Sensory analysis and acceptability of pet food

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Food, Nutrition, Dietetics, and HealthKadri KoppelThe pet food industry represents a competitive and growing part of the food industry that is constantly looking for innovation to differentiate products in the market. In recent years, the pet food market has undergone a humanization trend that has transformed pet owners into parents. In the light of this trend, pet owner acceptance has become even more crucial to product developers as the owners are the ones who make purchasing decisions. Performing descriptive sensory analysis on pet foods utilizing a human panel can assist in understanding the sensory characteristic of products. Knowing the sensory profile of pet food can then be useful in product development, in order to relate the descriptive data with palatability data from pets and to understand specific sensory attributes that drive pet liking. At the same time descriptive analysis can help understand what drives consumer acceptance of the products. The first objective of the research was to develop a sensory lexicon that could assist researchers and sensory professionals working in the pet food industry to describe appearance, aroma, flavor, and texture characteristics of dry dog food. More than seventy sensory terms were identified, defined, and referenced. The second objective was to utilize this sensory lexicon to understand relationships between sensory properties of products and pet owners’ liking. Results indicated that appearance played a major role in driving consumer liking of dry pet food. The next objective of the research was to understand sensory qualities and acceptance of extruded dry dog food manufactured with different fractions of red sorghum through some of the developed concepts. Sorghum is an important crop to Kansas that represents the first producer in USA. Sorghum characteristics such as a low glycemic index and antioxidant properties make it a perfect fit for pet food industry. A process such as extrusion may then help improve some negative characteristics such a lower digestibility that has been associated with sorghum in the past. Descriptive sensory analysis was performed and results indicated that aroma and flavor profile of the sorghum diets were not dissimilar to the ones of a control diet manufactured with rice, wheat, and corn, grains that are typically used by the pet food industry. Acceptance of pet owners was then assessed through a Central Location Test involving 105 consumers. The whole sorghum diet resulted to be the most liked sample by consumers, at the same level of the control diet. The next objective was then to understand how the experimental diets would be accepted by pets compared in a home situation. Thirty dogs were fed the diets in their own household environment over 20 consecutive days. No differences in acceptance for the diets were found. The last portion of the research was to determine volatile compounds present in the four diets and try to identify possible relationship with the sensory properties of the samples. Thirty-six compounds were identified with aldehydes being the most abundant volatiles group. Several relationships with sensory characteristics of samples were found

Comparison of results from cupping and descriptive sensory analysis of Colombian brewed coffee

Sensory profiles of thirteen coffee samples from the Huila Region, Colombia, were evaluated using two different sensory panels, a highly trained descriptive sensory panel and a group of certified coffee cuppers. The trained panel consisted of six descriptive panelists who developed a lexicon to evaluate and then test the coffee samples. Four ‘cuppers’ scored samples based on the Speciality Coffee Association of America “Cupping Protocol”. In addition cuppers generated tasting notes to characterize the different coffee samples. Data analysis indicated little overlap between the two methods and a low relationship between the two different sets of terms. Moreover, tasting notes by cuppers indicate lack of agreements on the terms used to describe samples with only four terms used by more than two assessors to describe a single coffee product, out of a total of 59 terms used by the cuppers. The results indicate that the cupping method provides different information that cannot be used as an alternative to descriptive sensory analysis with trained panelists when describing the sensory profile of coffee products. Results also indicate that further training of cuppers is needed in order to potentially provide higher agreement in generating tasting notes to better characterize coffee samples

Consumer acceptance of dry dog food variations

The objectives of this study were to compare the acceptance of different dry dog food products by consumers, determine consumer clusters for acceptance, and identify the characteristics of dog food that drive consumer acceptance. Eight dry dog food samples available in the US market were evaluated by pet owners. In this study, consumers evaluated overall liking, aroma, and appearance liking of the products. Consumers were also asked to predict their purchase intent, their dog’s liking, and cost of the samples. The results indicated that appearance of the sample, especially the color, influenced pet owner’s overall liking more than the aroma of the product. Overall liking clusters were not related to income, age, gender, or education, indicating that general consumer demographics do not appear to play a main role in individual consumer acceptance of dog food products

Food Leftover Practices among Consumers in Selected Countries in Europe, South and North America

