Consumer perception of smoked Cheddar cheese.

Consumer perception of smoked cheese was evaluated through focus groups, surveys, and central location testing. Three focus groups (n = 29) were conducted with consumers of smoked cheese. Subsequently, 2 online surveys were conducted. The purpose of the first survey (n = 1,195) was to understand types of smoked cheeses consumed and if consumers associated specific wood smokes with smoked cheese. Next, an adaptive choice-based conjoint (n = 367) was designed to evaluate consumer perception of different attributes of smoked cheese. Maximum difference scaling and familiarity questions were also included in the adaptive choice-based conjoint survey. Following the surveys, a central location test (n = 135) was conducted with cheeses smoked with 3 different woods at a low and high intensity (6 cheeses total). Hierarchical Bayesian estimation, 1-way ANOVA, agglomerative hierarchical clustering, and 2-way ANOVA (smoke type × intensity level) were used to interpret the collected data. Results from the focus groups indicated that smoked cheese was perceived as an artisan, high-end product and that appearance and price were strong purchase factors. In general, consumers were not aware of how smoked flavor was imparted to cheese, but when informed of the processes, they preferred cold-smoked cheese to the addition of liquid smoke flavor. Results from both surveys confirmed focus group observations. Consumers perceived flavor differences among different wood smokes and smoked products. Method of smoking, smoke intensity, type of wood, and type of cheese were the most important attributes for purchase of smoked cheese. When tasting, consumers differentiated smoke aroma and flavor among cheeses and preferred cherry wood smoked cheeses over apple wood or hickory smoked cheeses. Understanding consumer perceptions of smoked cheese will give insight into the desired experience that consumers expect when purchasing smoked cheese.

Impact of storage temperature and product pH on the survival of Listeria monocytogenes in vacuum-packaged souse.

Souse is a fully cooked, ready-to-eat gelled pork product. There is a zero-tolerance policy for Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat meat products. The survival and/or growth of L. monocytogenes in souse is unknown. The effectiveness of three different souse formulations (pH 4.3, 4.7, and 5.1) for controlling the growth of L. monocytogenes at two refrigerated storage temperatures (5 and 10 degrees C) was evaluated. All products were vacuum packaged. Uninoculated product was prepared as the control, and other products were artificially surface contaminated with a three-strain cocktail of L. monocytogenes (10(6) CFU/ cm2). Microbial counts were obtained on selective and nonselective media twice weekly through 8 weeks of storage. Souse did not support the growth of L. monocytogenes regardless of product formulation or storage temperature. At 5 degrees C, D-values for products with pH values of 4.7 and 5.1 were not different, but survival of L. monocytogenes in product with a lower pH (4.3) was decreased compared with survival in products with higher pH values (P < 0.05). Survival of L. monocytogenes was not impacted by storage temperatures (P > 0.05). Consumer acceptability (n = 75 souse consumers) of pH 4.3 products was not different from that for (typical) pH 4.7 products (P > 0.05). These results indicate that conventionally produced souse does not support the growth of L. monocytogenes and that inactivation of the organism is more likely in products formulated at a lower pH (< or = 4.3) without affecting consumer acceptance.

Effect of salt and sodium nitrite on growth and enterotoxin production of Staphylococcus aureus during the production of air-dried fresh pork sausage.

Staphylococcus aureus contamination and enterotoxin production is a potential food safety hazard during the drying step of production of air-dried fresh country sausage. The growth characteristics and enterotoxin production of S. aureus during the drying step of this product with and without added sodium nitrite were evaluated. Three strains of S. aureus were grown to stationary phase and inoculated (10(4) CFU/g) into sausage ingredients. Fresh pork sausages were stuffed into natural casings and allowed to dry for 10 days at 21 degrees C with 60% relative humidity (RH). In control sausage (1.76% [wt/wt] salt) with no S. aureus, aerobic plate counts increased by 5.5 log/g during the 10-day drying period, and coliforms increased by 4.8 log/g. The addition of sodium nitrite (154 ppm of nitrite, 2.24% [wt/wt] salt) or increased salt (3.64%, wt/wt) to sausage limited the growth of coliform bacteria (P < 0.05). S. aureus numbers increased approximately 2 log units during the drying step, regardless of additional salt or nitrite. Additional salt or nitrite had no effect on S. aureus growth (P > 0.05). Staphylococcal enterotoxin (SE) was not detected in air-dried fresh sausages at any time. Our results suggest that drying of fresh pork sausage under similar parameters listed in this study does not support SE production.

Consumer Perception of Retail Pork Bacon Attributes Using Adaptive Choice-based Conjoint Analysis and Maximum Differential Scaling.

