Consumer orientation of product developers and their product perception compared to that of consumers

This research concludes that although product developers (58, response rate 35%) and consumers (344, response rate 57%) perceive health and its relation to product characteristics in the same way, the perception of product developers is more extreme. Furthermore, factor analysis reveals four orientations of product developers: technology and cost orientation, which are related to the use of more traditional work methods, and customer and consumer orientation, which are related to the use of more recent and interactive work methods. These four orientations are related to different opinions about factors influencing failure of products, use of models and cooperation.     

上海市保健食品消费者的知识-态度-行为(KAP)调查

为了解上海市保健食品消费者所具有的保健食品营养知识、对保健食品的态度和消费行为 ,对 10 0 7名消费者采用统一的KAP调查问卷进行了调查。结果发现消费者的保健食品知识、态度得分较低 ,且文化程度与保健食品营养知识得分存在正相关关系。 5 0 2 %的消费者不知道《保健食品管理办法》 ,不能识别保健食品专用标识者高达 71 1%。保健食品知识主要来源于广告。71 9%的消费者对保健食品广告或产品说明书持半信半疑态度。对保健食品的主要意见是产品广告宣传有夸大、虚假现象 ,同类产品过多 ,无法选择。 84 7%的人购买保健食品是自己或家人食用 ,购买时主要考虑保健功能。 4 6 2 %的消费者认为服用保健食品后无效。这些调查结果提示应加强保健食品营养知识的宣传介绍 ,努力提高保健食品质量 ,强化监督管理工作 ,使消费者对保健食品的知识更为科学 ,态度更为积极 ,消费更为合理     

Healthy food is nutritious,but organic food is healthy because it is pure: The negotiation of healthy food choices by Danish consumers of organic food

There is increasing demand for organic food products throughout the Western world. Health concerns have frequently been found to be the main motivation of consumers purchasing organic products, but the literature on consumer preferences and behavior is less clear about what ‘health’ means to consumers of these products, and because of this it remains unclear what exactly drives consumers to choose organic products. This article investigates health from the perspective of consumers, and analyzes negotiations of, and justifications behind, their consumption preferences. The analysis is based on a focus group study conducted in Denmark in 2016. Three different understandings of health can be found when consumers explain their preferences for organic products: Health as purity; Health as pleasure, and a Holistic perspective on health. The first two are familiar from the literature on food. The third, which reflects principles behind organic agriculture, is less documented in the context of consumption. Health as purity was the dominant understanding of health used by the participants when explaining why they purchased organic food products. When participants discussed healthy eating in general, detached from a specific context, most employed a purely nutritional perspective as a definitive argument in supporting claims about healthy eating. The paper’s findings have implications for future research on organic consumption. They also have practical implications for organic food producers and manufacturers.     

网红食品质量安全购买风险认知影响实证——基于郑州部分消费者的调查

目的 探讨消费者网红食品质量安全购买风险认知的影响因素及风险规避行为.方法 以河南郑州消费者为研究对象,通过构建风险认知感知模型,探讨不同社会心理因素和不同人口特征对消费者网红食品质量安全购买风险认知的影响,并探寻不同人口特征下的消费者风险规避行为选择.结果 在社会心理因素中,除产品吸引外,其他因素对消费者网红食品质量...     

Feeding trials in organic food quality and health research

Feeding experiments comparing organically and conventionally produced food are performed to assess the overall impact on the animals' health as a model for the effects experienced by the human consumers. These experiments are based on systems research and characterized by their focus on production methods, whole food testing and procedures in accordance with the terms of organic farming. A short review of such experiments shows that the majority of these tests revealed effects of the organically produced feed on health parameters such as reproductive performance and immune responses. Systems research is not just about simple cause–effect chains, but rather about the pluralism of interactions in biological networks; therefore, the interpretation of the outcome of whole food experiments is difficult. Furthermore, the test diets of organic and conventional origin can be constituted in different ways, compensating for or maintaining existing differences in nutrient and energy contents. The science‐based results suggest positive influences from organic feeds, but there is still a need for confirmation in animals and, finally, in humans. For this purpose animal feeding trials with feed from different production systems should be conducted, with the aims to define health indicators and to establish biomarkers as a basis for future dietary intervention studies in humans. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

食品安全风险分析及其在食品质量管理中的应用

介绍食品安全风险分析的基本内涵,并阐述食品安全风险分析在制定食品标准、建立食品质量管理体系和食品安全预警体系时的重要作用。     

Unshakable loyalty in the food sector: sustainable customer retention. Empirical study of organic food consumers in Germany