Foodborne illnesses may be related to many food production factors with home practices of consumers playing an important role in food safety. Consumer behavior for handling food leftovers has been studied, however little work on comparisons among countries has been published. The objective of this study was to investigate home food leftover practices of people from North American, South American, and European countries. Surveys were conducted with approximately 100 or more consumers in Argentina, Colombia, the United States, Estonia, Italy, Russia, and Spain. The participants responded to questions related to the length of time different types of food leftovers; such as meat, fresh salads, or restaurant dishes would be kept refrigerated or would be left at room temperature before refrigeration. Researchers also investigated how consumers would determine if the food was still safe for consumption. Potentially risky behaviors were observed in all seven countries. For instance, 55.8% of Estonians, 25% of Russians and 25.8% of Argentinean participants left food out at room temperature for several hours before storing in the refrigerator. Furthermore, 25%–29% of Colombian, Estonian, and Spanish consumers would look, smell, and taste leftovers to determine its probable safety. Correct handling of leftovers is an important aspect of consumer food safety. Although the surveys cannot be representative of all consumers in each country, they do provide an initial overview of comparative practices for handling leftovers among different countries. This provides government and educators with information on potential universal and unique consumer food safety issues related to handling leftover foods among various countries

Motivations for Food Consumption during Specific Eating Occasions in Turkey

Citation: Chambers, D., Phan, U. T. X., Chanadang, S., Maughan, C., Sanchez, K., Di Donfrancesco, B., . . . Esen, E. (2016). Motivations for Food Consumption during Specific Eating Occasions in Turkey. Foods, 5(2), 14. doi:10.3390/foods5020039Several studies in different countries have been conducted to investigate factors affecting food choices. The objective of this study was to understand the motivations of specific food and beverage choices for different eating occasions in a typical diet of the Turkish people. A convenience sample of 141 respondents from seven different geographical regions in Turkey completed an online survey questionnaire that included questions about demographic information and details about their latest eating occasion. Respondents reported all of their motivations for choosing each food/beverage item reported for that specific eating occasion. Results indicated that different motivations played different roles in food choices of people in Turkey. Liking was a key characteristic for all eating occasions, but key natural concerns were even more important at breakfast, and need and hunger were more important for a mid-afternoon snack. Lunch involved additional motivations such as Sociability, Variety Seeking, and Social Norms. In addition to Liking, choices of different food groups were also driven by other motivations such as Habits, Convenience, Need and Hunger, Natural Concerns, and Health. This study helped better understand the current dietary patterns of Turkish people as well as the motives underlying their choices of foods and beverages for different meals and snacks. These findings could be useful for dietary campaigns that aim to improve eating behaviors in Turkey

Consumer Acceptance of Dry Dog Food Variations

The objectives of this study were to compare the acceptance of different dry dog food products by consumers, determine consumer clusters for acceptance, and identify the characteristics of dog food that drive consumer acceptance. Eight dry dog food samples available in the US market were evaluated by pet owners. In this study, consumers evaluated overall liking, aroma, and appearance liking of the products. Consumers were also asked to predict their purchase intent, their dog’s liking, and cost of the samples. The results indicated that appearance of the sample, especially the color, influenced pet owner’s overall liking more than the aroma of the product. Overall liking clusters were not related to income, age, gender, or education, indicating that general consumer demographics do not appear to play a main role in individual consumer acceptance of dog food products

Sensory Characteristics and Volatile Components of Dry Dog Foods Manufactured with Sorghum Fractions

Descriptive sensory analysis and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with a modified headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME) method was performed on three extruded dry dog food diets manufactured with different fractions of red sorghum and a control diet containing corn, brewer’s rice, and wheat as a grain source in order to determine the effect of sorghum fractions on dry dog food sensory properties. The aroma compounds and flavor profiles of samples were similar with small differences, such as higher toasted aroma notes, and musty and dusty flavor in the mill-feed sample. A total of 37 compounds were tentatively identified and semi-quantified. Aldehydes were the major group present in the samples. The total volatile concentration was low, reflecting the mild aroma of the samples. Partial least squares regression was performed to identify correlations between sensory characteristics and detected aroma compounds. Possible relationships, such as hexanal and oxidized oil, and broth aromatics were identified. Volatile compounds were also associated with earthy, musty, and meaty aromas and flavor notes. This study showed that extruded dry dog foods manufactured with different red sorghum fractions had similar aroma, flavor, and volatile profiles

Volatile compounds in dry dog foods and their influence on sensory aromatic profile

The aim of this study was to determine volatile compounds in dry dog foods and their possible influence on sensory aromatic profile. Grain-free dry dog foods were compared to dry dog foods manufactured with grain, but also with different protein sources for their aromatic volatiles. Solid-phase microextraction/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was used to determine the aromatic compounds present in the headspace of these samples. Partial Least Squares regression was performed to correlate the instrumental aromatic data with the descriptive aroma analysis data. A total of 54 aromatic compounds were tentatively identified in the dry dog food samples, with aldehydes and ketones being the most represented organic volatiles group. Grain-added products were on the average higher in total volatiles than grain-free products. Partial Least Squares regression analysis indicated possible connections with sensory aromatic profile and grain-added samples, such as rancid aroma and aldehydes, especially hexanal. The results of this study showed that dry dog foods are products with complex odor characteristics and that grain-free products are less aromatic