The meaning of the word elegance as a wine descriptor: Effect of expertise and wine type.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the concept of elegance in wine as a function of (i) domain-specific expertise, and (ii) wine type, more specifically as applied to still wine and to sparkling wine. One hundred and fifty participants, classified into five categories depending on their wine-relevant expertise, completed an online questionnaire aimed at inducing verbal responses concerning their cerebral representations of elegance as applied to still wines and sparkling wines. The five participant categories comprised four expert groups, namely wine producer [30], wine writer/critics [30], sommeliers [30], wine merchant/seller [30], and a novice group of wine consumers [30]. Results showed that both professional and novice participants found the concept of 'elegance' applicable to both still wine and sparkling wine, evoking words and terms with reasonable consistency overall. Differences were found, both between participant groups and between wine types. After categorisation, significant differences between participant categories were found for two of the ten categories of words elicited for both inducing expressions. Extrinsic quality and intrinsic quality were significantly different across occupational categories for 'elegant in relation to wine'. Extrinsic quality was noticeably higher for consumers than the other participants while intrinsic quality appears more important to conceptualisations of wine elegance for wine writers/critics than it is for the other groups of participants. Concerning 'elegance in sparkling wine', extrinsic quality also showed significant differences across participant categories, being highly evoked by producers and merchants/sellers. The category context/analogy was significantly higher in consumers' associations and interestingly, lower in writer/critics' associations. These results support the notion that application of the term elegance as a wine descriptor is seen as appropriate by both wine professionals and wine consumers, suggesting that the term elegant when applied to either still or sparkling wine evokes a concept that is not idiosyncratic but that has a central structure shared by many wine professionals and consumers, the core of this structure including terms smooth, balanced, refined and complex.

"Food made with edible insects": Exploring the social representation of entomophagy where it is unfamiliar.

Insects have attracted much attention as a novel food source because of their environmental and nutritional advantages. In Latin America, some traditional groups consume insects; but the urban areas of Brazil resist adopting insects as food, like most Western countries. Thus, this study investigated the social representation of edible insects to understand the barrier behind this avoidance and to identify their segmentation in the Brazilian population. Seven hundred and eighty individuals were interviewed in all the Brazilian regions. The interview was composed of a word association task, a risk perception evaluation and two open-ended questions about the subject. According to the structural approach of social representation, Disgust was the primary association with edible insects. Three segments of consumers were identified using the risk perception of eating insects. The first segment, composed mainly of young men with higher educational levels, had the lowest risk perception, and the most positive attitude about entomophagy, their associations were also positive, such as Acceptance and Sustainability; the second had average risk perception and neutral attitude towards edible insects, with neutral and positive associations (e.g., Flavor and Culture); and the third, formed mostly by older women with lower educational level, presented the highest risk perception and the most negative attitude, and exhibited negative associations (Disgust, and Fear). The insect consumption in Brazil would be favored by using species of crickets, grasshoppers, ants, and their fried and roasted styles of preparations. Also, participants would eat insects mainly because of survival and curiosity.

How has COVID-19, lockdown and social distancing changed alcohol drinking patterns? A cross-cultural perspective between britons and spaniards.

During the early months of 2020, the world experienced a novel, violent, and relentless pandemic era. By the end of the year more than seventy-seven million cases of COVID-19 had been reported around the globe. Due to it being a highly contagious disease, the recommended measures adopted by most nations to prevent infection include social distancing and quarantine. How did these measures affect people's relationship with alcohol consumption in cultures where alcohol plays an important social role? A questionnaire-based study, designed to follow the drinking behaviour of people before and during lockdown was applied to two different cultural groups impacted by the pandemic during the strict phase of lockdown. These are the British and Spanish populations (179 participants from each country were interviewed). Considering the frequency of consumption of the alcoholic beverages evaluated (wine, beer, cider, whisky and spirits), the results showed that a significant lockdown*country interaction was observed. Overall, Spanish participants consumed alcoholic beverages less frequently during lockdown than before, while British participants reported no change in their consumption habits. Spaniards' decrease in alcohol consumption is related to the absence of a social contexts while Britons seems to have adapted their consumption to the modified context. Results suggest that, alcohol consumption is a central core of the British culture, while for the Spanish, socialization is more a cultural characteristic than the alcohol itself.

To fear the unknown: Covid-19 confinement, fear, and food choice.

