Salt, Fat and Sugar Reduction by Maurice O'Sullivan

Author:Maurice O'Sullivan [O’Sullivan, Maurice G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780128226124
Publisher: Elsevier Science
Published: 2020-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Contents

Outline

Introduction 167

Preference tests 171

Sensory acceptance and consumer testing 171

Conjoint analysis 174

Ranking preference tests 175

Preference mapping 175

Adaptation methods and masking 176

Focus groups 178

References 180

Further reading 182

Introduction

Traditional descriptive analysis employs a training regime to calibrate a suitably screened panel to evaluate food or beverage products so that they evaluate with a standardized response. These individuals, or panelists, quantify sensory descriptors such as appearance, aroma, flavor, taste, texture, and aftertaste often benchmarked against clear instructions provided by the panel leader [ranking descriptive analysis (RDA)] and often using defined sensory reference materials [quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) and spectrum]. These assessors are never asked to rate their emotional responses to products; only the descriptors then have been trained to evaluate. The reason being that through training, their subjective responses become biased. Consumers can be clear about which products they like and which they do not, but they cannot always describe any specific reason for that (Van Kleef, Van Trijp, & Luning, 2006). Therefore affective sensory testing methods can be considered the opposite of these descriptive techniques, where hedonics are used to capture the affective sensory response of naïve evaluators who may be consumers or analogous evaluators to the consumer. They are judged by their preferences or for their personal liking of things such as appearance, taste or texture, and, ultimately, their general impression of a product or its “general acceptance” (O’Sullivan, 2017a). They form part of a critical battery of tests that must be employed in order to determine if a reformulation protocol has been successful. Reformulation of food or beverage products can be undertaken to maintain or improve the liking of that product with respect to consumer sensory quality. Situations where it is required to maintain quality rather than improve quality for reformulation include an ingredient substitution, nutritional optimization strategy, or perhaps as part of a least cost formulation (LCF) process. Typically, reformulation is employed for reasons of nutritional optimization by replacing an ingredient with a healthier ingredient. Hedonic evaluations can be thus used to determine if formulation modifications to the product are necessary and cost-effective. Forced preference can be used to determine if one product is significantly preferred over others. For two or more samples a ranking test can be used to determine preference (O’Sullivan, 2017a). Quite often an ingredient such as fat, salt, or sugar is replaced in a product and must be determined if the new “nutritionally optimized” variant meets sensory hedonic criteria. As seen in previous chapters, fat, salt, and sugar are more than antinutritional scapegoats to be reduced or removed but act in multimodal roles. Sugar is a functional ingredient in cake making by facilitating creaming with the fat and incorporating air in to the product through friction. In addition, sugar is an important tastant masking bitterness, a flavor enhancer (fruit), a preservative, a bulking agent, and facilitates caramelization. Similarly, salt in meat products acts as a preservative, an important tastant, flavor enhancer (meats), promoter of water holding, and because of the latter improves texture. Fat is important in confectionary and meat products for texture, flavor, and also satiety.

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