Easy-going, rational, susceptible and struggling eaters: A segmentation study based on eating behaviour tendencies.

Eating behaviour tendencies, emotional eating (EE), uncontrolled eating (UE) and cognitive restraint (CR), are associated with various indicators of physical and mental health. Therefore, it is important to understand these tendencies in order to design interventions to improve health. Previous research has mostly examined eating behaviour tendencies individually, without considering typical combinations of these tendencies or their manifestation in well-being and food choices. This study aimed to understand the interactive occurrence of EE, UE and CR in two independent populations. Finnish (n = 1060) and German (n = 1070) samples were segmented on the basis of their responses to a modified Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-R15). Well-being, coping strategies and food consumption habits of the segments were studied. Segmentation revealed four segments: "Susceptible", "Easy-going", "Rational" and "Struggling". These segments were similar in both countries with regard to well-being, coping strategies and food choices. EE and UE co-occurred, and these tendencies were mainly responsible for differentiating the segments. Members of the "Rational" and "Easy-going" segments, who had low scores for EE and UE, tended to experience vitality and positive emotions in life, and contentment with their eating. By contrast, the "Susceptible" and "Struggling" segments, with more pronounced tendencies towards EE and UE, experienced lower levels of vitality and less frequently positive emotions, applied less adaptive coping strategies and experienced more discontent with eating. The results of the current study suggest that it is possible to identify segments, with differing eating habits, coping strategies and well-being on the basis of the eating behaviour tendencies EE, UE and CR. We discuss possible viewpoints for the design of interventions and food products to help people towards psychologically and physiologically healthier eating styles.

Foods with increased protein content: A qualitative study on European consumer preferences and perceptions.

Foods with increased protein content have rapidly become one of the fastest-growing product categories targeting image- and health-focused consumers. However, it is not clear whether consumers really understand the difference between 'inherently rich in protein' and 'artificially increased protein'. This study used a qualitative focus group approach to investigate the consumer preferences and perceptions of foods with increased protein content among mixed-age and older population in four European countries. In total fifty-two participants were involved in the study. Understanding of the concept of foods with 'increased protein' content was limited. Both older and mixed-age participants could not differentiate between natural sources of protein and foods with increased protein content, no matter whether foods with animal or plant proteins were mentioned. Older participants expressed more scepticism towards foods with increased protein content than mixed-age participants. The combination of protein type and food carrier closer to conventional foods received more acceptance among both older and mixed-age participants. Future use and acceptance of foods with increased protein content will depend on the extent to which consumer concerns about incorporating additional protein into a diet can be responded.

A taste of things to come: Effect of temporal order of information and product experience on evaluation of healthy and sustainable plant-based products.

Current patterns of meat consumption are considered unsustainable. Plant-based products are presented as a solution. However, while some plant-based products thrive, others do not make the cut due to the information "framing" effect issues related to the way information is presented to the consumers. Information on the nutrition and health properties of food products are usually made available at the point of purchase, but their effect on consumer product evaluation and subsequent purchase intent can also occur later, during or after consumption. This research demonstrates that the effect of nutrition information on product evaluation and purchase intention depends on when such information is made available-before first tasting or after first tasting-and that the information interacts with the taste experience in its effect on product evaluation and subsequent purchase intent. Using three plant-based products as an example, we conducted a cross-cultural experimental sensory evaluation with temporal order of information as the main between-subject experimental condition (informed before taste vs. informed after taste vs. control condition), and product experience phase (expectation vs. experience vs. post-experience phase) and information content as within-subject conditions. Information content had two levels: lower vs. higher share of oat protein in the product (i.e., source of protein vs. high in protein). The results indicate that information generally increases consumers' purchase intentions with information before tasting having a higher weight when compared to the condition when information was presented after tasting. Presenting the information before tasting also mitigates a drop in the evaluation of taste after tasting, observed in the two other conditions. Further, taste acts as a healthiness cue, but the direction of the inference depends on the availability of health-related information: tasting in the informed condition increased the healthiness perception, whereas tasting in the uninformed condition had the opposite effect. Giving the information before the first tasting also increased the weight of healthiness as compared to taste in the formation of purchase intentions. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the effect of temporal order of information and product tasting have on the consumers' product evaluations of plant-based products from theoretical and managerial perspectives.

Willingness to use functional breads. Applying the Health Belief Model across four European countries.

The present study focused on the role of the Health Belief Model (HBM) in predicting willingness to use functional breads, across four European countries: UK (N=552), Italy (N=504), Germany (N=525) and Finland (N=513). The behavioural evaluation components of the HBM (the perceived benefits and barriers conceptualized respectively as perceived healthiness and pleasantness) and the health motivation component were good predictors of willingness to use functional breads whereas threat perception components (perceived susceptibility and perceived anticipated severity) failed as predictors. This result was common in all four countries and across products. The role of 'cue to action' was marginal. On the whole the HBM fit was similar across the countries and products in terms of significant predictors (the perceived benefits, barriers and health motivation) with the exception of self-efficacy which was significant only in Finland. Young consumers seemed more interested in the functional bread with a health claim promoting health rather than in reducing risk of disease, whereas the opposite was true for older people. However, functional staple foods, such as bread in this European study, are still perceived as common foods rather than as a means of avoiding diseases. Consumers seek these foods for their healthiness (the perceived benefits) as they expect them to be healthier than regular foods and for the pleasantness (the perceived barriers) as they do not expect any change in the sensory characteristics due to the addition of the functional ingredients. The importance of health motivation in willingness to use products with health claims implies that there is an opening for developing better models for explaining health-promoting food choices that take into account both food and health-related factors without making a reference to disease-related outcome.

