The importance of enjoyment, sensory properties and perceived cooking abilities in legume and pulse consumption: a questionnaire study.

OBJECTIVE: Legume and pulse consumption is currently recommended for health and sustainability purposes, but barriers to consumption can include low enjoyment and poor sensory properties. This work aimed to investigate the relative importance of a number of barriers and facilitators towards legume, including pulse, consumption with a specific focus on enjoyment, sensory properties and a possible role for perceived cooking abilities in these relationships. DESIGN: A cross-sectional questionnaire study assessed legume and pulse consumption, agreement and disagreement with statements relating to enjoyment, sensory properties, cooking abilities, practical aspects, healthiness, upbringing, social influences and quality issues, and four demographic characteristics. Complete responses were gained from 633 respondents with a mix of genders, ages, usual cooking responsibilities and usual eating habits. SETTING: UK, March 2021 - September 2022. PARTICIPANTS: General UK adult population. RESULTS: Using multiple regression analyses, enjoyment and cooking abilities were found to be important for both legume and pulse consumption (smallest beta = 0·165, P < 0·01), and the sensory properties of these foods were also important for the consumption of pulses (beta = 0·099, P = 0·04). Perceived cooking abilities also reduced the importance of enjoyment and sensory properties for consumption, mitigated effects due to upbringing and practical aspects and increased the value of perceived health benefits (smallest beta = 0·094, P = 0·04). CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate a clear role for enjoyment, sensory properties and perceived cooking abilities in legume and pulse consumption and suggest benefits for increasing cooking abilities for improved legume and pulse consumption, as result of both direct and indirect effects.

An Interactive Mobile Phone App (SMART 5-A-DAY) for Increasing Knowledge of and Adherence to Fruit and Vegetable Recommendations: Development and Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Fruit and vegetable consumption is important for health, but many individuals fail to consume adequate amounts for health benefits. Although many individuals are aware of current fruit and vegetable consumption recommendations, research suggests that adherence to these is hampered by low knowledge of the details of these recommendations. OBJECTIVE: This paper reports the development and details of a pilot randomized controlled test of a novel interactive mobile phone app for addressing low knowledge of the UK 5-a-day fruit and vegetable recommendations. METHODS: Requirements for the app were first defined by researchers and potential end users and prioritized using the MoSCoW (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won't have) method. Second, a prototype mobile phone app was developed using an agile approach. Third, the prototype app was tested in a randomized controlled pilot trial for impacts on knowledge and intake of fruit and vegetables. Volunteers were randomized to either receive (n=50) or not receive the app (n=44) for 2 or 4 weeks, and fruit and vegetable knowledge, intake, and behavior were assessed at the beginning of the study and after 1 and 2 weeks or after 2 and 4 weeks, respectively. App usage and qualitative feedback were also investigated. All findings then informed the development of a final app. RESULTS: Low knowledge of consumption recommendations centered around portion sizes and the need for variety, and an interactive mobile phone app was considered a suitable tool for improving this knowledge in a practical manner that would be available both at time of consumption and outside of these times. The pilot test revealed improved behavior after 2 weeks compared with baseline in volunteers who received the app, but improvements in knowledge on fruit and vegetable recommendations were found in both groups, and no improvements in fruit and vegetable intakes were found in formal measures. Patterns of app usage and qualitative feedback also suggested a number of modifications. The resultant final app incorporates several behavior change techniques (goal-setting, self-monitoring, and personalized feedback) as well as aiming to improve knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: A novel interactive mobile phone app was successfully developed based on requirements, and when tested in a pilot randomized controlled trial, this app was found to have some impacts on fruit and vegetable outcomes. Although benefits from the app were small, impacts will likely increase as a result of recent modifications. The final SMART 5-A-DAY app is available in the Google Play Store and now needs testing in the target population. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02779491; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02779491.

A Mobile Phone App for the Provision of Personalized Food-Based Information in an Eating-Out Situation: Development and Initial Evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Increasing pressure from governments, public health bodies, and consumers is driving a need for increased food-based information provision in eating-out situations. Meals eaten outside the home are known to be less healthy than meals eaten at home, and consumers can complain of poor information on the health impact and allergen content of meals eaten out. OBJECTIVE: This paper aimed to describe the development and early assessment of a mobile phone app that allows the provision of accurate personalized food-based information while considering individual characteristics (allergies, diet type, and preferences) to enable informed consumer choice when eating out. METHODS: An app was designed and developed to address these requirements using an agile approach. The developed app was then evaluated at 8 public engagement events using the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire and qualitative feedback. RESULTS: Consideration of the literature and consultation with consumers revealed a need for information provision for consumers in the eating-out situation, including the ability to limit the information provided to that which was personally relevant or interesting. The app was designed to provide information to consumers on the dishes available in a workplace canteen and to allow consumers the freedom to personalize the app and choose the information that they received. Evaluation using the SUS questionnaire revealed positive responses to the app from a range of potential users, and qualitative comments demonstrated broad interest in its use. CONCLUSIONS: This paper details the successful development and early assessment of a novel mobile phone app designed to provide food-based information in an eating-out situation in a personalized manner.

Comparison of three nudge interventions (priming, default option, and perceived variety) to promote vegetable consumption in a self-service buffet setting.

BACKGROUND: Dietary choices in out-of-home eating are key for individual as well as for public health. These dietary choices are caused by a wide array of determinants, one of which is automatic decision-making. Nudging is attracting considerable interest due to its understanding and application of heuristic biases among consumers. The aim of this study is to test and compare three nudges in promoting vegetable consumption among test persons in a food lab-based experiment. METHODS: The initial sample consisted of 88 participants recruited in Copenhagen, Denmark. Each study participant was randomly assigned to one of the three experiments: priming, default and perceived variety. The priming arm of the experiment consisted of creating a leafy environment with green plants and an odour of herbs. In the default arm of the experiment, the salad was pre-portioned into a bowl containing 200g of vegetables. The third experiment divided the pre-mixed salad into each of its components, to increase the visual variety of vegetables, yet not providing an actual increase in items. Each individual was partaking twice thus serving as her/his own control, randomly assigned to start with control or experimental setting. RESULTS: The default experiment successfully increased the energy intake from vegetables among the study participants (124 kcal vs. 90 kcal in control, p<0.01). Both the priming condition and perceived variety reduced the total energy intake among the study participants (169 kcal, p<0.01 and 124 kcal, p<0.01, respectively), mainly through a decrease in the meat-based meal component. CONCLUSIONS: Considerable progress has been made with regard to understanding the use of nudging in promoting a healthier meal composition, including increasing vegetable intake. This study suggests that the nature of a nudge-based intervention can have different effects, whether it is increasing intake of healthy components, or limiting intake of unhealthy meal components. This work has demonstrated that consumer behaviour can be influenced without restricting or providing incentives for behaviour change. The present findings have promising application to the foodservice sector.