Because of high competitive pressure in the food sector producers and retailers constantly increase their marketing efforts to convince consumers of their own products, services, brands or stores. One of the main goals is to generate loyal consumers because they are less likely to switch to competitors and more tolerant of price increases than non-loyal consumers. But what is true consumer loyalty? Repurchases are often used as an approximate indicator of loyalty. But the marketing literature emphasises that to identify ??true loyalty?? it is important to consider both consumers?? purchasing patterns as well as consumers?? underlying attitudes. Thus, true loyalty includes both a behavioural component, which results in repeated purchases, and an attitudinal component, which results in a dispositional commitment to a product, brand, or company and associates a unique value with it. However, regarding the food sector and the characteristics of food products, the question arises whether the above mentioned strict definition of true consumer loyalty can be applied to the food sector. Our paper aims to empirically test this question. To do so we conducted 27 semi-structured in-depth interviews with regular customers of a German organic food retailer in March/April 2009.     

Low-cost,on-farm intervention to reduce spores in bulk tank raw milk benefits producers,processors, and consumers

Bacterial spores, which are found in raw milk, can survive harsh processing conditions encountered in dairy manufacturing, including pasteurization and drying. Low-spore raw milk is desirable for dairy industry stakeholders, especially those who want to extend the shelf life of their product, expand their distribution channels, or reduce product spoilage. A recent previous study showed that an on-farm intervention that included washing towels with chlorine bleach and drying them completely, as well as training milking parlor employees to focus on teat end cleaning, significantly reduced spore levels in bulk tank raw milk. As a follow up to that previous study, here we calculate the costs associated with that previously described intervention as ranging from $9.49 to $13.35 per cow per year, depending on farm size. A Monte Carlo model was used to predict the shelf life of high temperature, short time fluid milk processed from raw milk before and after this low-cost intervention was applied, based on experimental data collected in a previous study. The model predicted that 18.24% of half-gallon containers of fluid milk processed from raw milk receiving no spore intervention would exceed the pasteurized milk ordinance limit of 20,000 cfu/mL by 17 d after pasteurization, while only 16.99% of containers processed from raw milk receiving the spore intervention would reach this level 17 d after pasteurization (a reduction of 1.25 percentage points and a 6.85% reduction). Finally, a survey of consumer milk use was conducted to determine how many consumers regularly consume fluid milk near or past the date printed on the package (i.e., code date), which revealed that over 50% of fluid milk consumers surveyed continue to consume fluid milk after this date, indicating that a considerable proportion of consumers are exposed to fluid milk that is likely to have high levels spore-forming bacterial growth and possibly associated quality defects (e.g., flavor or odor defects). This further highlights the importance of reducing spore levels in raw milk to extend pasteurized fluid milk shelf life and thereby reducing the risk of adverse consumer experiences. Processors who are interested in extending fluid milk shelf life by controlling the levels of spores in the raw milk supply should consider incentivizing low-spore raw milk through premium payments to producers.     

食品安全与质量控制体系

简要阐述了食品安全和质量控制的概念和涵义,详细论述了食品安全质量控制体系在国内外的应用发展现状,并提出了解决我国当前食品安全问题,实施质量控制体系的具体措施。      

Changes in perception and liking for everyday food odors among older adults

The age-related decline in olfactory function is well established and concerns intensity perception and odor identification. However, the extent to which olfactory decline influences food preferences is less clear. Furthermore, it is unclear whether there are decline patterns relating to food odors, specifically. This study investigated intensity perception and hedonic liking for 14 multi-component food odors and one pure odorant in three groups of older adults (age 60–69, age 70–70, age 80 + ) and a group of young adults. In total 335 subjects were tested, 246 old and very old adults and 89 young adults. The age group 60–69 was on par with the young adults, whereas intensity perception declined for the majority of odors for older adults age 70–79 and the very old age 80 + . The largest drop in intensity perception was seen for savory odors; fried meat, mushroom and onion. In contrast, intensity perception for raspberry and orange did not differ between groups of older adults and young adults. Hedonic liking decreased to some degree with increasing age but remained largely the same for savory odors (bacon, mushroom, fried meat and onion). A decline in liking was seen for coffee and thyme. This study shows evidence that age-related decline in intensity perception is food odor specific and some aggregation may occur at a higher concept level for the “savory” category. Furthermore, hedonic liking is not necessarily dependent on the intensity perception as seen for several odors, where declining intensity perception did not impact hedonic liking. This could be explained by changes in dose-response relationships for the group of ageing individuals, which in fact may favor persistence of the food odor liking, despite a decline in their intensity perception.     

