Exploring the influence of context on social norms around Australian parents' food provision using story completion.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the differences in social norms around parents' food provision in different provision contexts and by demographics. DESIGN: Qualitative study using story completion methodology via an online survey in September 2021. Adults 18+ with or without children were randomised to one of three story stems focusing on food provision in different contexts; food provision at home (non-visitor), with visitors present and with the involvement of sport. Stories were coded and themed using thematic analysis. A content analysis was performed to determine count and frequency of codes in stories by participant demographics and story assumptions. SETTING: Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Adults (n 196). RESULTS: Nine themes were identified from the data resulting in four social norms around providing healthy foods and justifying non-adherence to healthy eating guidelines, evolution of family life and mealtime values, the presence of others influencing how we engage with food provision and unhealthy foods used as incentives/rewards in sport. Following content analysis, no differences of themes or norms by participant demographics or story assumptions were found. CONCLUSIONS: We identified pervasive social norms around family food provision and further identified how contextual factors resulted in variations or distinct norms. This highlights the impact context may have on the social norms parents face when providing food to their children and the opportunities and risks of leveraging these social norms to influence food choice in these contexts. Public health interventions and practitioners should understand the influence of context and social environments when promoting behaviour change and providing individualised advice. Future research could explore parents' experiences of these norms and to what extent they impact food choice.

Does presbygeusia really exist? An updated narrative review.

This review critically assessed the existence of presbygeusia, i.e., the impairment in taste perception occurring in the elderly, as a natural part of the aging process and its potential clinical implications. Several factors might contribute to age-related taste alterations (TAs), including structural changes in taste buds, alterations in saliva composition, central nervous system changes, and oral microbiota dysbiosis. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to disentangle the effects of age from those of the several age-related diseases or conditions promoting TAs. Most of the included studies reported TAs in healthy elderly people, suggesting that presbygeusia is a relatively frequent condition associated with age-related changes in the absence of pathological conditions. However, the impact of TAs on dietary preferences and food choices among the elderly seems to be less relevant when compared to other factors, such as cultural, psychological, and social influences. In conclusion, presbygeusia exists even in the absence of comorbidities or drug side effects, but its impact on dietary choices in the elderly is likely modest.

A randomized controlled trial to test the effects of displaying the Nutri-Score in food advertising on consumer perceptions and intentions to purchase and consume.

BACKGROUND: Some research shows that advertising for high-fat, sugar, or salt (HFSS) products is contributing to a shift in consumer preferences toward products of poor nutritional quality, leading to unhealthy nutritional intakes that increase the risk of obesity and chronic diseases. A strategy of displaying simple and understandable nutritional information (like the front-of-pack nutrition label Nutri-Score) in food messages could be an aid to help guide consumers' choice towards healthier products. METHODS: A randomized controlled experiment was conducted on 27,085 participants randomly assigned to two experimental conditions or a control condition. In both experimental conditions (independent variable: advertising messages with vs. without the Nutri-Score), participants were exposed to advertisements for diversified food products with contrasting nutritional quality and belonging to nine different food categories. Participants were then asked questions about their perception, affective evaluation, and intentions to purchase and consume the products. In the control condition, they were not exposed to the advertisements. RESULTS: Overall, interaction effects between the two variables (1) the messages with vs. without the Nutri-Score and (2) the nutritional quality of products, were significant for all dependent variables, with effect sizes between large and medium. Overall, the better the products' nutritional quality, the more positive their perceptions, affective evaluations, and intentions to buy and consume them. When the Nutri-score was displayed in advertising messages (vs. when it was not), perceptions, affective evaluation, and behavioral intentions: (1) became more positive for products of good nutritional quality (Nutri-score A and B), (2) became more negative for products of poor nutritional quality (Nutri-score D and E), (3) changed little or not at all for products of intermediate nutritional quality (Nutri-Score C). CONCLUSIONS: This research is the first in the literature to demonstrate that displaying the Nutri-Score in advertising messages assists consumers in directing their choices towards healthier foods. Regulations mandating the display of the Nutri-Score in food advertising could be an effective public health measure.

