Chapitre 1. Manger à l'ère de la transition alimentaire : entre libertés et sujétions.

In light of the increasing number and complexity of food products on offer to meet the challenges of the food transition, this article looks at the consequences for consumers’ freedom of choice. This freedom of choice cannot be based on total autonomy, which generally leads to a loss of dietary reference points and guilt, or on radical heteronomy dictated by science or hygienic-ecological rationalities, which create tensions and divisions in society. Rather, dietary freedom is an effort to free oneself from the burden of a criterion-based vision of food. It calls for the restoration of an ethic of eating together, based on values and rules capable of preserving common goods and the well-being and survival of our fellow human beings.

Bringing nature into private urban housing: Environmental, social and food connections for urban resilience.

Ongoing confinement for millions of urban citizens due to the Covid-19 pandemic has raised ecological consciousness, changed food habits and questioned the relationship urban dwellers have with nature. There is more interest in bringing plants into urban homes and in sustainable food sources, but no research have studied the relationships between food behaviours and plant-care activities. To address this gap and explore urban citizens' nature relatedness through the greening of private areas, we conducted a national survey of French, young urban citizens (n = 1000), who are more committed to 'edible' cities than older generations but have the lowest rate of plant purchasers. A quantitative approach reveals the prevalence of aesthetic/hedonistic expectations for plants in private housing but also demonstrates contrasting perceptions of tasks for plant maintaining and unequal valuation of social issues around plants. We discuss continuities between environmental awareness, commitment to sustainable food and natural/social uses of plants and argue that urban planning processes should address potential synergies for more integrative resilience. Community building around green areas, urban agriculture or collective gardens, in cities, can have ripple effects towards the greening of private housing. Lastly, the multi-disciplinary approach bridging psychosociology and urban studies can inspire multi-scalar urban planning.

Influence of the Presence of Choline Chloride on the Classical Mechanism of "Gelatinization" of Starch.

The aim of this research is to contribute to a better understanding the destructuration of three native starches and a wheat flour in mixtures of water and choline chloride. Model systems have thus been defined to allow a better approach to hydrothermic transformations related to the interactions between choline chloride and starch. We have observed that choline chloride has an impact on the gelatinization of starch which corresponds to the stabilizing salts phenomenon. The depolymerization and dissolution of the starch have also been demonstrated and can there dominate the gelatinization. However, the results obtained in X-ray diffraction by heating cell have shown that the exotherm which appeared was not only related to the depolymerization of the starch, but that a stage of crystalline rearrangement of the starch coexisted with this phenomenon.

Lay and scientific categorizations of new breeding techniques: Implications for food policy and genetically modified organism legislation.

The rapid development of new genetic breeding techniques is accompanied by a polarized debate around their risks. Research on the public perception of these techniques lags behind scientific developments. This study tests a method for revealing laypeople's perceptions and attitudes about different genetic techniques. The objectives are to enable laypeople to understand the key principles of new genetic breeding techniques and to permit a comparison of their modes of classification with those of scientific experts. The combined method of a free sorting task and focus groups showed that the participants distinguished the techniques that did not induce any change in DNA sequence, and applied two different logics to classify the other breeding techniques: a Cartesian logic and a naturalistic logic with a distinct set of values. The lay categorization differed substantially from current scientific categorizations of genetic breeding techniques. These findings have implications for food innovation policy and genetically modified organism legislation.

Vitamin B4 as a salt substitute in bread: A challenging and successful new strategy. Sensory perception and acceptability by French consumers.

Numerous scientific studies have shown that overconsumption of salt can be harmful and promotes the development of cardiovascular diseases. For this reason, many international organizations and government agencies aim to reduce overall salt consumption from food. Recent exploratory work has shown that vitamin B4 can play the role of salt substitute. This study aims on the one hand to develop and optimize a bread recipe reduced in salt and enriched with vitamin B4. On the other, it aims to study the acceptability for consumers of this double innovation, combining the addition and withdrawal of a nutrient. The study was conducted with French consumers. The sensory test showed that vitamin B4 tends to increase the perception of salt in salt-reduced bread. The acceptance of reduced-salt and vitamin B4-enriched bread was investigated in three focus-groups, mixing blind tests, information input and spontaneous evocations. Three potential targets have been identified: health-oriented young people, young parents who want to educate children to engage in a healthy lifestyle, and people broadly sensitive to nutritional information. Consumers with a pleasure and taste-oriented profile were more skeptical of the new bread formula because of greater attachment to traditional, salty French bread.

French consumers' perceptions of nutrition and health claims: A psychosocial-anthropological approach.

UNLABELLED: French consumers' perceptions of nutrition and health claims (NHC) are studied using both qualitative (n = 89) and quantitative (n = 1000) methods. We analyse the participants' unprompted associations between nutrients and foods and construct a "lay food composition table". We find evidence for a degree of familiarity, in most cases in name only, with macronutrients and a small number of micronutrients. We then turn to assessing how compatible nutritional claims are with the « lay food composition table ¼ and with pre-existing, culture-based representations of the fate of foods in the body. We thus identify some principles predicting for positive or negative response in relation to types of claims. We also assess the credibility of types of claims according to the function cited and the carrier food. Finally, we test perception of hypothetical fortifications according to origin of nutrient and type of carrier food (e.g. omega 3 from fish oil in ham). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: we find (1) that the very principle of fortification disrupts culture-based representations French consumers have of the link between food and health, which they consider to essentially reside in a "varied and balanced diet". And that (2), in spite of a general disposition against NHC, some types of claims are deemed more acceptable and credible than others. The questions raised by these findings are whether and to what extent nutrition can, does and should replace food cultures.

Perception of oyster-based products by French consumers. The effect of processing and role of social representations.

The search for new markets in the seafood sector, associated with the question of the continuity of raw oyster consumption over generations can be an opportunity for processors to extend their ranges with oyster-based products. The twofold aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of processing and social representation on perception of oyster-based products by French consumers and to identify the best means of development in order to avoid possible failure in the market. Five products with different degrees of processing (cooked oysters in a half-shell, hot preparation for toast, potted oyster, oyster butter and oyster-based soup) were presented within focus groups and consumer tests, at home and in canteens with the staff of several companies in order to reach consumers with different ages and professional activities. The results showed that social representation had a strong impact and that behaviours were contrasted according to the initial profile of the consumer (traditional raw oyster consumers or non-consumers) and their age distribution (younger and older people). The degree of processing has to be adapted to each segment. It is suggested to develop early exposure to influence the food choices and preferences of the youngest consumers on a long-term basis.