaviors is complex and differs between obese and non-obese people. Two mediation models were considered. In the first case restrained eating acted as a mediator of disgust sensitivity in the prediction of BMI, while in the second one BMI acted only as a partial mediator of disgust sensitivity in the prediction of restrained eating. This suggests that heightened sensitivity to core disgust may be associated with a heightened sensitivity to self-disgust, motivating restrained eating behaviors when BMI is higher, but only in non-obese individuals.     

Parental family food choice motives and children’s food intake

Children’s food intakes are important for their health and it is their parents that mainly decide what foods are available at home. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between parental family food choice motives (FFCMs) and children’s intakes of ‘nutrient-dense’ and ‘energy-rich foods’. In 2008, Finnish children, aged 10-12 years, completed a 16-item food frequency questionnaire and their parents completed a 27-item questionnaire to assess the FFCMs. Matching data existed for 564 child-parent pairs. Principal component analysis was conducted. The following eight dimensions of FFCM were found: ‘health and natural content’, ‘ethical concerns’, ‘mood’, ‘convenience’, ‘price’, ‘sensory appeal’, ‘weight control’ and ‘familiarity’. The association between FFCM and children’s food intakes was analyzed by Spearman correlations and logistic regression corrected for gender, school class, gender of respondent parent, living with one parent and parental education. The results based on logistic regressions showed that the FFCMs ‘health and natural content’ and ‘sensory appeal’ were positively associated, ‘convenience’ was negatively associated with ‘nutrient-dense foods’ and ’ethical concern’ was negatively associated with ‘energy-rich foods’. Parents’ FFCMs should be considered when promoting healthy eating among children.     

攀枝花市农村居民食物结构与饮食习惯调查

目的：了解攀枝花市农村居民的食物结构与饮食习惯,指导其建立科学的生活方式提供依据。方法：对攀枝花市农村居民331人进行饮食习惯和饮食结构问卷调查,所有有效问卷均用SPSS11.0进行统计分析。结果：不同地域居民在一周内定时用餐、吃早餐,一月内吃水果、畜肉和蛋、奶及其制品有明显差异（P〈0.05）,男女性别之间在一周内定时用餐、吃早餐,一月内吃水果和禽肉有显著差异（P〈0.05）,不同文化程度的居民一周内定时用餐、吃早餐和一月内吃水产品有显著差异（P〈0.05）。结论：攀枝花市农村居民的饮食结构和习惯与中国居民膳食指南和平衡膳食宝塔的要求还存在差距,有必要用营养知识对他们进行指导和干预。     

We will eat disgusting foods together – Evidence of the normative basis of Western entomophagy-disgust from an insect tasting

Insects are a highly sustainable and nutritious source of protein, and, thus, incorporating insects in to Western food culture is one way to address major global challenges like global warming and deforestation. Consumer studies show, however, that Westerners’ willingness to eat insect-containing food is low. One formidable barrier is the perception that insects are disgusting, and it is generally believed that this insect-disgust is driven by a fear of contamination and disease. Another barrier is the lack of social norms related to entomophagy in the West. In the present study, we tested effects of fear of contamination and perceived social eating norm with a survey and a tasting session administered to a Danish college sample (N = 189). Correlation analyses and multivariate regression analyses revealed that selfreported trait-level Pathogen Disgust and Perceived Infectability did not consistently predict insect eating disgust, willingness to eat insects, or actual insect tasting behavior in the tasting session. In contrast, perceived insect eating norm emerged as a significant predictor of insect tasting behavior. These findings suggest that perceived social norms play a substantial role in Westerners’ (un)willingness to eat insects. The result gives reason for optimism for aspirations of introducing insects in Western food diet and point to avenues for harnessing social norms in marketing efforts.