Biodiversity or ultra-processed food: an analysis of school meals offered in a riverside school in the Brazilian Amazon.

BACKGROUND: Rural schools in Amazonas, Brazil, often offer ultra-processed foods in school meals for students, which can lead to health problems and loss of regional food culture. We show an analysis of the menu offered in a riverside school in the Brazilian Amazon and the acceptability of students regarding the consumption of the food they are served with. METHODS: Data were collected in situ, in a riverside school in southern Amazonas, through the analysis of the school menu and the application of an investigative questionnaire to 37 students in the 9th grade of Junior High School. FINDINGS: The research revealed that the foods most consumed by students in school meals are canned beef, canned meatballs, canned sardines, sausage, biscuits, juice, rice porridge, corn porridge, pasta, meat soup, and rice with beans. In the questionnaire that was applied to students, there is a wide variation in the acceptability of the foods offered. However, 57% of students reported not liking the lunch offered at the educational institution. INTERPRETATION: To tackle this problem, it is essential that, local food culture and biodiversity food can be more valued, elements that are often excluded from school menus. This work showed that is also essential to fully adhere to the National School Meal Program (PNAE) in Brazil, which recommends that at least 30% of food intended for school meals must come from family farming, highlighting that quality food is crucial for cognitive development of students. Therefore, the meals offered in the chosen riverside school not only do not meet the PNAE guidelines but are also not well accepted by students. This study shows a significant need to consider the direct relationship between planetary health, school meals food security, and food sovereignty, given the various negative effects of foods that are rich in fat, sodium, preservatives, and other substances. Furthermore, it is imperative to integrate food into the students' context, valuing regional products from the Amazon region. FUNDING: FAPEAM (Amazonas State Research Foundation).

Nutri-Score of Meat, Fish, and Dairy Alternatives: A Comparison between the Old and New Algorithm.

Nutri-Score is a front-of-pack label that visualizes the nutritional quality of food products from most healthy (A, dark green) to least healthy (E, red). However, concerns have been raised about discrepancies between Nutri-Score labels and dietary recommendations. Therefore, the Nutri-Score algorithm has recently been adapted. To investigate the effect of the new algorithm, the Nutri-Score of plant-based meat, fish, and dairy alternatives (n = 916) was calculated with the old and new algorithms. In addition, the nutritional values of meat and milk alternatives with Nutri-Score labels A and B were compared under the old and new conditions and subsequently assessed for alignment with the criteria of Dutch dietary guidelines. The new algorithm resulted in a reduction in the number of products with labels A and B, ranging from 5% (cold cuts alternatives) to 55% (milk alternatives). The nutritional composition of products with labels A and B improved for meat alternatives (lower energy and saturated fatty acid contents; higher protein content) and milk alternatives (lower energy, salt, and sugar contents; higher protein and fiber contents). Overall, the new Nutri-Score algorithm is more in line with the Dutch dietary guidelines for plant-based meat and dairy alternatives, though challenges remain with respect to micronutrient (iron, calcium, vitamin B12), salt, and protein contents.

Impact of Dietary Coparenting and Parenting Strategies on Picky Eating Behaviors in Young Children.

Many studies have demonstrated that coparenting and parenting behaviors have a substantial effect on the behaviors of young children. Research has indicated that young children may exhibit picky eating behaviors, which pose challenges for parents in terms of coparenting and parenting. This study examined how dietary coparenting and parenting strategies directly affect young children's picky eating behaviors and explored the mediating role of parenting strategies in the relations between parental dietary coparenting and young children's picky eating behaviors. More specifically, this study focused on parents of three- to six-year-old children in northern Taiwan. A total of 408 valid completed questionnaires were collected, and the research tools included scales measuring dietary coparenting, parenting strategies, and young children's picky eating behaviors. The results revealed that supportive and undermining dietary coparenting and parenting strategies had a significant direct effect on young children's picky eating behaviors. Furthermore, supportive and undermining dietary coparenting partially mediated young children's picky eating behaviors through parenting strategies. Specifically, among parenting strategies, both "encouraging and facilitating the trying of new foods" and "guiding and modeling" proper eating behaviors had significant indirect effects on reducing young children's picky eating behaviors.

