Margrethe Hersleth

Association between traditional food consumption and motives for food choice in six European countries.

This study investigates the association between traditional food consumption and motives for food choice in six European countries. Cross-sectional data were collected through the TRUEFOOD pan-European consumer survey (n = 4828) with samples representative for age, gender and region in Belgium, France, Italy, Norway, Poland and Spain. Importance attached to familiarity with a product is found to be strongly and positively associated with general attitude toward traditional food as well as traditional food consumption. The importance attached to convenience was negatively related to both general attitude toward traditional food and traditional food consumption, while the importance of weight control negatively influenced the general attitude. Natural content of food was positively associated with the attitude toward traditional food and traditional food consumption. The importance of price when purchasing food failed to be significantly related with general attitude and traditional food consumption both for the pooled sample as well as within each country except in Spain. The proposed model contributes to a better understanding of factors shaping the image and influencing the consumption of traditional foods in Europe. General attitude toward traditional foods, familiarity, and importance of food naturalness emerged as drivers for traditional food consumption. Importance attached to convenience and health acted as direct barriers to traditional food consumption, whereas importance of weight control emerged as an indirect barrier through lowering general attitude toward traditional foods.

Effect of contextual factors on liking for wine—use of robust design methodology

Abstract This research investigated the effects of context on the acceptability of Chardonnay wines using the robust design methodology. Robust design methods distinguish between two types of design variables: control factors and noise factors. The control factors in this study were enological variables used to make the wines. The noise factors were the contexts in which the wines were evaluated. Eight Chardonnay wines were produced according to an experimental design with or without (1) malolactic fermentation, (2) oak contact, and (3) sugar addition to the finished wine. The wines were served in a laboratory and in a reception room with or without food, and rated for degree of liking on the nine-point hedonic scale by 55 wine consumers. Analyses of variance showed that the control factors and the noise factors had significant, and similar in size, effects on liking. The robust design methodology affords the product designer the ability to better understand the effects of product variation and context variation on product acceptability.

Profiling European traditional food consumers

Purpose – The paper seeks to provide a picture of the profile of European traditional food consumers (TFC) in terms of their socio‐demographics, attitudes, life‐style orientations and behavioural characteristics.Design/methodology/approach – Cross‐sectional data were collected through a pan‐European consumer survey (n=4,828) conducted in November and December 2007, with samples representative for gender, age and region, collected from six European countries: Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Poland and Norway. First, information about the consumption of traditional food and the image of a typical TFC was provided through descriptive analysis. Next, the actual characteristics of TFC were assessed using partial least squares regression and these were discussed in the context of the theory of self‐image congruity.Findings – Traditional food consumption patterns are stronger in the south than in the north of Europe. TFC across Europe are typically middle‐aged to elderly, health‐conscious, ethnocentric, food conn...

Consumers' awareness and attitudinal determinants of European Union quality label use on traditional foods.

This study analyses European consumers’ awareness and determinants of use of PDO, PGI and TSG labels in six European countries (Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Norway and Poland) using data from a cross-sectional survey with 4,828 participants. The study confirms a higher awareness of PDO (68.1%) as compared to PGI (36.4%) and TSG (25.2%). Awareness is higher among men and people aged above 50 years. Consumers’ use of a PDO, PGI or TSG label is triggered by the belief that the label signals better product quality. Quality beliefs are shaped by an interest in getting information about product quality through the quality label. Interest in the origin of foods is a stronger direct and indirect driver of label use than interest in support for the local economy, but both motivations are not directly related to TSG-label use. Differences in the role of determinants are small between the three labelling schemes and between countries with versus without a strong tradition of quality labels in their agricultural and food quality policies. Apart from building general awareness and favourable quality perceptions of the quality schemes and their respective labels, efforts to stimulate consumers’ interest in origin and getting information about product quality through EU quality labels are recommended.

