Are health claims in aging-related functional food packages different from those of general functional foods? Content analysis of food packaging from Taiwan.

Given the challenges of aging populations, both in Taiwan and globally, issues related to older consumers need more attention. According to surveys in Taiwan, food is one of the most important consumer products for older adults. In recent years, functional foods have become popular, often using health claims as a promotional tool. Therefore, this study has investigated food product packaging in common retail channels in Taiwan by conducting a content analysis of all items with health claims (160 samples). This study specifically compared products related to aging and those unrelated to aging. The results revealed that more than half the participants with health claims did not provide specific descriptions of their health effects. Furthermore, products related to aging often included health terms and claims to supplement with specific nutrients in their health claims. This study has aimed to offer recommendations for educating older consumers, regulating health claims in food advertising, promoting an age-friendly consumer environment, and consumer protection.

Effect of Institutional Trust on Consumers' Health and Safety Perceptions and Repurchase Intention for Traceable Fresh Food.

Numerous food safety incidents have gained public attention and motivated consumers to seek safer and healthier products. Some governments have responded by enacting legislation to regulate the traceability of agricultural products and enhance food safety. To elucidate factors that affect consumers' health and safety perceptions and repurchase intention for certified traceable fresh food, this study applied institutional trust theory to explore the effects of institutional trust (i.e., trust in government, certification organizations, producers, and retailers) on consumers' food safety and health perceptions and repurchase intention. This study was conducted in Taiwan and enrolled 393 consumers who purchased certified traceable fresh food as survey participants. Structural equation modeling and multiple and stepwise regression analysis were performed for data analysis. The results indicated that trust in government, certification organizations, food producers, and food retailers was positively related to food safety perception; trust in certification organizations, food producers, and food retailers directly influenced food healthiness perception, whereas trust in government did not have a direct influence. Furthermore, trust in certification organizations and food producers influenced repurchase intention, whereas trust in government and food retailers did not. Based on these results, the current study provides some practical suggestions for traceable fresh food marketers to use institutional trust to improve consumers' food health and safety perceptions and repurchase intention.

Message Sidedness in Health Claims: Roles of Mood State, Product Involvement, and Self-Rated Health Status.

Most of the previous studies with respect to message sidedness mainly focus on the effect of message sidedness in advertising on behavior of consumers and it is unknown how consumers respond to different message sidedness when a one-sided or two-sided message in claims shown on the package of a healthy food product. This study explores the underlying mechanisms how consumers respond to different message sidedness in claims. The results indicate that two-sided messages in claims are more persuasive than one-sided messages because they pass the "sufficiency threshold." In addition, the results of this article show that mood state, product involvement, and self-rated health of individuals moderate the relationship between message sidedness in claims and product evaluation.

Changes in Intraocular Pressure after Transepithelial Photorefractive Keratectomy and Femtosecond Laser In Situ Keratomileusis.

PURPOSE: To investigate the changes in intraocular pressure (IOP) and biomechanically corrected IOP (bIOP) in patients undergoing transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy (TPRK) and femtosecond laser in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK) and to determine the effects of preoperative biomechanical factors on IOP and bIOP changes after FS-LASIK and TPRK. DESIGN: A retrospective comparative study. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated the IOP and corneal biomechanical changes in 93 eyes undergoing FS-LASIK and 104 eyes undergoing TPRK in a clinical setting. Preoperative and postoperative data on ophthalmic and Corvis ST examinations, in vivo Young's modulus, and noncontact tonometry were analyzed. Marginal linear regression models with generalized estimating equations were used for intragroup and intergroup comparisons of IOP and bIOP changes. RESULTS: In the univariate model, IOP reduction after FS-LASIK was 2.49 mmHg higher than that after TPRK. In addition, bIOP reduction after FS-LASIK was 1.85 mmHg higher than that after TPRK. In the multiple regression model, we revealed that IOP reduction after FS-LASIK was 1.75 mmHg higher than that after TPRK. Additionally, bIOP reduction after FS-LASIK was 1.64 mmHg higher than that after TPRK. Postoperative changes in bIOP were less than those in IOP. In addition, Young's modulus and CBI had no significant effect on postoperative IOP and bIOP changes. We establish a biomechanically predictive model using the available data to predict postoperative IOP and bIOP changes after TPRK and FS-LASIK. CONCLUSIONS: Reductions in IOP and bIOP after FS-LASIK were 1.75 mmHg and 1.64 mmHg, respectively, more than those after TPRK, after adjustment for confounders. We revealed that the type of refractive surgery and peak distance (PD) were significant predictors of postoperative IOP and bIOP changes. By contrast, depth of ablation showed a significant effect on only IOP changes.

Effects of Statistical and Narrative Health Claims on Consumer Food Product Evaluation.

This research aims at exploring the underlying mechanisms how consumers respond to statistical and narrative health claims when they evaluate food products. Moreover, personality traits and product-related information are also incorporated to discuss their effects on the relationship between message types and consumers' food product evaluation. The results indicate that statistical health claims are more persuasive than narrative health claims. In addition, the results show that individuals' health knowledge, NFC moderate the relationship between message types and product evaluation. It argues that individuals with limited health knowledge evaluate food product more favorably when statistical health claims are used, while individuals with more health knowledge evaluate food product more favorably when narrative health claims are used. Moreover, it reveals that individuals with high NFC evaluate food product more favorably when statistical health claims are used, while individuals with low NFC evaluate food product more favorably when narrative health claims are used.

Estimation of the Corneal Young's Modulus In Vivo Based on a Fluid-Filled Spherical-Shell Model with Scheimpflug Imaging.

Current intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement using air puff could be erroneous without applying proper corrections. Although noncontact tonometry is not considered to be accurate, it is still popularly used by eye clinics. It is thus necessary to extract the correct information from their results. This study proposes a practical approach to correctly measure IOP in vivo. By embedding a new model-based correction to the Corvis® ST, we can extract the corneal Young's modulus from the patient data. This Young's modulus can be used to correct the IOP readings. The tests were applied to 536 right eyes of 536 healthy subjects (228 male and 308 female) between March of 2012 and April of 2016. The tests were applied to patients at the Department of Ophthalmology, National Taiwan University Hospital and the Hung-Chuo Eye Clinics. The statistical analysis showed that the value for the Young's modulus was independent of all the other parameters collected from the Corvis ST, including the corneal thickness and the intraocular pressure. Therefore, it is important to independently measure the Young's modulus instead of depending on the correlation with the other parameters. This study adds the methodology of measuring corneal stiffness in vivo for ophthalmologists' reference in diagnosis.