Perceived risk of metabolic syndrome and attitudes towards fat-modified food concepts among European consumers

European consumer willingness to purchase fat-modified foods was surveyed as part of the LIPGENE study. Representative samples of consumers (n = 5967) were interviewed in six countries (France, Great Britain, Portugal, Germany, Poland, and Italy). Of these 2025 were considered as “reporters” who indicated having at least one of: high cholesterol; high blood pressure; central obesity; and/or high blood sugar. Perceived risk from these conditions was also assessed on a 10-point scale. Principal component analysis suggested that those who perceived themselves at greater risk of conditions associated with metabolic syndrome, and those who were reporters, more frequently indicated willingness to purchase “healthy” fat-modified food products. The most preferred ‘vehicles’ for fat modification were fish and cheese. Acceptance of fat-modified fish, red meat and cheese product concepts, both standard and GM was positively associated with perceived risk of conditions associated with metabolic syndrome. Over 20% of reporters were willing to purchase GM fat-modified fish and cheese products. Our results indicate that if standard and GM fat-modified food products can be shown to ameliorate the risks presented by conditions associated with metabolic syndrome, there is a ready market for such foods.     

The effects of carrier,benefit, and perceived trust in information channel on functional food purchase intention among Chinese consumers

The importance of consumers’ perceptions and adoption behavior has been recognized in the development of functional food innovation, but the issues have not been widely explored in China. This study aimed to examine the effects of carrier, benefit, and trust in information channel about functional foods on purchase intention as well as the demographic differences of these effects. A survey with 1144 respondents from Mainland China revealed that carriers were more important factors than benefits for perceived attractiveness and purchase intention. Benefits were more positively evaluated when attached to a more attractive carrier. Benefits of improving the body’s natural defense system were most favored by all groups; benefits about specific diseases were suitable to tailor for certain groups. Consumers with low educational level were reluctant to functional foods. The improvement of consumer education level does not necessarily increase the consumers’ purchase intention. Given the Chinese acquaintance society and the jeopardized public trust in food safety, the interpersonal channel was the most trusted information channel. However, perceived trust in mass media had more remarkable effects in predicting purchase intention toward functional foods, the typical products with credence attributes. Trust in mass media negatively interacted with friends’ recommendation in affecting purchase intention. These findings extend our understanding of how to tailor products for different groups and the effects of information channels on purchase intention.     

Water quality concerns and acceptance of irradiated food: a pilot study on Mexican consumers

BACKGROUND: Poor quality irrigation water is a major cause of disease transmission for urban inhabitants consuming fresh produce in many developing countries. Irradiation of food is an alternative approach to reducing health risks for consumers, but its implementation depends heavily on consumer acceptance. RESULTS: In this pilot study, we show that most respondents consider the water quality of Mexico City to be poor and a health risk, and would be willing to pay for irradiated food as a means of pasteurizing fresh iceberg lettuce. CONCLUSION: Irradiated food could, potentially, be accepted in developing countries that have problems with water quality. Such acceptance would presumably be due to the perception that such a novel technology would (1) alleviate water impairment, and (2) lead to economic improvement. It is then possible that the public considers that water quality is a more pressing concern than any potential side effects of food irradiation. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Food behavior of consumers (for example, Chelyabinsk)

Sociological poll of inhabitants of Chelyabinsk concerning a balanced diet was conducted. Every second chelyabinets needs change of the food, but thus has for this purpose no sufficient money resources. Deficiency in a food of animal protein, the majority of vitamins, macro- and microelements and saturation of a diet by carbohydrates and fats was shown. It was established that the products of mass consumption: bakery, dairy, meat,fat-and-oil products and sweets can be considered as potential products for enrichment, oriented for low-and middle-income countries primarily.     

Familiarizing Food: Frozen Food Chains,Technology, and Consumer Trust,Norway 1940–1970

This article investigates the relationship between food chains and the production of consumer trust through cases drawn from the introduction of frozen fish fillets in Norway. Specifically, it will discuss how the frozen fish industry worked to create consumer trust in this new food product despite initial skepticism. Conventional ways of building trust such as quality control systems, branding, and marketing are investigated, but in addition to these mechanisms, the article discusses how the frozen fish industry utilized a range of more mundane technologies as trust-producing technologies. By investigating this effort, the article argues that technology is a valuable lens for understanding how consumers are familiarized with new foods.     

HACCP在食品安全与质量体系建设中的应用

HACCP是国际上公认和接受的确保食品安全的一种预防性管理控制体系。现就HACCP的基本程序,传统的食品安全监督面临的挑战,建立HACCP的必要性,HACCP在食品安全与质量体系建设中的重要作用及目前存在的主要问题等作一综述,以促进HACCP管理体系在食品行业中的广泛应用。