Understanding consumer resistance to the consumption of organic food. A study of ethical consumption,purchasing, and choice behaviour

Although the demand for organic food is growing globally, the mainstream consumption of organic food is far less. The present study attempts to understand the underlying reasons for consumer resistance toward consuming organic food using the theoretical framework of innovation resistance theory (IRT). The study further examines the association between different consumer barriers and purchase decisions (purchase intentions, ethical consumption intentions, and choice behaviour) at different levels of buying involvement and environmental concerns. The collected data, consisting of 452 consumers, were analyzed by structural equation modeling approach. The results showed that value barrier shared a negative association with purchase intentions and ethical consumption intentions. Ethical consumption and purchase intention were found to have a direct influence on choice behaviour. Additionally, the relationship between ethical consumption intention and choice behaviour is mediated by purchase intention. However, no significant differences have emerged based on the level of buying involvement and environment concerns. The findings of the study provide insight into public policymakers, marketers, suppliers, and consumer associations by enhancing their current understanding of buying behaviour of the growing organic food community.     

Steps towards a consumer-driven ‘concept innovation machine’ for food and drink

Innovation is often left to insight and serendipity. A lot of what researchers call innovation is actually a process by which one can make the individual consumer or practitioner more ‘creative’. Although it is important to work with the creative individual in hopes of coming up with the better ‘idea’ and new product/service opportunity, an equally valid albeit novel and counterintuitive approach systematizes creativity in a ‘research-driven machine’. This paper presents an approach to the systematization, based upon the point of view that creativity and innovation comprise the recombination of components into new blends. Given this point of view, to then spur innovation requires a systematic database that the user can access, with tools to help manipulate that database. The paper shows how such a database can be constructed and then used to create a novel product. The approach provides a general framework for the sensory professional to become more involved in the early stages of product development, where the focus is on the conceptual aspects of food features rather than on their physical manifestations in actual products.     

Consumer perception of boar meat as affected by labelling information,malodorous compounds and sensitivity to androstenone

This study aimed to assess the influence of two label conditions on the acceptance of boar meat. A central location test was conducted with 145 consumers each assessing 4 pieces of pork loin.     

基于基本纸样的女装后片浮余量结构转化分析

 从女装基本纸样的后片浮余量形成入手,分析了利用纸样设计、服装工艺和面料性能三个途径处理后片浮余量的多种方法。提出了女装后片浮余量结构处理应采用以“省道”、“分割线”和“褶皱”等显性而直接的结构处理为基础,结合面料塑形、工艺处理等隐性而间接的手段,通过综合考量,进行多途径、多方式的“余量位移”、“余量消解”和“余量转化”的观点,为提升女装结构设计的科学性和合理性,进一步揭示服装结构设计规律提供了理论依据和实践指导。     

Beyond information seeking: Consumers’ online deliberation about the risks and benefits of red meat

Successfully engaging consumers in a dialogue may provide opportunities for better tailored and more effective communication about food-related risks and benefits. Using an online deliberation concept and software, VIZZATA™, we explored the validity of a behavioral measure of deliberation in an online environment in the context of consumers’ perceptions and information seeking about the risks and benefits of red meat. Participants from Belgium, Portugal and the United Kingdom (n = 150) were given the opportunity to engage in an asynchronous interaction with the research team about the information provided. Online deliberation was operationalized as an individual metric based on the number of questions asked in relation to the information, the number of comments left, the number of glossary terms accessed, and the time spent on deliberative activity. This operationalization provided a coherent measure of deliberation which was positively correlated with information recall about the risks and benefits of red meat. Participants who perceived the information about red meat risks and benefits as too complex engaged less with the information. The study herewith presents a novel method of investigating consumers’ deliberation about food issues that conceptualizes consumer engagement as more than just information seeking.     

Commercial soybean lecithins: a source of hidden allergens?

 Soybeans are known to be allergenic for adults as well as for infants. Processed products derived from soybeans are used in a wide spectrum of foods, drugs and other industrial products. In particular, soybean lecithins are used as stabilizers and emulsifiers and may not be suspected as possible source of allergens. To test this hypothesis, six commercial soy lecithins were investigated for residual allergenicity and compared with extracts from raw and heat-treated soybeans. They were characterized, the protein content was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and allergens were analyzed with specific IgE from patients' sera using the enzyme allergosorbent test (EAST), EAST inhibition and protein blotting followed by immunodetection. For further characterization a polyclonal antiserum directed against soybean extract and a monoclonal antibody (mAb 025) directed against the acidic subunit of the soybean storage protein glycinin were used. The EAST studies revealed that three of six sera from patients with allergy to soybeans contained IgE to four soy lecithins (Topcithin 50, Topcithin 300, Emulfluid FD 12, Epikuron 100 P), the same lecithins which were found to contain residual proteins. Two lecithins with a protein content of less than 20 ppb did not bind IgE. EAST inhibition showed that the allergens from soy lecithin were immunologically more closely related to allergens from heat-treated soybeans than to those from raw soybeans. Protein blotting and immunodetection of the protein extract from the lecithins resulted in various allergen bands between 14 kDa and 94 kDa. A heat-stable allergen of 39 kDa was recognized by the monoclonal antibody and thus identified as a subunit of glycinin. The results obtained were confirmed by a mediator release assay based on a rat basophil leukemia cell line. Lecithins that contained residual proteins caused a specific mediator release, suggesting that these products may induce allergic symptoms. Our results show that soybean lecithins are capable of introducing hidden allergens to processed foods and that the IgE binding potential corresponds to the total protein determined by ELISA. Furthermore, it appears to be possible that by monitoring the protein content soy lecithins can be applied which may be safe for the allergic consumer. Received: 22 January 1998     