The coronavirus outbreak in December 2019 completely changed the dynamic of consumption in different sectors of industry. The food and beverage industries have been profoundly affected, from production, to modifications in consumers' choices. Among the different reasons behind those modifications is confinement, which forces consumers to stay at home for an extended period and just go out to perform essential tasks, such as going to the supermarket. We hypothesized that this new dynamic of consumption could create a situation of fear that changes food choice. To test this hypothesis, two studies were conducted in three countries with a different degree of confinement: Mexico (flexible), Spain (strict), and Peru (hard). Study one consisted of a free association task with 60 participants in each country with the inductor word "coronavirus and food". The different associations served as the basis to build a structured questionnaire, which was used in the second study focused on fear and food choice. The second study was applied to 450 participants in the same three countries. Results showed that fear can be separated into nine dimensions: social, emotional, food supply, government, basic needs, food-delivery, overeating, immunity, and family conflicts. The participants could also be clustered into four different groups that differ in their country of origin and sex, but also in their food choice. Overall, the results showed that fear influenced consumer's food choices during a confinement period.

Original burger (traditional) or burger with mushroom addition? A social representation approach to novel foods.

Currently, consumers' interest in healthy products has attracted the attention of academia and the meat industry, which has focused mainly on incorporating ingredients with healthier properties. In this context, the aim of this study was to investigate the social representation of original burgers and burgers with mushroom addition considering different sexes and body mass indexes (BMIs) of individuals. Thus, 209 Brazilians answered a word association task followed by a word classification based on their importance and valence for original burgers and burgers with the addition of mushrooms. To obtain the structure of social representation, the words were positioned into four distinct zones based on their frequency of elicitation and importance. Also, the polarity index was used to give a connotation to the words. Three groups of consumers were identified. The first group (consumers with class-1 obesity of both sexes) associated the original burger with positive categories (cheese, juicy, seasoned, food, tasty, joy, salad and delicious). The second one (female consumers with pre-obesity and class-1 obesity) associated the burger with the addition of mushrooms with the elements price, different, vegetarian, flavor, gourmet and healthy. Finally, the third group (men and women for both stimuli and with a wide range of BMI) characterized burgers with sensory attributes, feelings and moments of consumption. In conclusion, the social representation of the original burger and the burger with the addition of mushrooms differed among consumers, suggesting that the main associations can be the main motivations for the consumption of a certain product.

How the country-of-origin impacts wine traders' mental representation about wines: A study in a world wine trade fair.

Using data collected at a world wine trade fair, we study how the country-of-origin impacts wine traders' mental representation about wines. In the analysis we use traditional exporters in Old (France) and New (Argentina) world wine countries in comparison to non-traditional exporters in Old (Switzerland) and New (Brazil) world wine countries. Three main findings are reported. First, the country-of-origin of wines was more important on guiding participants' representations, than the category of countries the traders came from. Second, participants' evocations were more precise and specific for traditional wine-exporting countries than for less traditional wine exporting countries. Finally, the lack of traders' knowledge of wines from non-traditional wine-exporting countries produced associations and beliefs related to the image of the country itself. Our findings have important implications for the marketing and export activities of the wine industry.

Consumption, knowledge, and food safety practices of Brazilian seafood consumers.

The present work aimed to evaluate the frequency of seafood consumption by the Brazilian population, the safety practices during seafood handling and preservation as well as to evaluate the consumers' perception on the risks associated with these foods. A total of 962 respondents responded to a survey divided into three parts: demographic and socio-economic profiles, seafood consumption habits, safety practices, and risk perceptions regarding seafood. The survey revealed a low level of perception about seafood safety. The respondents (64-71%) demonstrated a lack of knowledge of the main pathogens associated with seafood disease outbreaks and presented difficulties in identifying consumption places that could result in higher microbiological risk. Besides, these respondents showed to be unaware of their responsibility towards seafood safety from purchasing through preparation. Respondents belonging to the generation of baby boomers, with the postgraduate level and females presented a better perception of microbiological risk and on the importance of safety practices. These respondents showed positive attitudes, such as knowledge of the proper thawing procedures of seafood, knowledge of the potential risks to get sick from the consumption of raw seafood, and were also able to recognize Vibrio and Listeria as seafood bacterial pathogens. The knowledge proves to be an adequate tool for perception and judgment of microbiological risk, making the consumer adopt safe practices. The instruction of seafood consumers about safe handling practices and perceptions is critical for the success of farm to fork preventive measures aiming to protect public health.

