Exploring Eating Habits, Healthy Food Awareness, and Inclination toward Functional Foods of Italian Elderly People through Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATIs).

The continuous increase in life expectancy leads to progressive population ageing, especially in most developed countries. A healthy diet and better consumption of tailored functional foods may represent one of the strategies to postpone or slow down age-related decrements, thus increasing healthy ageing and reducing healthcare costs. This research aimed to explore elderly people's (>65 years old) eating habits and assess their awareness of food-health correlation. In total, 511 Italian seniors answered a CATI (computer-assisted telephone interviewing) questionnaire through a deep, telephone interview to collect information about dietary habits, healthy food awareness, and inclination for functional foods. The elderly were divided into four groups according to gender and age: Early Elderly Female (n = 130), Early Elderly Men (n = 109), Late Elderly Female (n = 157), and Late Elderly Men (n = 115). The groups provided a positive self-assessment of health status and individual diet healthiness, which were both considered over "good enough" (5 on 10-point scale) and showed food consumption habits in line with the Mediterranean Diet (MD) principles. The daily diet was based on fruits, vegetables, bread, and pasta, with extra virgin olive oil as the main fat source, all over "often" consumed (4 on 5-point scale). Old people also showed awareness of different food's healthy properties. Specifically, females were more aware of food's impact on health, considered close to "extremely healthy" (9 on 10-point scale), and strictly followed a MD. Participants also expressed optimistic expectations about functional food efficiency, evaluated as close to "extremely desirable" (8 or 9 on 10-point scale), against age-related problems, highlighting the most important as diabetes, overweight, intestine problems, and low mood. The interviewed elderly were also involved in virtual functional food co-creation, indicating through a basic matrix which, among the most familiar foods, could be the ideal functional food, focusing on fruitsand vegetables. A pleasant odor/flavor, a liquid texture, and a warm serving temperature rather than cold characterized the virtual functional food created. Other positive attributes were liquid and thickness, while acidity and bitterness were among the least desired traits. These findings show how elderly people, despite predictable age-related sensory and cognitive loss, when properly involved and guided, can help envision foods that fit their needs and desires.

Influence of the Physical State of Two Monofloral Honeys on Sensory Properties and Consumer Satisfaction.

Honey is a worldwide known and appreciated food product. Its appreciation by consumers is due to both its nutritional properties and the extremely reduced processing. The floral origin, color, aroma and taste are key factors in determining the quality of honey. Nevertheless, rheological properties, as crystallization rate, play a fundamental role in the perceived overall quality. Indeed, crystallized honey is often considered of poor quality by consumers, but a fine-grained or creamy texture is becoming interesting from the producers' side. The purpose of this study was to investigate textural and aromatic properties and consumers' perception and acceptance of two monofloral honeys that were differently crystallized. Liquid and creamy samples were obtained from crystallized samples. Physico-chemical, descriptive and dynamic sensory analysis, as well as consumer and CATA tests, were conducted on the three honey textures. The physico-chemical analysis well-discriminated the crystallization levels and evidenced that, although the honey variety was different, the textural properties of the creamy samples are very similar. Crystallization was shown to affect the honey sensory perceptions: liquid samples were sweeter, but less aromatic. Consumer tests allowed the validation of panel data and confirmed consumers' higher appreciation for liquid and creamy honey.

Food Involvement, Food Choices, and Bioactive Compounds Consumption Correlation during COVID-19 Pandemic: How Food Engagement Influences Consumers' Food Habits.

The containment measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic affected food-related activities, influencing dietary behavior, food habits, and dietary choices. This study aimed to compare the relationship between food involvement and dietary choices before and during the pandemic, investigating the role played by food in dietary habits. Responses given by 2773 Italian consumers to an online survey were studied through the Food Involvement Scale (FIS) and correlated to eating habits. FIS scores were then used to explain the importance given to food in circumstances related to well-being, health, and protection against COVID-19 and used to study the relationship between FIS and bioactive compound knowledge, use, and efficacy against COVID-19. The consumers more involved in food issues recognized the importance of food in circumstances related to well-being, health, and protection against COVID-19 and improved their diet during the pandemic. Moreover, consumers who gave more importance to food also revealed higher attention to the use of healthy substances, such as bioactive compounds, considering them effective against COVID-19. These results showed that food experiencing and involvement could be important elements to promote healthy dietary habits that are essential to maintain physical and mental health during emergency periods such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sensory Characteristics and Nutritional Quality of Food Products Made with a Biofortified and Lectin Free Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Flour.

Common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) are an important source of nutrients with beneficial effects on human health. However, they contain lectins, that limit the direct use of flour in food preparations without thermal treatment, and phytic acid, that reduces mineral cation bioavailability. The objectives of this research were: to obtain biofortified snacks and a cream using an untreated common bean flour devoid of active lectins (lec-) and with reduced content of phytic acid (lpa) and to evaluate the sensorial appreciation for these products. The main results of the present work were: the products with the lpa lec- flour did not retain residual hemagglutinating activity due to lectins; they showed higher residual α-amylase inhibitor activity (from 2.2 to 135 times), reduced in vitro predicted glycemic index (about 5 units reduction) and increased iron bioavailability compared to the products with wild type flour; products with common bean flour were less appreciated than the reference ones without this flour, but the presence of an intense umami taste can be a positive attribute. Results confirmed that the use of the lpa lec- flour has important advantages in the preparation of safe and nutritionally improved products, and provide useful information to identify target consumers, such as children and elderly people.

Italian Consumers' Readiness to Adopt Eggs from Insect-Fed Hens.

Demand for eggs from laying hens is increasing as the world population continues to grow. The use of insects as animal feed is a strategic opportunity to find a new innovative, economic and sustainable source of protein. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Italian consumer inclination for eggs produced with the use of insect-fed hens. The investigation on consumers' readiness to adopt eggs from insect-fed hens was carried out through an online survey conducted on 510 participants. Survey results outlined four different clusters on the basis of the willingness to buy/eat eggs fed with insects: "ready" (40.1%), "environmentalist" (24.3%), "cautious" (21.7%), and "reluctant" (13.9%). "Ready", "environmentalist", and "cautious" were quite favorable to the use of insects as feed stuffs and share drivers for product choice: cheap, organic, and with an explicit indication of use of insects. On the other hand, for the "reluctant", the diet based on insects was the main negative factor influencing product acceptance. This cluster also showed the highest level of neophobia. Italian consumers showed a considerable level of readiness to accept insects as feed material for egg production, which should be reinforced with further information on the origin and the environmental benefit of using insects.