Influence of changing dentition on food texture preferences and perception of eating difficulty in Australian children

The transition from primary to permanent dentition is an important phase in children's oral development, yet its impact on texture perception and food acceptance are less explored. This study aimed to investigate how changing dentition and tooth loss influence texture preferences and perception of eating difficulty among children aged 5 to 12 years. Children (n = 475) completed a forced-choice questionnaire featuring drawings of six food pairs, each available in hard or soft texture, and reported whether they had started losing primary teeth and the number of tooth gaps present. They also tasted four samples: chocolate snacks (cake and biscuits) and cheddar cheese (grated and cubes), evaluating their perceived eating difficulty and liking for each sample. Analysis of questionnaire responses showed a general preference for softer food textures among children, with a 36% probability of choosing hard foods. Preferences were not related to child's dental state, including primary teeth loss (p = .13) or number of tooth gaps (p = .45). In the taste test, chocolate biscuits and cheese cubes were perceived as significantly more difficult to eat than chocolate cake and grated cheese, respectively (both p < .0001). Children with more than two tooth gaps reported greater eating difficulty for chocolate biscuits and cheese cubes compared to children with fewer or no tooth gaps. This study demonstrated that children's texture preferences for hardness of foods remained consistent during dentition change, while their perception of eating difficulty could vary based on their dental state at specific points in time.

A review on children's oral texture perception and preferences in foods

Texture properties of foods are particular drivers for food acceptance and rejection in children. The texture preferences follow the developmental progression of the child and these changes modulate the present and future food habits. This paper reviews the development and factors influencing texture preferences in children and the methods in food texture research with children. The child's acceptance of more complex food textures is age-dependent. The progression is indorsed by the development of oral processing skills at an early age and bolstered by repeated exposures to foods with varying textures. Children generally reject foods containing pieces or bits (i.e., geometrical textural properties); however, the impact of mechanical textural properties on food acceptance is less clear. Child characteristics such as food neophobia, picky eating, and tactile over-responsivity, negatively affect the acceptance of more diverse food textures. Depending on the child's age, the prevailing methods of characterizing food texture preferences in children include observational techniques and self-reported questionnaires. Despite knowledge of children's development of masticatory skills, learning, and cognitive abilities, the relationships of these changes to food texture acceptance and the recommended test methodology for evaluating product texture acceptance in this period of life are still limited.

Relationship between Sensory Attributes, (Dis) Liking and Volatile Organic Composition of Gorgonzola PDO Cheese

Blue-veined cheese tends to polarize the consumers' affective responses due to its strong flavor. This study aims to: (i) explore the consumers' sensory perceptions and liking of Gorgonzola PDO cheese; (ii) identify the sensory drivers of acceptance for Gorgonzola in the function of the cheese style; (iii) characterize them by the volatile organic compounds (VOCs); and (iv) explore the relationships of the VOCs with sensory perception and liking. Six samples of Gorgonzola cheese differing in style (sweet vs. piquant), aging time (70-95 days), and production process (artisanal vs. industrial) were evaluated by 358 subjects (46% males, 18-77 years) using liking and Rate-All-That-Apply (RATA) tests. The cheese VOCs were measured by SPME/GC-MS. Liking was significantly higher for the sweet cheese than for the piquant cheese and for the artisanal cheese than for the industrial samples. Penalty Analysis showed that 'creamy', 'sweet', 'nutty', and 'salty' were significant drivers of liking while the 'soapy' and 'ammonia' flavors turned out to be drivers of disliking. Fifty-three VOCs were identified. Regression models revealed the significant highest associations between the VOCs and 'ammonia', 'pungent', 'soapy', and 'moldy' flavors. A good association was also found with the consumers' liking. The identification of the sensory drivers of (dis) liking and their relationship with the VOCs of Gorgonzola opens up a new understanding of the consumers' blue-veined cheese preferences.

What are the cultural effects on consumers' perceptions? A case study covering coalho cheese in the Brazilian northeast and southeast area using word association

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of regional diversity aspects related to consumers' perceptions of coalho cheese, with Brazilian Northeast and Southeast consumers (n=400, divided equally in each area) using Word Association (WA) task. Different perceptions were detected for both Northeast and Southeast consumers, and among 17 categories elicited for describing coalho cheese, only 7 categories (positive feeling, social aspects, sensory characteristic, dairy product technology, negative feeling, and lack of quality standard) presented significant differences in the frequency of mention according to chi-square per cell approach. The application of the discriminant technique Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) indicated that the categories "Social", "Accompaniment", "Manufacturing method" were the main responsible for differentiating consumers' perceptions of both areas. Overall, the main dimensions involved in the consumers' perceptions of coalho cheese from different Brazilian regions were identified, thus obtaining comprehensive insights that can be used as a guideline for coalho cheese producers to develop marketing strategies considering the intra-cultural differences.

Sensory profile of sheep cheeses during a six-month storage period as evaluated by consumers

Over the past decade, the use of check-all-that-apply questions has become an easier and faster alternative to traditional sensory profiles using trained assessors, allowing the characterisation of a product by consumers. In this study, 65 consumers evaluated the acceptability of six artisan Uruguayan sheep cheese samples during a six-month storage period, providing a descriptive profile using a check-all-that-apply questionnaire consisting of 32 sensory and non-sensory terms. Although the acceptability of five of the six samples was not modified during storage, the consumers were able to perceive changes in the texture and flavour of products, providing a sensory profile of the cheeses. The categories s trange flavour, animal odour, strange odour, bitter and acidic were associated with negative terms such as bad quality and unpleasant flavour, whereas salty and tasty appeared to be related to positive terms including good quality, pleasant flavour and delicious. Therefore, for the Uruguayan consumer, preference for this type of product appears to be mainly conditioned by the flavour perceived in these cheeses, rather than their texture attributes.