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- Consumer perceptions and attitudes of the circular economy and food by-productsPublication . Sousa, Pedro Manuel de; Moreira, Maria João; Moura, Ana Pinto de; Cunha, Luís MiguelAccording to FAO, one-third of all edible food produced for human consumption is wasted or otherwise lost from the food chain per year, or about 1.3 billion tonnes. In Europe, the amount of industrial food waste or loss varies between 19% and 39% of the total food loss in the food supply chains. As a result, the adoption of a circular economy policy has received special attention from the agrifood industries, allowing for the creation and development of new food products made of by-products that would otherwise be wasted or used for secondary applications. The aim of this research is twofold: i) to understand the way consumers perceived the circular economy and food products from the circular economy, and ii) to evaluate attitudes towards the circular economy. For this, a mixed methodology was applied free word association methodology was applied to evaluate consumers’ conceptualization of the circular economy and the use of by-products as foods. Data were analysed by grouping the responses into exclusive and exhaustive categories, and a correspondence analysis was also performed to originate perceptual maps. Additionally, a questionnaire was designed to evaluate major concepts and attitudes correlated with the circular economy. Data were reduced by principal component analysis (PCA), and participants were grouped through clustering. Results showed that consumers understand the circular economy as related mainly to Sustainability, Economy, and Circularity dimensions. Participants had great difficulty identifying the by-products used as foods or as food ingredients. Four groups were identified based on the associations to the six principal components originated by the PCA. However, the results highlighted a very low association with all clusters of the Food Valorisation dimension within the concept of the circular economy, and also a lack of a clear understanding of consumers’ attitudes towards food products from the circular economy.
- 4º Relatório de Progresso (Julho 2020 a março 2021): projeto COOPERMINHOPublication . Cunha, Luís Miguel; Moura, Ana Pinto de; Fonseca, Susana Caldas; Rocha, Célia; Sousa, Pedro Manuel Rodrigues deEnquanto membro integrado do GreenUPorto, colaborou em estudo técnico de consultoria para a Câmara Municipal de Vila Nova de Cerveira, relativo à valorização da região do Rio Minho por parte dos consumidores nacionais, tendo participado no seguinte relatório: 4º Relatório de Progresso (Julho 2020 a março 2021).
- The new EU nutrition labelling : barriers and opportunities that food business operators perceived in their business practices and for consumers food purchasesPublication . Carrilho, Tiago; Moura, Ana Pinto de; Cunha, Luís MiguelAlthough consumers express a growing expectation in finding clear, credible and easy to understand label, presented in food products, studies confirm that European consumers have difficulties in understanding and use nutritional labelling in the format currently existing in the European Union. To overcome this situation, the European Union issued a new food information regulation on the provision of information on food consumers to be in force from 13 December 2014. The proposal took into account the need to simplify and consolidate the plethora of legal acts on labelling, to accommodate what consumers have shown to need, as well as improving nutrition information in order to help them make informed and healthier choices. The aim of this study was to understand in depth the largest Portuguese manufactures and retailers’ nutrition labelling practices in the light of the acceptance of the new food information regulation. A qualitative study has been developed and an interview guide was designed through food business operators, taking into account barriers and opportunities for food business operators and consumers face the new nutrition labels. Although the majority of the ten respondents had a positive opinion on a unique regulation, they also addressed the minimum character size, that acts as a barrier to marketing actions, because with this limitation they do not have space to provide voluntary information on the: product (e.g. claims, “kosher”), production method (e.g. organic), package (e.g. PET recycling), and corporate social commitments. Industry operators also worry about the obligation of the country of origin labelling inclusion. Most participants identify a number of benefits for the consumer like: allergen communication in non-pre-packed food, improved clarity of labels, mandatory nutrition declaration and, the harmonisation of rules. However, food operators considered the presence of confusing information, like changes in nutrition declaration (e.g. replacement of “sodium” to “salt”) and origin labelling in processed foods.
- Why consumers eat what they do: an approach to improve nutrition education and promote healthy eatingPublication . Moura, Ana Pinto de; Cunha, Luís MiguelThe current article discusses the major barriers to the adoption of a healthy diet and the main factors that influence individual food choice. Different approaches and actions to be taken for modifying consumer’s food intake in the direction of healthy eating are discussed.
- Evaluation of compliance with legal requirements for food labelling in PortugalPublication . Mil-Homens, Ana Sofia; Moura, Ana Pinto de; Cunha, Luís MiguelIntroduction The labelling of foodstuffs is an important communication tool between the manufacturer/retailer and the consumer. However, some economic operators recognize that although food products’ front of package information adds value to their business; it risks hindering the sales of some food categories, especially the less healthy ones. Aim The aim of this study was to characterize the type of legal infringements associated with the labelling practices for foodstuffs sold on the Portuguese market, based on official audits developed by the National Food Safety Authority. Methods All samples were collected under the National Sampling Plan of the Portuguese Food and Economic Safety Authority, between 2007 and 2011, with a total of 8,549 food products under evaluation. Results After evaluation of the label and laboratory testing, 432 were identified as non-compliant, from which 164 were identified as presenting non-compliant labelling. “Meat and meat products”, “milk and dairy products” and “ready to eat food” were the groups with more non-compliant labels. Relatively to the offenses, 51% were associated with error-inducing mentions, followed by labelling imprecision (40%) and 9% were non-compliant samples with a potential risk for consumer’s health. The detected offenses were related mostly with incomplete mentions, followed by names not corresponding to the product, mandatory mentions not translated to Portuguese and the incorrect use of nutritional claims. Discussion/conclusions It is essential to promote specific training on food labelling rules aimed at economic operators and employees, in order to reduce the number of offenses of this nature.