Contribution of cross-cultural studies to understanding wine appreciation: A review.

People from different cultures or geographical regions vary significantly in terms of their food and beverage consumption patterns, preferences, and purchase choices. Recent decades have seen cross-cultural research in food science flourish with research programmes in fields as diverse as perception science, conceptual behaviour, health sciences, and marketing. In this review, we describe cross-cultural research that has contributed to our understanding of wine appreciation. We begin by providing a brief historical perspective, and then outline the types of studies and methodologies employed in cross-cultural wine sensory research. We then review systematically cross-cultural studies concerning intrinsic wine factors, extrinsic wine factors, cerebral representation studies and those investigating attitudes and opinions about wine, and cross-cultural research addressing emotional response to wine. Finally, we bring together the major results reported from the varying methodologies to discuss how a cross-cultural approach can help advance our understanding of wine appreciation. We also raise contemporary issues relevant to traditional ways of defining and investigating culture in light of increasing globalisation. This review is relevant for wine industry marketing strategists as well as for those interested in the science of wine tasting.

Whose fault is it? Fraud scandal in the milk industry and its impact on product image and consumption - The case of Brazil.

Food safety is a crucial thematic to any nation and the frauds in the food chain are an increasingly phenomena nowadays. The general goal of the present work was to identify the perception and behavior of Brazilian fresh milk consumers' in relation to the fraud in the milk production and sell chain. A total of 1015 consumers answered an online questionnaire on the variables that shape decision-making (individual differences, environmental influences and psychological stimuli or processes) and the behavior related to this decision process. The results were discussed based on the theoretical model proposed by Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel (2005) and their 7 stages. The results of this qualitative study showed that the impacts were declared, specially, in the reduction of milk consumption; losses to the image of the sector and the warming of the informal milk market, due to the increase in demand in this trade. The reduction of demand and the depreciation of the agents' image, have a negative impact on the entire chain, since it reduces revenues for all agents and, to a greater degree, for processors and related suppliers/farmers directly with the brands identified in the investigation actions and disclosed in the media. The female consumers were more affected, impacting on a greater reduction of the consumption. Unlike young consumers, they have not changed their behavior in relation to the chain.

Sensory and chemical drivers of wine minerality aroma: An application to Chablis wines.

The goal of this work was to evaluate the effect of vineyard position on the minerality of wines and to establish relationships between minerality scores, sensory descriptors and chemical composition. Sensory analyses included minerality rating and free description performed by wine professionals under two conditions: orthonasal olfaction alone and global tasting. Chemical characterization included analysis of major and minor volatile compounds, volatile sulphur compounds, mercaptans, metals, anions and cations. Results showed a significant effect of the river bank on wine minerality scores only in the orthonasal olfaction condition, samples from the left being more mineral than those from the right bank. Methanethiol, involved in shellfish aroma, was significantly higher in wines from the left (more mineral) than from the right bank. Contrary, copper levels, related to lower levels of free MeSH, and norisoprenoids, responsible for white fruit and floral aromas, were higher in wines from the right bank (less mineral).

Study of the effect of H2S, MeSH and DMS on the sensory profile of wine model solutions by Rate-All-That-Apply (RATA).

The effect of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), methanethiol (MeSH) and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) on the odor properties of three wine models-WM- (young white, young red and oaked red wines) was studied. Wine models were built by mixing a pool of common wine volatile and non-volatile compounds and further spiked with eight different combinations of the three sulfur compounds present at two levels (level 0: 0µgL-1 and level 1: 40µgL-1 of H2S, 12µgL-1 of MeSH; 55µgL-1 of DMS). For each wine matrix eight WMs were produced and further submitted to sensory description by Rate-All-That-Apply (RATA) method. Hydrogen sulfide and methanethiol were clearly involved in the formation of reductive aromas and shared the ability to act as strong suppressors of fruity and floral attributes. Specifically, hydrogen sulfide generated aromas of rotten eggs, while methanethiol generated significant increases in camembert and decreases in citrus, smoky/roasted and oxidation aromas. The simultaneous presence of hydrogen sulfide and methanethiol enhanced the intensity of the unspecific term reduction, while the specific nuances individually imparted by each of the two compounds could not be further identified. DMS did not exert any outstanding effect on the reductive character of wines and its sensory effect was matrix-dependent. It was involved in the formation of fruity notes such as cooked/candied and red/black fruits in young wines, and vegetal notes (canned vegetables) in oaked red WMs.