Rocket immunoelectrophoresis (RIE) for determination of potentially allergenic peanut proteins in processed foods as a simple means for quality assurance and food safety

 Peanuts are one of the most allergenic foods known. The presence of hidden allergens in processed food for reasons of mislabelling or cross-contamination expose allergic individuals to unpredictable risks, especially since highly sensitized subjects may experience severe anaphylactic reactions. The protection of consumers requires specific and sensitive methods for the detection of trace amounts of potentially allergenic peanut components. A rocket immunoelectrophoresis (RIE) procedure was developed allowing the detection of even spurious contaminations with peanut protein. For precipitation of peanut protein a commercially available antiserum was used. By amplifying precipitates with a secondary immunodetection step, 20 ng/ml peanut protein in chocolate extract, equivalent to 0.0002% peanut in chocolate, could still be detected. Model chocolate spiked with various amounts of peanut was investigated down to 0.001% peanut (10 ppm), the limit of quantitative determination. The method was optimized for detection of peanut in chocolate samples. Non-chocolate samples had to be standardized with a chocolate matrix prior to analysis in order to obtain a uniform response. Cross-reactivities with other food proteins did not occur. The method showed high recoveries of 85–101% for chocolate samples down to 10 ppm peanut and good reproducibility with coefficients of variation of ≤ 5 % for samples of ≥ 15 ppm peanut protein. The applicability of this method in the detection of peanut protein in various food commodities was demonstrated: two unlabelled products and two products which did not have peanut listed as an ingredient were identified as containing peanut protein. In all cases where peanut was listed, peanut protein could be determined. The results of RIE were always confirmed by those of a new cell-mediator-release assay that is based on a rat basophil leukaemia (RBL) cell-line (RBL-2H3), cells that are a functional equivalent to mucosal mast cells. Measuring the release of β-hexosaminidase resulting from cross-linking of basophil-bound peanut-specific immunoglobulin E, the assay mimics a main event of the allergic type-I reaction. The cell assay was adapted for food matrices and peanut could be detected down to 0.01% which additionally demonstrated in vitro that even trace amounts of peanut protein could elicit allergic reactions. Received: 28 May 1997 / Revised version: 11 July 1997     

Current knowledge and recent developments in consumer exposure assessment of pesticides: A UK perspective

Techniques employed in the assessment of consumer exposure to pesticides are currently being reviewed in the UK. This is not a formal process as is happening in the USA. However, the advent of probabilistic approaches and sophisticated computer models has prompted regulators, industry and other stakeholders in the UK to recognize the need for refinements in the risk-assessment process. Sources of information and data necessary to explore such refinements are disparate. This review aims to collate the information to present a coherent picture of the current knowledge, the data available and the stakeholders involved. It can then be used as a resource with which to investigate further more specific issues. Although focussing on the UK, the European context is included and reference is made to US models and developments that should be investigated. Factors hampering progress include the lack of sufficient data on which to base quantitative analysis, especially in the residential pesticides sector, and lack of experience in using and interpreting probabilistic models. At present, such techniques are being approached with some caution in the UK and in Europe, although their utility for cumulative assessment is accepted. Communicating results to both risk managers and consumers will be a considerable challenge.     

Acceptability of genetically modified cheese presented as real product alternative

European consumers, in general, have negative attitudes towards the use of gene technology in food production. The objective of this study was to examine whether taste and health benefits influence the acceptability of genetically modified (gm) products when they are presented as real product alternatives. Consumers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden (n=738) assessed two cheeses: one was labelled as genetically modified (preferred in an earlier product test) and the other as conventional (neutral in an earlier product test). A smaller control group received two cheeses with blind codes. Labelling decreased consumers' intentions to buy the originally preferred gm-labelled cheese, but still the intentions were at the same level with the conventionally labelled option. Participants chose two gm cheeses out of five possible when given the option to take cheese home after tasting. Intentions to buy gm cheese could best be explained by respondents' attitudes towards gene technology and perceived taste benefits. General health interest was also a reinforcer of intentions for gm cheese with reduced fat content.