Pasteurization of rainbow trout roe: Listeria monocytogenes and sensory analyses.

D- and z-values for a mixture of four Listeria monocytogenes strains originating from the roe of different fish species were determined in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) roe. The D60- and D63-values obtained were 1.60 and 0.44 min, respectively, and the z-value was 5.36 degrees C accordingly. In pilot-scale experiments, rainbow trout roe (100 g) was vacuum packaged into glass jars and pasteurized both at 62 and 65 degrees C for 10 min. These treatments were enough to destroy 10(8) CFU/ g of L. monocytogenes cells, which was the highest possible Listeria cell count to grow in roe. On the basis of the determined z-value and calculation of pasteurization values, these experimental pasteurizations were found to theoretically destroy at least 45 log units of L. monocytogenes cells in rainbow trout roe. In addition, these pasteurization treatments did not significantly affect the sensory quality of the roe. The sensory quality of pasteurized vacuum-packaged rainbow trout roe stored at 3 degrees C was evaluated as good after 6 months of storage and not statistically different from the control that was frozen from the same roe lot as the pasteurized roe samples. Pasteurization of rainbow trout roe was proven to be an appropriate method for ensuring product safety with regard to L. monocytogenes and to stabilizing the sensory and microbial quality of roe. However, the safety risk caused by spore-forming bacteria still exists in pasteurized roe. Therefore, it has to be stored below 3 degrees C.

Prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in, and microbiological and sensory quality of, rainbow trout, whitefish, and vendace roes from Finnish retail markets.

The prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in retail roe, as well as the microbiological and sensory qualities of the roe, were studied for three fish species under three different storage conditions. A total of 147 Finnish rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus), vendace (Coregonus albula), and burbot (Lota lota) roe samples were bought fresh, frozen, or frozen-thawed from Finnish retail markets. The overall prevalence of L. monocytogenes was 5%; however, the prevalence of the pathogen in fresh roe was 18%. Fresh-bought roe tested positive for Listeria spp. and for L. monocytogenes, respectively, 5 and 20 times as often as did frozen and frozen-thawed roe products combined. The microbiological quality (analyzed as total aerobic heterotrophic bacteria and coliform bacteria) of 78% of the roe samples was unacceptable. Frozen roe samples were found to have the best microbiological quality. According to the results of a sensory evaluation, at least one sensory attribute (appearance, odor freshness, texture, and freshness of taste) was unacceptable for 29% of the roe samples studied. The sensory quality of roe samples bought fresh was better than that of roe samples bought frozen or frozen-thawed. From the results of this study, it is concluded that both the microbiological and the sensory qualities of roe at the retail level need to be improved.

Analysis of the adequate size of a cord blood bank and comparison of HLA haplotype distributions between four populations.

The number of units and especially the number of different HLA haplotypes present in a cord blood (CB) bank is a crucial determinant of its usefulness. We generated data relevant to the development of our national CB in Finland. The HLA haplotype distribution was examined between specific populations. We developed graphical ways of data presentation that enable easy visualization of differences. First, we estimated the optimal size of a CB bank for Finland and found that approximately 1700 units are needed to provide a 5/6 HLA-matched donor for 80% of Finnish patients. Secondly, we evaluated HLA haplotype distributions between four locations, Finland, Japan, Sweden and Belgium. Our results showed that the Japanese Tokyo Cord Blood Bank differs in both the frequency and distribution of haplotypes from the European banks. The European banks (Finnish Cord Blood Registry, The Swedish National Cord Blood Bank, and Marrow Donor Program-Belgium) have similar frequencies of common haplotypes, but 26% of the haplotypes in the Finnish CB bank are unique, which justifies the existence of a national bank. The tendency to a homogenous HLA haplotype distribution in banks underlines the need for targeting recruitment at the poorly represented minority populations.

Impressions of functional food consumers.

Functional foods provide a new way of expressing healthiness in food choices. The objective of this study was to apply an indirect measure to explore what kind of impressions people form of users of functional foods. Respondents (n=350) received one of eight versions of a shopping list and rated the buyer of the foods on 66 bipolar attributes on 7-point scales. The shopping lists had either healthy or neutral background items, conventional or functional target items and the buyer was described either as a 40-year-old woman or man. The attribute ratings revealed three factors: disciplined, innovative and gentle. Buyers with healthy background items were perceived as more disciplined than those having neutral items on the list, users of functional foods were rated as more disciplined than users of conventional target items only when the background list consisted of neutral items. Buyers of functional foods were regarded as more innovative and less gentle, but gender affected the ratings on gentle dimension. The impressions of functional food users clearly differ from those formed of users of conventional foods with a healthy image. The shopping list method performed well as an indirect method, but further studies are required to test its feasibility in measuring other food-related impressions.

Choice of organic foods is related to perceived consequences for human health and to environmentally friendly behaviour.

We designed a questionnaire concerned with attitudes and behaviour towards organic foods, environmentally friendly behaviour (EFB), and perceived consequences of organic food choice in terms of human health, the environment and animal welfare. It was mailed in 1998 to a random nation-wide sample of 2000 Swedish citizens, ages 18-65 years, and 1154 (58%) responded. Self-reported purchase of organic foods was most strongly related to perceived benefit for human health. Performance of EFBs such as refraining from car driving was also a good predictor of purchase frequency. The results indicate that egoistic motives are better predictors of the purchase of organic foods than are altruistic motives.