Brazilian consumer's perception of food processing technologies: A case study with fruit juice

Supercritical carbon dioxide technology in food processing: Insightful comprehension of the mechanisms of microbial inactivation and impacts on quality and safety aspects

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) has emerged as a nonthermal technology to guarantee food safety. This review addresses the potential of SC-CO2 technology in food preservation, discussing the microbial inactivation mechanisms and the impact on food products' quality parameters and bioactive compounds. Furthermore, the main advantages and gaps are denoted. SC-CO2 technology application causes adequate microbial reductions (>5 log cfu/mL) of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms, enzyme inactivation, and improvements in the storage stability in fruit and vegetable products (mainly fruit juices), meat products, and dairy derivatives. SC-CO2-treated products maintain the physicochemical, technological, and sensory properties, bioactive compound concentrations, and biological activity (antioxidant and angiotensin-converting enzyme-inhibitory activities) similar to the untreated products. The optimization of processing parameters (temperature, pressure, CO2 volume, and processing times) is mandatory for achieving the desired results. Further studies should consider the expansion to different food matrices, shelf-life evaluation, bioaccessibility of bioactive compounds, and in vitro and in vivo studies to prove the benefits of using SC-CO2 technology. Moreover, the impact on sensory characteristics and, mainly, the consumer perception of SC-CO2-treated foods need to be elucidated. We highlight the opportunity for studies in postbiotic production. In conclusion, SC-CO2 technology may be used for microbial inactivation to ensure food safety without losing the quality parameters.

Exploring the role of the general interest in health on the perceptions of Healthy, Industrialized, and Ultra-processed foods among Brazilians

Food processing includes operations that transform raw materials into new products, ensuring the preservation and supply of safe food; however, this view is not always understood by consumers who tend to associate any type of processing with something negative and harmful to health. Given this, the objective of this study was to explore the associations of Brazilian consumers in relation to healthy foods, industrialized foods, and ultra-processed foods, as well as to evaluate the role of socio-demographic characteristics and interest in health in these associations. To this end, 512 Brazilians completed a word association task on these three concepts and then answered a questionnaire about interest in health and socio-demographic issues. In general, participants associated "Healthy food" mainly with "Unprocessed products." Conversely, "Industrialized foods" and "Ultra-processed foods" were associated with "Processed products," "Negative perceptions," "Health harm," and "Industry". Despite this, it was found that "Industrialized foods" were also perceived positively, mainly due to convenience. Consumer associations were influenced (p ≤ 0.05) both by interest in health and by socio-demographic profile. Individuals with a high interest in health mainly associated "Industrialized foods" and "Ultra-processed foods" with the presence of preservatives, additives, and pesticides, and with diseases. As for those with low interest in health, there was a greater lack of knowledge of the concepts. Doubts and lack of knowledge were observed for "Industrialized foods" and "Ultra-processed foods," mainly among consumers with low educational level. The results indicate the need to develop communication strategies that reach consumers to facilitate understanding and, in this way, help them to make more conscious food choices.

Food Technology Neophobia Scales in cross-national context: Consumers' acceptance of food technologies between Chinese and New Zealand

An increasing number of novel food technologies have been developed to meet consumers' growing desire for safe and high-quality foods. However, consumers can be cautious of novel food technologies, and their acceptance cannot be guaranteed. Food Technology Neophobia Scales (FTNS) have been proven to be an effective tool to predict consumers' behavior toward novel food technologies in a range of individual countries, but not for cross-national contexts. To fill the gap, this study designed a survey involving 604 Chinese and 614 New Zealand respondents, investigating the influence of consumers' food technology neophobia (FTN) on their acceptance of food technologies. Chinese respondents' FTNS score (50.62) was lower than that of New Zealand respondents (55.02), which was in line with the finding that Chinese respondents' acceptance of all tested food technologies was higher than New Zealand respondents (0.34-0.86 in a Likert-7 scale). Chinese respondents' acceptance was determined by their perception of benefits, whereas New Zealand respondents were influenced by their perception of both benefits and risks. The findings conclude that FTNS is a valid tool to reflect consumers' acceptance of novel food technologies in cross-national contexts, although the influence of FTN varies among consumers from different countries. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: China has the largest food market, and New Zealand is a leading food exporter. Understanding their consumers' acceptance of and attitudes toward food technologies will help food companies implement appropriate strategies in developing and using novel technologies. Because FTNS first was constructed in 2008, it has been applied in Australia, Italy, Canada, Finland, Korea, China, Chile, Brazil, and Uganda; the findings of this study will allow these individual studies on FTNS to better connect, help food companies predict consumer acceptance of food technologies in the global market, and help them identify early adopters of novel food technologies in new food markets.