Food Choice and Dietary Perspectives of Young, Urban, Black Pregnant Women: A Focus Group Study.

Black pregnant women in Chicago are disproportionately affected by maternal morbidity and mortality and are more likely to reside in neighborhoods that experience greater economic hardships and food apartheid than any other race/ethnicity. Addressing social determinants of health such as structural inequities, economic environment, and food apartheid issues may provide insights into eliminating Black maternal morbidity and mortality disparities. This study explores food choice determinants and dietary perspectives of young, urban, Black pregnant women. Two audio-recorded focus groups were conducted in Chicago, IL between March 2019 and June 2019 to discuss pregnancy experiences and factors affecting maternal nutrition. Thematic analysis was used to identify the codes, themes, and subthemes of the data. Data analysis was guided by the Social Ecological Model (SEM) as a theoretical framework. Eleven, young, Black women were recruited. Three major themes were discussed across the SEM levels that influenced food choice including food access, stress and family influences on eating, and the need for nutritional education during pregnancy. These choices were primarily rooted in the detrimental effects of food apartheid experienced within the participants' neighborhoods. Therefore, acknowledging, understanding, and addressing food apartheid and its impact on Black maternal health disparities is needed in clinical practice, research, and policy change.

The use of private regulatory measures to create healthy food retail environments: a scoping review.

OBJECTIVE: Different forms of public and private regulation have been used to improve the healthiness of food retail environments. The aim of this scoping review was to systematically examine the types of private regulatory measures used to create healthy food retail environments, the reporting of the processes of implementation, monitoring, review and enforcement and the barriers to and enablers of these. DESIGN: Scoping review using the Johanna Briggs Institute guidelines. Ovid MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, CINAHL Plus, Business Source Complete and Scopus databases were searched in October 2020 and again in September 2023 using terms for 'food retail', 'regulation' and 'nutrition'. Regulatory measure type was described by domain and mechanism. Deductive thematic analysis was used to identify reported barriers and enablers to effective regulatory governance processes using a public health law framework. SETTING: Food retail. PARTICIPANTS: Food retail settings using private regulatory measures to create healthier food retail environments. RESULTS: In total, 17 694 articles were screened and thirty-five included for review from six countries, with all articles published since 2011. Articles reporting on twenty-six unique private regulatory measures cited a mix of voluntary (n 16), mandatory (n 6) measures, both (n 2) or did not disclose (n 2). Articles frequently reported on implementation (34/35), with less reporting on the other regulatory governance processes of monitoring (15/35), review (6/35) and enforcement (2/35). CONCLUSIONS: We recommend more attention be paid to reporting on the monitoring, review and enforcement processes used in private regulation to promote further progress in improving the healthiness of food retail environments.

Cookie cravings - Examining the impact of sugar content information on Christmas treat preferences via mobile eye-tracking.

