Meat replacer? No thanks! The clash between naturalness and processing: An explorative study of the perception of plant-based foods.

A shift towards a plant-based diet is desired to promote sustainability, improve health, and minimize animal suffering. However, many consumers are not willing to make such a transition, because of attachment to meat and unwillingness to change habits. The present work explored the perception of Norwegian and French consumers' attitudes, barriers and opportunities to increase the likelihood of a shift in diet. Three creative focus groups (CFGs), using interactive tasks such as photo-collage, projective mapping, story completion and third person technique, were run with omnivorous adult consumers in each country. CFGs gathers undirected feedback, providing less biased responses than other exploration methods, related to e.g. social norms. In both countries, results were in general lines comparable. Nutritional knowledge was low regarding vegetable proteins; familiar sources of protein were mostly animal. There is a strong gap between respondents' desired behaviour (balancing nutrition, eating less meat) and their actual behaviour: meat is very important, and the menu is often organized around it. Consumers are curious about vegetable sources of protein, but major constraints were hedonics in France, and convenience in Norway. The main barrier to a shift in diet is the lack of knowledge on how to prepare plant-based meals. Many participants find a conflict between health & sustainability in industrial products, perceiving them as highly processed and suggesting that meat replacers might not be a straightforward way to drive omnivorous consumers to shift to a more plant-based diet.

Chicken fillets subjected to UV-C and pulsed UV light: Reduction of pathogenic and spoilage bacteria, and changes in sensory quality.

We have compared the efficacy of continuous ultraviolet (UV-C) (254 nm) and pulsed UV light in reducing the viability of Salmonella Enteritidis, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp., Brochothrix thermospacta, Carnobacterium divergens, and extended-spectrum ß-lactamase producing E. coli inoculated on chicken fillet surface. Fluences from 0.05 to 3.0 J/cm2 (10 mW/cm2, from 5 to 300 s) used for UV-C light resulted in average reductions from 1.1 to 2.8 log cfu/cm2. For pulsed UV light, fluences from 1.25 to 18.0 J/cm2 gave average reductions from 0.9 to 3.0 log cfu/cm2. A small change in the odor characterized as sunburnt and increased concentration of volatile compounds associated with burnt odor posed restrictions on the upper limit of UV treatment, however no sensory changes were observed after cooking the meat. Treatments under modified atmosphere conditions using a UV permeable top film gave similar or slightly lower bacterial reductions. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Ultraviolet (UV) light may be used for decontaminating the surface of food products and reduce viability of pathogenic and spoilage bacteria. Exposure of raw chicken fillet surface to various doses of continuous UV-C or pulsed UV light proposed in the present work represent alternatives for microbiological improvement of this product. Chicken fillets can be treated in intact packages covered with UV permeable top film, thus avoiding recontamination of the meat. UV-C light treatment is a low cost strategy with low maintenance, whereas pulsed UV light involves more elaborate equipment, but treatment times are short and less space is required. Both methods can be helpful for producers to manage the safety and quality of chicken fillets.

Listening to children voices in early stages of new product development through co-creation - Creative focus group and online platform.

To tackle current nutritional issues like obesity, it could be valuable to involve children in the development of healthy food products that they will actively chose and enjoy. The aims of the present exploratory study were (i) to assess a methodology for early-stage idea generation through co-creation, for the development of healthy snacks with pre-adolescents, and (ii) to compare two settings, creative focus groups (CFG) and an online community (ONL). Three steps were defined to allow the gradual exploration of the topic and mutual learning throughout the process: (1) Show &Tell: photo taking and -elicitation to understand what children ate; (2) Reflect: a sorting task of the pictures to discuss and reflect on snacking practices (3) Create: an idea generation step, in which a newspaper article describing an idea for a new healthy snack was created. To increase engagement and creativity, gamification strategies were used. Our results demonstrated that children (preadolescents) can create new food product ideas with the proposed process, using enabling and creative techniques. In the CFG the trained moderator could steer the group to the co-creation goal. The setting facilitated teamwork and group learning, collaborative ideas considering preferences of peers and produced a few detailed and mostly actionable ideas. In the ONL less control over the process was possible. The setting produced many ideas varying in the degree of detail and actionability focusing on individual preferences. The feedback and observations from our study, particularly in the CFG setting, implied that the creative approach was highly engaging for participants. Further research is necessary to assess the potential of initial ideas developed by pre-adolescents.

Secondary Lactic Acid Bacteria Fermentation with Wood-Derived Xylooligosaccharides as a Tool To Expedite Sour Beer Production.

Xylooligosaccharides (XOS) from woody biomass were evaluated as a substrate for secondary lactic acid bacteria (LAB) fermentation in sour beer production. XOS were extracted from birch (Betula pubescens) and added to beer to promote the growth of Lactobacillus brevis BSO 464. Growth, pH, XOS degradation, and metabolic products were monitored throughout fermentations, and the final beer was evaluated sensorically. XOS were utilized, metabolic compounds were produced (1800 mg/L lactic acid), and pH was reduced from 4.1 to 3.6. Secondary fermentation changed sensory properties significantly, and the resulting sour beer was assessed as similar to a commercial reference in multiple attributes, including acidic taste. Overall, secondary LAB fermentation induced by wood-derived XOS provided a new approach to successfully produce sour beer with reduced fermentation time (from 1-3 years to 4 weeks). The presented results demonstrate how hemicellulosic biomass can be valorized for beverage production and to obtain sour beer with improved process control.

Co-fermentation Involving Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Lactobacillus Species Tolerant to Brewing-Related Stress Factors for Controlled and Rapid Production of Sour Beer.

Increasing popularity of sour beer urges the development of novel solutions for controlled fermentations both for fast acidification and consistency in product flavor and quality. One possible approach is the use of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in co-fermentation with Lactobacillus species, which produce lactic acid as a major end-product of carbohydrate catabolism. The ability of lactobacilli to ferment beer is determined by their capacity to sustain brewing-related stresses, including hop iso-α acids, low pH and ethanol. Here, we evaluated the tolerance of Lactobacillus brevis BSO464 and Lactobacillus buchneri CD034 to beer conditions and different fermentation strategies as well as their use in the brewing process in mixed fermentation with a brewer's yeast, S. cerevisiae US-05. Results were compared with those obtained with a commercial Lactobacillus plantarum (WildBrewTM Sour Pitch), a strain commonly used for kettle souring. In pure cultures, the three strains showed varying susceptibility to stresses, with L. brevis being the most resistant and L. plantarum displaying the lowest stress tolerance. When in co-fermentation with S. cerevisiae, both L. plantarum and L. brevis were able to generate sour beer in as little as 21 days, and their presence positively influenced the composition of flavor-active compounds. Both sour beers were sensorially different from each other and from a reference beer fermented by S. cerevisiae alone. While the beer produced with L. plantarum had an increased intensity in fruity odor and dried fruit odor, the L. brevis beer had a higher total flavor intensity, acidic taste and astringency. Remarkably, the beer generated with L. brevis was perceived as comparable to a commercial sour beer in multiple sensory attributes. Taken together, this study demonstrates the feasibility of using L. brevis BSO464 and L. plantarum in co-fermentation with S. cerevisiae for controlled sour beer production with shortened production time.