Bacon is one of the most recognizable consumer pork products and is differentiated by appearance, flavor, thickness, and several possible product claims. The objective of this study was to explore the attributes of retail bacon that influence consumers to purchase and consume bacon. An Adaptive Choice-Based Conjoint (ACBC) survey was designed for attributes of raw American-style bacon. An ACBC survey (N = 1410 consumers) and Kano questioning were applied to determine the key attributes that influenced consumer purchase. Attributes included package size, brand, thickness, label claims, flavor, price, and images of the bacon package displaying fat:lean ratio. Maximum Difference Scaling (MaxDiff) was used to rank appeal of 20 different bacon images with variable fat:lean ration and slice shape. The most important attribute for bacon purchase was price followed by fat:lean appearance and then flavor. Three consumer clusters were identified with distinct preferences. For 2 clusters, price was not the primary attribute. Understanding preferences of distinct consumer clusters will enable manufacturers to target consumers and make more appealing bacon. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Adaptive Choice-Based Conjoint (ACBC) is a research technique that allows consumers to react to assembled products and identify product attributes that they prefer. Kano questions allow researchers to look at the individual aspects of a product and understand consumer sentiment and expectations towards those product qualities while Maximum Difference scaling allows consumers to directly rank single attributes of a product relative to one another. A combination of these 3 approaches can provide key understandings on consumer perception of retail bacon allowing companies to optimize and maximize their development and advertising resources.

Malignant islet cell tumor associated with hypercalcemia.

BACKGROUND: Three cases of islet cell tumors of the pancreas with hypercalcemia were studied, and 16 similar cases have been found in a 25-year review of the English-language literature. The purpose of the study was to review the cause of the hypercalcemia and the clinical characteristics of the tumors. METHODS: Tumor tissue retrieved from paraffin-embedded blocks was studied immunohistochemically for both parathyroid hormone (PTH) and PTH-related protein (PTHrP). PTH was measured in the serum in each patient and the serum PTHrP was measured by immunoassay in one patient. RESULTS: One of our patients had a fatal serum calcium level of 26.4 mg/dl. PTHrP stains were positive in two of our tumors, and one patient had an elevated PTHrP serum level. Serum PTH levels were normal or low in each patient. All three tumors were malignant and extremely vascular. The total group of 19 patients have in common hypercalcemia associated with a normal or low serum PTH level. Although the cause of hypercalcemia has not been proved, the tumors apparently produce PTHrP, because seven of eight tumors stained positive for PTHrP and each of the four patients tested had an elevated PTHrP serum titer. The tumors are extremely vascular, are usually malignant (17 of 18), and become large, but they are compatible with a relatively long patient survival time. CONCLUSIONS: These neuroendocrine tumors associated with hypercalcemia share several characteristics, but a claim that they represent another type of "functioning islet cell tumor" should await a clearer delineation of the cause of the hypercalcemia.

Observations on the developmental patterns and the consequences of pancreatic exocrine adenocarcinoma. Findings of 154 autopsies.

OBJECTIVE: To improve our future care of the patient with exocrine pancreatic cancer by seeking, within the limitations of our present approaches, additional information on the growth and spread of the cancer and its influences on the patient. DESIGN: Consecutive autopsies of all patients with exocrine pancreatic cancer were reviewed retrospectively by two surgeons and three pathologists. SETTINGS: Three teaching hospitals of the Medical College of Ohio, Toledo. MATERIALS: One hundred fifty-four consecutive autopsies of patients with exocrine pancreatic cancer during the period between 1952 and 1992. RESULTS: Intrapancreatic metastases or multicentric cancers were found in 12 patients. In 32 patients, pancreatic cancer skipped the lymph nodes, primarily draining the respective areas of the pancreas to metastasize to the secondary chain of nodes. In 13 patients, pulmonary metastases occurred without hepatic metastasis. Intrapancreatic contiguous extension was identified in 34 patients. Carcinoma of the body and/or tail of the pancreas was characterized by transperitoneal as well as hematogenous dissemination to a greater extent than was carcinoma of the head of the pancreas. Seven of 11 small tumors (< 2 cm in diameter) were associated with remote metastases. Relatively severe chronic obstructive pancreatitis was found to have resulted from pancreatic carcinoma in 18 cases, whereas in seven patients, pancreatic carcinoma probably developed in preexisting chronic pancreatitis. Thromboembolic disease was found in 30 patients, more frequently in the patients with the mucin-producing tumors of the pancreatic body and tail. In 21 patients, the amount of ascites was not proportional to the severity of peritoneal dissemination, vessel invasion, or recognizable hepatic dysfunction. Thromboembolic disease, severe infection, stress ulcer, and acute hemorrhagic erosive gastroenteritis were frequent systemic complications contributing to death. Malnutrition in the form of cachexia was undoubtedly a major, even dominant, feature in many patients that could not be quantitated from this data. CONCLUSIONS: Metastasizing cells frequently bypass the initial filters in lymph nodes, liver, or lung to become established in secondary or tertiary sites. Intrapancreatic metastases or multicentric tumors also may develop more frequently than generally has been recognized. Small cancers (< 2 cm in diameter) are often associated at autopsy with remote metastases. These facts would appear to limit the usefulness of the current staging of resected cancers of the pancreas. Cancers of the body or tail are characterized by transperitoneal and hematogenous spread to a greater extent than are those of the head. Anatomical studies often do not explain the cause or the extent of ascites associated with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. As previously indicated, chronic pancreatitis appears to be further confirmed as a precursor of pancreatic cancer.