BACKGROUND: Diets high in added sugar can promote the development of overweight. Especially during the Holiday season, when high-sugar food is abundant, people overeat and gain more weight than during other times of the year. The present study with mobile eye-tracking glasses (Pupil Labs Invisible) investigated how sugar content information affects food preference (liking/wanting) and visual attention (where and how long one is looking) in a buffet-like situation. METHODS: Fifty-eight participants who were well acquainted with the local Christmas traditions and foods (38 female, 19 male, one diverse; mean age = 25 years, SD = 6.3 years; mean body mass index = 22.2 kg/m2, SD = 3.2 kg/m2) were presented with four cookies and two non-food items (wrapped presents) in a free viewing task. Two of the displayed cookies were 'Christmas cookies' (cookies that are traditionally eaten only during the Holiday season) and two cookies had no Christmas association. The cookies were either labeled as cookies made with or without sugar, resulting in a 3 (Category: cookies with sugar, cookies without sugar, non-food) by 2 (Christmas association: yes, no) repeated-measures design. RESULTS: Analyses of variance indicated that participants reported higher wanting and liking for cookies with sugar, particularly Christmas cookies (interaction effect for wanting: p = .047, ηp2 = .059; interaction effect for liking: p = .017, ηp2 = .084). Sugar-free cookies were fixated more often (p = .028; d = 0.35) and shorter (p < .001; d = 0.64) than sugar cookies. CONCLUSION: Assuming that cookies are sugar-free reduced the reported preference for this product, which was associated with a more detail-oriented (critical) viewing pattern. The study's findings have potential implications for public health and can aid in developing targeted interventions to promote healthier food choices during festive periods. The new strategies should not focus on the sugar content of foods.

Clean-label products: Factors affecting liking and acceptability by Portuguese older adults.

Consumers are preferring more "natural" foods, made of "healthier" and "familiar" components - the "clean-label" trend. As the population ages, understanding the older adult consumer segment becomes increasingly important. This study aims to identify the factors influencing the acceptability and liking of clean-label products in older adults living in the community. A convenience sample of 100 older adults was used for this cross-sectional study. Socio-demographic data, health status, independence level, lifestyle characteristics, nutritional status, and food and nutrient intake data were collected. The acceptability and liking for clean-label products comprised two parts: Sensory analysis with overall liking evaluation of three pairs of products, using a 9-point hedonic scale and free comments; Willingness to eat and preference assessment of nine pairs of products using the Food Action scale and a simple preference test. The participants were 80% female with a mean age of 75 years old. The overall liking for clean-label versions of cookies and mayonnaise was lower than for traditional versions. However, participants were more willing to eat the clean-label versions of products, particularly ham and yogurt. Most of the participants would prefer buying the clean-label version of all nine pairs of products, especially for ham, loaf bread, sausages, and yogurt. In sum, older adults living in the community exhibit a lower liking but, a greater willingness to eat and a higher preference for buying clean-label products. Older adults who favor clean-label products have higher levels of education and are reported to have a more adequate diet.

Promoting healthful food purchases through in-store interventions: Empirical evidence from rural food deserts.

Effective ways to promote healthful food intake in rural areas are understudied. The paper evaluated whether a two-component, in-store intervention designed to encourage healthy food purchases was associated with improved healthfulness scores of food items purchased by shoppers in rural food deserts. One component introduced a point-of-sales label that assigned a single numerical score to each food item facilitating direct comparisons of the product's nutrition with those of other products shelved around it. The other component was a one-day nutrition education workshop promoted within the store. Interventions took place in 2015 at two stores in rural counties in the U.S. Midwest. Four stores in similar communities were selected as the control group. We applied a difference-in-difference model to estimate changes in the healthfulness of food items purchased attributable to the intervention among shoppers at the treatment stores (n = 486) and control stores (n = 10,759) using store transaction data. Healthfulness of food items was measured in terms of food scores published by the Environmental Working Group on a 1-10 scale. Both components had minimal impacts on the scores, although 0.2 and 0.1 points increases in the score per item and score per dollar were statistically significant at the 1% level respectively. A year after the intervention, these small effects of the intervention further diminished compared to the immediately after implementation. Results suggest the average effects of intervention across the study communities had limited practical significance but benefited some rural residents who were exposed to the intervention.

Food selection and effect of home preparation procedure for antibiotic food mixtures on homogeneity, stability, and dissolution.