- Sensory profiling of complex meals : the case study of baked cod with cream and duckPublication . Rocha, C.; Madeira, A.; Moura, Ana Pinto de; Lima, R. C.; Cunha, Luís MiguelSensory analysis provides important information for developing new products and improving existing ones on the market. In fact, this science appears as a link between research and the development of innovative foods and their acceptance by the consumer [1]. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of sensory methodologies for profiling of complex meals such as baked cod with cream and duck rice. Evaluation was performed with two sets of eight samples of industrial cod with cream and duck rice. Two independent trained panels of 9 and 12 judges evaluated the samples according to Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA). Two independent panels of 16 untrained judges applied the Flash-Profile (FP) methodology over four sessions: attribute generation; final attribute list choice; evaluation 1 and 2. Two consumer panels evaluated the overall acceptance of each set of samples, on a sequential monadic presentation. For duck rice meals, the correlation between QDA and FP was not high (RV=0,646), and consumers preferred samples characterized by rice colour intensity, amount of duck, oiliness, bacon and chorizo in the meal. For cod with cream meals, the consumers preferred the samples characterized by amount and size of the cod pieces and intensity of cod taste, with a high correlation between FP and QDA (RV=0,860). Both sensory descriptive methodologies provide us with reliable and robust data in the characterization of complex meals. The FP methodology is relevant when working with panels of consumers to the extent that allows it to use their own lexicon of attributes. The application of external preference mapping on consumers’ response to FP emerges as a quick tool, either to describe products or to be used by food companies that have difficulties in using trained assessors’ panels. References: [1] Siegrist, M. (2008) Factors influencing public acceptance of innovative food technologies and products. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 19, 603-608.
- Comunicação dos perigos alimentares pela imprensa escrita: um estudo de caso para o milénio (2000-2017)Publication . Azevedo, R.; Mil-Homens, A. S.; Cunha, Luís Miguel; Moura, Ana Pinto deOs media assumem um papel crítico na disseminação da informação sobre o risco alimentar, podendo o consumidor instruir-se sobre a atualidade dos diferentes perigos alimentares, recorrendo nomeadamente à leitura da imprensa escrita. A presente investigação pretendeu avaliar o modo como as notícias associadas ao risco alimentar são tratadas por um jornal diário nacional. Para o efeito, consideraram-se os títulos das suas capas, para o período de 2000 a 2017. Recorreu-se à análise de conteúdo, procurando--se identificar categorias comuns às diferentes capas, construindo-se um formulário de recolha de informação. Das 335 capas analisadas, confirmou-se que os perigos alimentares tiveram cobertura nas capas do jornal, representando cerca de 5% das capas noticiadas durante o período em estudo, sendo que o tipo de perigo mais difundido foi o biológico, seguido do perigo nutricional. Individualmente, os perigos alimentares mais abordados foram a obesidade, o vírus da gripe das aves e a BSE. Verificou-se ainda que a BSE assumiu particular importância por ser o perigo alimentar que constituiu um maior número de manchetes. A maioria das capas analisadas sobre perigos alimentares dizia respeito ao território português.
- Introducing "the new food choice and consumer paradigms"Publication . Moura, Ana Pinto de; Cunha, Luís Miguel; Azeiteiro, Ulisses; Leal Filho, WalterIn this special issue, the main results from an International Seminar entitled: New Food Paradigms, held in Portugal in October 2008 are presented. The event was organized on behalf of the Associated Laboratory, REQUIMTE, University of Porto, Portugal. A total of seven rigorously peer-reviewed papers stemming from the Seminar are presented.
- Conceptualization of rice with low glycemic index: perspectives from the major european consumersPublication . Cabral, Diva; Fonseca, Susana Caldas; Moura, Ana Pinto de; Oliveira, Jorge; Cunha, Luís MiguelRice and cereal consumption has become a concern for consumers due to usually high glycaemic indexes (GI), which is a critical issue for a balanced and healthy diet. Therefore, the development of new products with low GI is an important target of the industry, particularly in countries with high consumption. This study assesses consumers’ perceptions about “rice” and “rice with low GI” and evaluates the effect of consumers’ rice consumption profiles through the application of a free word association technique in a structured self-administered electronic questionnaire with 256 Portuguese consumers (the European market with the highest per capita consumption of rice by far). The frequency of rice consumption was evaluated, and the consumption profile was determined through a hierarchical cluster analysis, with 9% identified as daily consumers. The response words were categorized by the triangulation technique, and the association between the word categories and dimensions, sociodemographic characteristics, and consumption profile were determined. Respondents most frequently associated “rice” with rice dishes, its sensory attributes, and nutrition, highlighting the satisfaction of nutritional and hedonic needs. Consumers revealed positive expectations in relation to the functionality of “rice with low GI”. The consumers’ rice consumption profiles, sex, age, and educational levels influenced their perception towards “rice“ and “rice with low GI”. This study provides important insights for the industry to develop a consumer-oriented, low GI rice product.
- Understanding the role of printed media in the social amplification of food risk during the new MillenniumPublication . Moura, Ana Pinto de; Cunha, Luís MiguelThe aim of this exploratory study is to characterize the nature of the reporting of food-related hazards in cover news from the major daily Portuguese newspaper.