The drinking patterns of American and Polish university students: a cross-national study.

A study of 3375 American and 1408 Polish university students was accomplished to test the hypotheses that cultural differences influence drinking patterns and beverage preferences between countries. Using the same questionnaire in both samples, the results revealed that significantly (P less than 0.001) more drinks per week were consumed by both Polish male (24.9) and female (15.2) students compared to American male (15.0) and female (7.6) students. Significantly (P less than 0.001) more wine was consumed by Polish (8.7) compared to the American (0.8) students. American female students consumed more beer than Polish female students. There was no difference between beer and spirits consumption between American and Polish males and Polish students in latter school years consumed more alcohol compared to students in the first years of school. It was concluded that the samples of students in this study reflected their cultures in terms of drinking patterns and beverage preference.

Elements of payment for hospital-based pathologist services.

This article describes the basic elements of payment for anatomic and clinical pathology services in hospitals in the United States today. Physician payments are not targeted for major cost containment efforts by Medicare and other payers, but the financial future of individual practitioners need not be bleak, as long as certain basic business principles of practice management are followed including becoming intimately familiar with the political and regulatory environment; staying current with respect to the business standards and conventions of the profession; using extreme care when developing initial or renewal compensation contracts with hospitals; and employing generally accepted pricing, insurance and diagnosis coding, and billing standards within one's practice.

University students' drinking patterns and problems: examining the effects of raising the purchase age.

An extensive review of the literature on college students' drinking patterns and problems since the mid-1930s revealed no radical changes over the past several decades. However, during the past 10 years, drinking and problems related to drinking and driving have gradually decreased among college students. Results of a study of students at the same 56 colleges and universities throughout the United States (3,145 in 1982-83, 2,797 in 1984-85, and 3,375 in 1987-88) revealed few changes in collegiate drinking patterns and problems attributable to the nationwide increase in the minimum age for alcohol purchase. There was a decline in the proportion of students who drank in the period during which the law changed. However, the proportion of students categorized as heavy drinkers remained constant over time and the proportion of underage students (81 percent) who drank was higher than the proportion of legal age students who drank (75 percent). Of 17 problems related to drinking, all but 5 remained stable over the time periods. Three of the problems represent the continuum of an established trend of fewer students to indicating drinking and driving-related problems. As discussed in this paper, creative alcohol programming can assist in controlling alcohol abuse among college students.

Drinking games and problems related to drinking among moderate and heavy drinkers.

The playing of drinking games, the quantity-frequency of alcohol consumption, and various problems related to drinking were assessed among a national sample of 3,830 alcohol consuming students from 58 American colleges and universities during the 1990-1991 academic year. Among Light-Moderate drinkers, a significantly higher proportion of students who had played a drinking game experienced 15 of 17 drinking-related problems. On the other hand, among Heavy drinkers there was little difference between game and nongame players. A higher percentage of game players had experienced five of the problems. Generally, for many problems, more than twice as many Heavy drinkers among both game and nongame players had exhibited the problem compared to more moderate drinkers. It was concluded that game playing appeared to increase problems related to alcohol primarily among more moderate drinkers whereas those who were heavy drinkers were exhibiting more problems regardless of their game-playing status. Education about the effect of game playing among students who are moderate drinkers should be addressed.

College students' drinking problems: a national study, 1982-1991.

The drinking problems of college students from every state in the continental United States were examined in 1982 (n = 4,405), 1985 (n = 3,453), 1988 (n = 4,343), and 1991 (n = 3,907). Observed were increases in 10 of the 17 problems studied and decreases in four; three of the decreases were in driving-related problems.

The Student Alcohol Questionnaire: an updated reliability of the drinking patterns, problems, knowledge, and attitude subscales.

The reliabilities of the Quantity/Frequency Patterns, Problems Resulting from Drinking, Knowledge of Alcohol, and Attitudes Toward Drinking subscales of the Student Alcohol Questionnaire were calculated. The Spearman-Brown reliability coefficients of the subscales were .84, .89, .85, and .27, respectively. Values of Cronbach alpha for the four subscales were .86, .92, .86, and .55, respectively.