Amoxicillin, doxycycline, and clindamycin are among the commonly used antibiotics to treat bacterial infections. However, dosage forms of antibiotics for pediatric patients may not be as readily available as the formulations for adult patients. As such, it is anticipated that during a public health emergency, special instruction may need to be provided on home preparation and administration procedures to dose pediatric patients using available stockpiles of oral tablet and capsule dosage forms. Mixing crushed tablets or capsule contents with soft- or liquid- foods is one of the most common home preparation procedures. To gain knowledge for safe and effective use of prepared drug product instead of the intended intact dosage form, the impact of manipulation of the dosage form was studied. Capsule opening, capsule content assay and uniformity, dissolution, homogeneity, and stability studies of drug mixed with various liquid and soft foods were carried out using intact capsules of amoxicillin, doxycycline, and clindamycin. Higher recovery of capsule contents was achieved when using hands or knives to open capsules compared to using scissors. The capsules of all three antibiotic products contained the labeled amount of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). The peanut butter-drug mixtures failed both United States Pharmacopeia (USP) assay and dissolution criteria because the peanut butter significantly affected the solubility of the drugs, and hence it was omitted from further study. All drug-food mixtures of the three antibiotic products and 15 selected foods exhibited fast dissolution (e.g., >80 % in 60 min) in the tested medium, except for the amoxicillin-chocolate pudding mixture. Three household containers (cups, plates, and bowls) and four mixing times (0.5 min, 1 min, 2 min, and 5 min) were found to be suitable for preparation of homogeneous mixtures of the antibiotics and foods. For practical purposes, 1 to 2 min mixing time is sufficient to produce homogeneous mixtures. The results of this study provided product quality data on the interactions between the antibiotics and the foods and can potentially support future development of home preparation instructions of antibiotics for pediatric patients or patients with swallowing difficulties.

Drivers of consumer food choices of multinational corporations' products over local foods in Ghana: a maximum difference scaling study.

INTRODUCTION: The fundamental transformation of food systems and retail environments in low-income countries is influencing consumers' food choices and dietary habits in unfavourable directions through the consumption of highly processed, energy-dense foods, predominantly manufactured by multinational food corporations. This study aims to identify the principal factors driving consumers' preference for multinational foods over local foods in the urban Accra region of Ghana. METHOD: This cross-sectional survey involving a random sample of 200 consumers conducted in March/April 2023 using interviewer-administered questionnaires employed a maximum difference scaling approach to investigate the drivers of urban Ghanaian consumer food choices for multinational food corporations' products over local foods. The maximum difference scaling modelling analysis utilized in this study identifies the primary drivers of multinational food corporations' product preferences and the associated trade-offs. RESULT: The study discovered that food quality and safe packaging, perceived healthiness, taste and flavour, and nutritional value were the most significant factors driving consumer preference for multinational food corporations' products over local foods in Ghana. The criterion food quality and safe packaging had the significantly highest utility than all other attributes in terms of consumer preference for products/meals from multinational food corporations over local foods. CONCLUSION: The results of this study provide significant contributions to the existing body of research, as previous studies have not identified these factors as primary drivers of multinational food products. Public health authorities and nutritionists can use the study's findings to implement targeted quality assurance measures in local markets and to address the drivers in health education campaigns.

Dogs' social susceptibility is differentially affected by various dog-Human interactions. A study on family dogs, former shelter dogs and therapy dogs.

When pre-treated with social stimuli prior to testing, dogs are more susceptible to human influence in a food preference task. This means, after a positive social interaction they are more willing to choose the smaller amount of food indicated by the human, as opposed to their baseline preference for the bigger amount. In the current study we investigate if and how various forms of social interaction modulate choices in the same social susceptibility task, testing dogs with varying early life history (pet dogs, therapy dogs, former shelter dogs). In line with previous studies, dogs in general were found to be susceptible to human influence as reflected in the reduced number of "bigger" choices in the human influence, compared to baseline, trials. This was true not only for pet dogs with a normal life history, but also for dogs adopted from a shelter. Therapy dogs, however, did not uniformly change their preference for the bigger quantity of food in the human influence trials; they only did so if prior to testing they had been pre-treated with social stimuli by their owner (but not by a stranger). Pet dogs were also more influenced after pre-treatment with social stimuli by their owner compared to ignoring and separation; however after pre-treatment by a stranger their behaviour did not differ from ignoring and separation. Former shelter dogs on the other hand were equally influenced regardless of pre-treatment by owner versus stranger. In summary these results show that dogs' social susceptibility is modulated by both interactions immediately preceding the test as well as by long term social experiences.

