Designing new meals for an ageing population.

Today's ageing population is an ever-increasing, highly diverse group of people wanting to live a healthy and enjoyable life. Seniors increasingly see the importance of eating healthy and delicious food in a pleasant environment in achieving happiness and well-being. Up until now, the food industry has been rather slow in transforming the wealth of available knowledge regarding the nutritional needs and sensory perception of the ageing into new food products. Based on our own and the published research of others, we discuss here how the design of new meals for an ageing population can be tackled by a consumer-led approach to food product development. After a brief overview of the underlying concepts and practices, a detailed description is given of how this approach could be used in the design of Home Meal Replacements for senior households. This description includes also a comprehensive review of the major determinants of food preference and meal choice behavior in a later age. Finally, relevant implications are derived from the work presented and future trends in the technological development of foods for the ageing highlighted.

Consumer acceptance and sensory profiling of reengineered kitoza products.

Kitoza refers to a traditional way of preparing beef and pork in Madagascar. However, in order to improve some drawbacks previous identified, the product was submitted to a reengineering process. The acceptance and sensory profiling of improved Kitoza products among Portuguese consumers was investigated. A local smoked loin sausage was selected as basis for comparison. Firstly, a Focus Group study was performed to identify sensory descriptors for Kitoza products and explore product perception. Subsequently, a Flash Profile and a consumer sensory acceptance study were conducted. Flash Profile's results showed that beef- and pork-based Kitoza products investigated differed considerably in all sensory dimensions. The Portuguese sausage was characterized as having a more intense and lasting after taste, as well as displaying a higher degree of (meat) doneness. The acceptance study yielded higher overall liking ratings for pork- than for beef-based Kitoza, although the Portuguese sausage remained the most appreciated product.