Meat quality of lamb: Pre-slaughter fattening on cultivated or mountain range pastures

Many consumers perceive lamb meat from mountain pastures to be of superior quality, a quality that may be altered if lambs are kept for a longer period on cultivated pastures before slaughtering. The objective of this experiment was to compare sensory profile and fatty acid composition in meat from lambs slaughtered directly from unimproved mountain pastures with meat from lambs raised on unimproved mountain pastures and fattened on biodiverse cultivated pastures for 26, 39 and 42days before slaughtering. The experiment was conducted at two different locations in Norway in 2006 and 2007, with a total of 124 Norwegian Crossbred Sheep lambs. Loin samples of M. Longissimus dorsi from lambs above a body weight of 40kg were selected and analysed for sensory attributes. Fatty acid composition was determined in the subcutaneous fat over the Longissimus dorsi. Small but significant differences were found in hardness, tenderness, fattiness, metallic and rancid flavour, and in polyunsaturated fatty acids. This indicates that to a small extent pre-slaughter fattening on cultivated pastures alters meat characteristics.

Effect of gender on meat quality in lamb from extensive and intensive grazing systems when slaughtered at the end of the growing season

In Norway, most lambs are slaughtered at the end of the grazing season in September. An increased demand for fresh meat during the off-season may change this pattern. Castration of male lambs is not permitted, and off-season slaughtering may affect the acceptability of the meat. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of gender and the interaction between gender and diet on meat quality from Norwegian White Sheep lambs slaughtered in September. In two different experiments, 22 and 29 males compared with 22 and 46 female lambs, respectively, were used. Loin samples of M. Longissimus dorsi were analysed for sensory profile and fatty acid composition. Meat from male lambs in Experiment 2 had higher scores for cloying and rancid flavour, and lower scores for sour and sweet taste compared to meat from female lambs. It is concluded that even at the normal slaughtering time in September, significant differences between genders may occur.

Introducing Statistical Thinking to the Food Industry - Facilitating and Inhibiting Factors

During the 1990s. MATFORSK (the Norwegian Food Research Institute) taught applied statistics to personnel from the Norwegian food industry, focusing on the simple tools of statistical process control (SPC) and experimental design. Through this work, observations revealed that many companies hare difficulty applying these methods to their processes and quality improvement projects. Therefore, a study on factors that might facilitate or inhibit the introduction of applied statistical methods in the industry was initiated. In 1991, eight Norwegian food companies participated in a training program focusing on simple statistical tools. The participating persons and companies are the subjects of this study. The result of this study shows that several factors affect the success of applying statistical methods. For example, Managements involvement and insight into statistical methods Systems for internal distribution of competence Some aspects of corporate culture Although this material is from the food industry, these findings likely apply to many branches of industry and manufacturing. This article discusses the results from the study in detail and considers the challenges of introducing statistical thinking to nonstatisticians.

Effects of NaCl substitution on the sensory properties of sausages: temporal aspects.

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of different salt substitutes on the sensory perception of sausages. TDS was used to explore the temporal perception of the samples and DA was used as a reference method. Grill-style sausages with different levels of salt reduction combined with different salt substitutes (KCl, Na-lactate, K-lactate/Na-diacetate and milk minerals) were tested. Results showed relatively few discriminating attributes from DA. However, results from TDS indicated differences in the dynamic perception of the sodium reduced sausages compared to the control sample, especially during the aftertaste.

European Consumers’ Definition and Perception of Traditional Foods

This chapter presents how European consumers define and perceive traditional foods based on consumer research performed within the EU-funded project Truefood. The insights were obtained through focus group studies, free word association tests, and cross-European quantitative consumer surveys. Consumers’ definition of traditional foods refers primarily to eating habits, naturalness, heritage, taste, and locality. Traditional foods have an overall positive image among European consumers, which provides an ideal basis to capitalize on future product development, market positioning, and marketing communication.

Dish composition: children’s mental representation and expected liking

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how vegetable side components (carrot and broccoli) influence children’s associations and expected liking of two common Norwegian dishes (meatballs and salmon). Design/methodology/approach – Children aged 11-12 years old were recruited to complete an adapted free association test (n=89). Each participant was exposed to four pictures of dishes that included combinations of the experimental food items served with potatoes and sauce. Participants stated their immediate associations and how much they liked each meal on a five-point smiley face scale for children. Evoked associations were coded and categorized before the relationship between the expected liking of the dishes and the associations were visualized based on correspondence analysis. Findings – The authors found that the expected liking of the dishes was significantly affected by the composition of the dish, that the associations related to the meal changed when the vegetable component changed, a...