How far can reformulation participate in improving the nutritional quality of diets at population level? A modelling study using real food market data in France.

BACKGROUND: Food reformulation is promoted as a tool to improve the nutritional quality of population diets. However, the potential impact of industry-wide reformulation on dietary intake has been investigated minimally. OBJECTIVES: The aim was to estimate the impact on the French population nutrient intakes of industry-wide reformulation towards healthier products using the updated nutrient profiling system underpinning the front-of-pack nutrition label Nutri-Score (uNS-NPS). METHODS: Dietary data were retrieved from the Nutrinet-Santé cohort at baseline (N=100 418), providing detailed information regarding participants' food choices (N>3000 generic food items). Each individual food from 24 hours dietary record was matched with French food market data from OpenFoodFacts database (N=119 073 products). Three scenarios were constructed using nutrient content of currently existing food products: (1) all products available (baseline situation); (2) only existing products of better nutritional quality were available as potential substitutes and (3) only existing products of poorer quality were available. The assessment of the nutritional quality was based on the uNS-NPS score. Finally, dietary intakes were calculated for each scenario after random attribution of healthier/less healthy products as dietary choices. Monte-Carlo iterations (n=300) were conducted to generate uncertainty intervals. RESULTS: After simulation of reformulation using scenario 2, reduction in daily intake in comparison with the baseline situation was observed for energy (-55 kcal/day, -2.9%), saturated fat (-2.4g/day, -7.6%), sugar (-4.8g/day, -5.3%) and salt (-0.54g/day, -8.3%) and increase was observed for fibre (+1.0g/day, +4.9%). Improvements in diet quality were observed regardless of the overall quality of diet. The most important contributors to diet improvement were the followings: (1) sugars: sugary products, sweet bakery products and dairy products; (2) saturated fat: sweet bakery products, dairy products and prepared dishes and (3) salt: bread, prepared dishes, vegetable preparations and soups. CONCLUSION: Widespread reformulation of food offer appeared to be an opportunity for improving nutritional status at population level in France.

An advance in novel intelligent sensory technologies: From an implicit-tracking perspective of food perception.

Food sensory evaluation mainly includes explicit and implicit measurement methods. Implicit measures of consumer perception are gaining significant attention in food sensory and consumer science as they provide effective, subconscious, objective analysis. A wide range of advanced technologies are now available for analyzing physiological and psychological responses, including facial analysis technology, neuroimaging technology, autonomic nervous system technology, and behavioral pattern measurement. However, researchers in the food field often lack systematic knowledge of these multidisciplinary technologies and struggle with interpreting their results. In order to bridge this gap, this review systematically describes the principles and highlights the applications in food sensory and consumer science of facial analysis technologies such as eye tracking, facial electromyography, and automatic facial expression analysis, as well as neuroimaging technologies like electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Furthermore, we critically compare and discuss these advanced implicit techniques in the context of food sensory research and then accordingly propose prospects. Ultimately, we conclude that implicit measures should be complemented by traditional explicit measures to capture responses beyond preference. Facial analysis technologies offer a more objective reflection of sensory perception and attitudes toward food, whereas neuroimaging techniques provide valuable insight into the implicit physiological responses during food consumption. To enhance the interpretability and generalizability of implicit measurement results, further sensory studies are needed. Looking ahead, the combination of different methodological techniques in real-life situations holds promise for consumer sensory science in the field of food research.