Understanding Italian Consumers' Perception of Safety in Animal Food Products

The concept of food safety is still underexplored among consumers, especially in relationship with the perception of food technology. Through an online survey (n = 489), this study explored: I, how perceived safety is related to products obtained with different technological treatments and described with different commercial information; II, the role of food technology neophobia (FTN) in consumers' safety perception of animal food products. The technological transformation and commercial information significantly affected the perceived safety in all product categories. Milk and eggs were associated with a high number of perceived hazards (with similar patterns), while honey to the lowest. The certification 'organic' positively affected the safety perception of eggs and honey. With the increase of the distance in product origin (local/regional vs. Extra-European) the perceived safety consistently decreased. FTN affected the perceived safety of milk and eggs, depending on the degree of familiarity with the technologies of production. Highly FT neophobic people are perceived as less safe than low FT neophobic people with few familiar products with a higher technological degree of transformation. Results expand the knowledge in people's attitude towards animal products, particularly considering the technology perception. The outputs may interest policy-makers and food companies, in rethinking the communication strategy concerning food safety.

Consumer Attitudes towards Food Preservation Methods

The development and scope of using various food preservation methods depends on the level of consumers’ acceptance. Despite their advantages, in the case of negative attitudes, producers may limit their use if it determines the level of sales. The aim of this study was to evaluate the perception of seven different food processing methods and to identify influencing factors, such as education as well as living area and, at the same time, to consider whether consumers verify this type of information on the labels. Additionally, the study included the possibility of influencing consumer attitudes by using alternative names for preservation methods, on the example of microwave treatment. The results showed that conventional heat treatments were the most preferred preservation methods, whereas preservatives, irradiation, radio waves and microwaves were the least favored, suggesting that consumers dislike methods connected with “waves” to a similar extent as their dislike for preservatives. The control factors proved to significantly modify the evaluation of the methods. The analysis of alternative names for microwave treatment showed that “dielectric heating” was significantly better perceived. These research findings are important as the basis for understanding consumer attitudes. Implications for business and directions of future research are also indicated.

What Do Consumers Think about Foods Processed by Ultraviolet Radiation and Ultrasound?

This study aimed to investigate Brazilian consumers’ perception concerning foods processed by ultraviolet (UV) radiation and ultrasound (US) and define consumer segments considering their socioeconomic characteristics and eating habits towards industrialized products through free word association tasks answered by 1004 participants via an online platform. UV- and US-treated foods were more frequently related to unfamiliar words/terms (21.51 and 36.95%) and negative associations (36.25 and 26.70%) than positive ones (29.89 and 24.20%), respectively. Unfamiliarity and health risk concerns were more reported for US-treated foods by women aged 18–25 and ≥46 with low income, and low and frequent industrialized products consumption, as well as for UV-treated foods by consumers ≤35 years old with low and medium income, and low and frequent industrialized products consumption. This indicates that more clear and trustworthy information is needed before introducing these products in the Brazilian market, mainly for potential target consumer groups identified in this study.

Consumer Attitudes towards Technological Innovation in a Traditional Food Product: The Case of Wine

Food innovation is crucial for food companies in order to produce healthier, safer, and more convenient foods. However, there is a segment of consumers reluctant to accept new foods. This attitude is even more important when those novelties are developed in products such as wine that have habitually relied on heritage and traditional production as their main competitive advantage. In this study, consumer attitudes toward innovation in the wine industry were evaluated by simultaneously considering product neophobia and process neophobia. Based upon a sample of 400 personal interviews with Spanish wine consumers, the results showed that these two aspects of neophobia were uncorrelated, meaning they are useful to measure different aspects of general food neophobia. Cluster analysis showed that four different segments of consumers exist, with different attitudes toward technological innovation in the wine industry. The consumer segment that shows the most positive attitudes toward wine innovation (product and process innovation) is that with the highest income and highest level of education. Moreover, greater involvement with the product (wine) results in lower product neophobia. Therefore, future studies should consider product involvement and exposure to cultural diversity as essential factors when evaluating food neophobia.