Chemosensory changes during chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Chemosensory changes that occur during chemotherapy can significantly impact food enjoyment, quality of life and recovery. AIM: To investigate chemosensory changes reported by oncology patients during chemotherapy. METHODS: A mixed-method cross-sectional study design was used to explore 100 cancer patients' experiences of chemosensory changes during chemotherapy. All patients completed a questionnaire assessing their taste and smell preferences. A purposive sample of 30 patients underwent a semi-structured interview to elicit their thoughts on their experienced chemosensory changes. Descriptive statistics and themes were examined. FINDINGS: The mean age of the sample was 50.56 years, and the majority of participants were female. The most stated taste alteration was bitter, while altered food preferences were also commonly experienced. Furthermore, most patients experienced unpleasant odours around food, while some experienced these odours even when food was not present. Overall, five themes were identified: changes in taste, changes in smell, changes in social life, altered comfort and food preferences. CONCLUSION: Chemosensory changes related to cancer and its treatment impact a person's nutrient intake, food-related behaviours, quality of life and treatment response. Patients who experience chemotherapy-associated chemosensory changes require specialised nutritional therapy to increase their eating-related pleasure. As part of the nutritional assessment, chemosensory alterations should be evaluated regularly.

Understanding consumers attitude towards insects as food: Influence of insect species on liking, emotions, sensory perception and food pairing.

Entomophagy studies mainly focused on insects as a generic category, rarely considering insect species. This study investigated the: i) affective response to specific edible insect species; ii) sensory properties characterizing the tested insects and their role in driving preferences and food paring. A sensory test (85 consumers, 56.5 % female, 19-73 years) was performed on seven dried whole edible insects at the adult (weaver ants, crickets, grasshoppers), larva (bamboo worms, morio worms, sago worms) and pupae stage (silkworms). For each species, consumers expressed their liking and, through three check-all-that-apply tests, described the perceived sensory properties, the perceived emotions, and their potential food pairings. Results showed a significant effect of the species on all variables. Bamboo worms, weaver ants and grasshoppers resulted the most accepted, followed by morio worms, crickets, and silkworms, while the sago worms were the most disliked. Numerous sensory attributes significantly discriminated among insect species and the drivers of liking and sensory attributes associated to the food pairings were identified. However, two clusters with different preferences and drivers of liking were observed. Moreover, a gender effect was found: i) males associated insects with emotions like calm and wild, while females with glad and pleased; ii) males and females would pair different foods with the insect species. In conclusion, this study provided new knowledge useful for researchers and food industry to develop future insect-based foods and dishes able to meet the expectations of different consumers segments.

Internet addiction and its relationship with food choice motives and the risk of eating disorders among young adults in Malaysia.

The COVID-19 lockdown measures have dramatically altered the daily routines of young adults. Therefore, this study aims to elucidate the relationships between internet addiction, food choice motives and the risk of eating disorders in young adults during the transition to the endemic phase of COVID-19. The Internet Addiction Test was utilised to evaluate the presence and severity of internet addiction among young adults. The Food Choice Questionnaire was employed to assess the food choice motives of young adults, while the risk of eating disorders was determined using the Eating Attitude Test-26. The relationships between internet addiction, food choice motives, and the risk of eating disorders were assessed using model 4 of the PROCESS macro for SPSS. The findings indicated that 29.0% of young adults experienced moderate-to-severe internet addiction, whereas 32.6% were at risk of eating disorders. Young adults were highly valued for the price, sensory appeal, and mood when deciding food choices. The relationship between internet addiction and the risk of eating disorders was partially mediated by convenience (b = - 0.211, SE = 0.140, - 0.548 to - 0.016) and familiarity (b = 0.219, SE = 0.122, 0.019 to 0.494). A significant direct effect was also observed between internet addiction and the risk of eating disorders (B = 0.793, p = 0.017). There is an urgent need to implement intervention strategies aimed at reducing problematic internet use, promoting healthier food choices, and fostering healthy eating habits among young adults.