Consumer Perspectives on Processing Technologies for Organic Food

Over the last years, consumer demand for natural and healthy convenient food has increased, and with it the demand for organic convenience food. With convenience food, the processing level increases, which consumers are sceptical of. This holds especially for organic consumers who prefer natural, healthy, and sustainable food products. In the literature, consumer preferences are investigated for processed conventional food, but rarely for organic products. Therefore, this study investigates consumers' knowledge, expectations, and attitudes towards selected processing technologies for organic food. Nine focus groups with 84 organic consumers were conducted, discussing preservation technologies of organic milk and orange juice. Results showed that participants had little knowledge about processing technologies but were interested in their benefits. Organic processing technologies should include fewer processing steps, low environmental impact, while keeping the product as natural as possible. Since consumers want to know benefits but not details of processing, asking consumers for their specific preferences when developing new processing technologies remains challenging. This paper shows how consumers' benefit and risk perception including their want for naturalness, and scepticism for new technologies shape their evaluation of (organic) food processing technologies. Two consumer groups with different attitudes towards processing could be identified: 'organic traditionalists' and 'organic pragmatics'.

Suitability Assessment of PLA Bottles for High-Pressure Processing of Apple Juice

The aim of the present study is to assess the use of polylactic acid (PLA) bottles as an alternative to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) ones for high-pressure processing (HPP) of apple juice. The treatment of PLA bottles at 600 MPa for 3 min did not cause alterations in the packaging shape and content, confirming the suitability of PLA bottles to withstand HPP conditions as well as PET bottles. Quantification of total mesophilic bacterial and fungal load suggested HPP treatment can be effectively applied as an alternative to pasteurization for apple juice packed in PLA bottles since it guarantees microbial stability during at least 28 days of refrigerated storage. The headspace gas level did not change significantly during 28 days of refrigerated storage, irrespective of the bottle material. Color parameters (L*, a*, and b*) of the HPP-treated juice were similar to those of the fresh juice. Irrespective of the packaging type, the total color variation significantly changed during storage, showing an exponential increase in the first 14 days, followed by a steady state until the end of observations. Overall, PLA bottles proved to offer comparable performances to PET both in terms of mechanical resistance and quality maintenance.

Sensory Characteristics Contributing to Pleasantness of Oat Product Concepts by Finnish and Chinese Consumers

Oats are increasingly popular among consumers and the food industry. While data exist on sensory characteristics of oats as such, previous studies focusing on the pleasantness of oats, and especially investigations of a wide range of oat products by European and Asian consumers, are scarce. An online questionnaire was organized in Finland (n = 381; 83.7% Finnish) focusing on the liking and familiarity of oat products, followed by sensory tests in Finland (n = 65 and n = 73) and China (n = 103) using the Check-All-That-Apply method and hedonic ratings. A questionnaire revealed that the Finnish consumers rated the pleasantness and familiarity of several oat product categories, such as breads and porridges, higher compared to participants of other ethnicities. Sensory tests showed both similarities, e.g., porridges were described as “natural”, “healthy” and “oat-like”, and differences between countries, e.g., sweet biscuits, were described as “crispy” and “hard” by Finnish consumers and “strange” and “musty” by Chinese consumers. Sweet products were unanimously preferred. The ethnicity had an important role affecting the rating of pleasantness and familiarity of oat product categories, whereas food neophobia and health interest status also had an influence. The proved healthiness of oats was a crucial factor affecting the choices of consumers and their acceptance in both countries.

Innovative Hurdle Technologies for the Preservation of Functional Fruit Juices

Functional nutrition, which includes the consumption of fruit juices, has become the field of interest for those seeking a healthy lifestyle. Functional nutrition is also of great interest to the food industry, with the aims of improving human health and providing economic prosperity in a sustainable manner. The functional food sector is the most profitable part of the food industry, with a fast-growing market resulting from new sociodemographic trends (e.g., longer life expectancy, higher standard of living, better health care), which often includes sustainable concepts of food production. Therefore, the demand for hurdle technology in the food industry is growing, along with the consumption of minimally processed foods, not only because this approach inactivates microorganisms in food, but because it can also prolong the shelf life of food products. To preserve food products such as fruit juices, the hurdle technology approach often uses non-thermal methods as alternatives to pasteurization, which can cause a decrease in the nutritional value and quality of the food. Non-thermal technologies are often combined with different hurdles, such as antimicrobial additives, thermal treatment, and ultraviolet or pulsed light, to achieve synergistic effects and overall quality improvements in (functional) juices. Hence, hurdle technology could be a promising approach for the preservation of fruit juices due to its efficiency and low impact on juice quality and characteristics, although all processing parameters still require optimization.