ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a substantial threat to people's lives and raised health concerns. This research explores the mediating role of consumers' attitudes towards health claims in the relationship between consumers' interest in health claims and their willingness to pay (WTP) for health claims in extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). Additionally, we examine the moderation effect of COVID-19 risk perception in the relationship between consumers' interest in and attitudes towards health claims. Data were collected through an online survey in three countries: Spain, the UK and Chile. Findings confirm the mediating role of consumers' attitudes towards health claims. Furthermore, the relationship between consumers' interest and their attitudes towards health claims was stronger when COVID-19 risk perception was higher.
ABSTRACT
A large body of literature has supported the idea that both food-intrinsic sensory attributes (e.g., taste, aroma, etc.) and food-extrinsic attributes (e.g., origin, health claims etc.) play a crucial role in consumers' purchase intentions. However, it is still uncertain how the presence of health claims in the era of high prevalence of diseases and viruses (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic) might impact sensory attributes, and therefore shape consumers' purchase intentions. Thus, the aim of the study is to (i) investigate the impact of health claims presented to the consumers along with the sensory attributes on their purchasing intentions, and (ii) examine to what extent sensory attributes mediate the relationship between the presence of health claims and consumers' purchasing intentions. For that purpose, sensory analysis of a healthy food product (extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)) was conducted to examine consumers' interest in health claims in two scenarios: an informed scenario without health claims (n=102) and an informed scenario with health claims (n=105). The findings from a Structural Equation Model using STATA software suggest that the presence of health claims positively affects purchase intentions for EVOO. The sensory attributes taste and aftertaste partially mediate the relationship between the presence of health claims and consumers' purchasing intentions. Furthermore, consumers rated the sensory attributes higher in the presence of health claims. Therefore, the food industry should focus on ways to improve consumers' sensory and health perspectives by producing not only healthier food products with health claims but also tastier products than the ones available in the market. Moreover, food companies and marketers can make health claims more effective by targeting consumers' preferences and developing marketing campaigns using claims that are essential for promoting extra-virgin olive oil.
ABSTRACT
The paper is focused on the need of a diet under the conditions of an epidemiological crisis. The chemical analysis of food products demonstrates that there is no single food type including all the nutrients essential for the human body. Proteins, fats, carbohydrates, mineral salts, micronutrients, vitamins and water play their own roles in the vital processes, which are interconnected. A disorder of one of these processes is reflected in all the other. Hence, the human body has to be constantly provided with all nutrients, and more specifically, they have to be supplied in the required quantitative and qualitative ratios. In this context, the essence of diet and its role for a normal and healthy functioning of the body is manifested. Currently, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) does not establish a health claim on a single food product or nutritional ingredient with a protective action against coronavirus infection. Nevertheless, according to the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN), nutrition plays a significant role in the course of a viral infection and its outcome. Observations are based mainly on the impact on other viruses with a similar nature, hence, the administration of measures was considered appropriate also in Covid-19. In the paper, guidelines for following a diet during the course of disease and after coronavirus infection are given.
ABSTRACT
On the 11 th of March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a global pandemic due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This was one month after Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO declared that we are also fighting an 'infodemic'. The WHO has described an infodemic as an "over-abundance of information - some accurate and some not - that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it". iHealthFacts.ie is an Irish resource where the public can quickly and easily check the credibility and reliability of health claims circulating on social media. Unreliable claims can lead to poorly informed health choices. iHealthFacts is an initiative that supports the public to think critically about health claims and make well-informed choices. Here, we describe the role iHealthFacts plays in providing reliable information to the public and offer reflections from those involved in launching this initiative during a pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Micronutrients are critical for an adequate function of the immune system and play a vital role in promoting health and nutritional well-being. The present work is aimed at reviewing (1) the role of micronutrients in helping the immune system to fight against the COVID-19 disease through the diet with food or food supplements and (2) the potential use of food health claims regarding immune function according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) requirements. Till date, there are some health claims authorized by the European Commission that refer to the role of certain essential nutrients (vitamins B6, B9, B12, A, D, C, and Cu, Fe, Se) to contribute to the proper functioning of the immune system. Vitamins D, C, Zn, and Se, have been thoroughly studied as a strategy to improve the immune system to fight against COVID-19 disease. From all the micronutrients, Vitamin D is the one with more scientific evidence suggesting positive effects against COVID-19 disease as it is linked to a reduction of infection rates, as well as an improved outcomes in patients. To validate scientific evidence, different clinical trials are ongoing currently, with promising preliminary results although inconclusive yet.
ABSTRACT
The importance of a well-functioning and balanced immune system has become more apparent in recent decades. Various elements have however not yet been uncovered as shown, for example, in the uncertainty on immune system responses to COVID-19. Fungal beta-glucans are bioactive molecules with immunomodulating properties. Insights into the effects and function of beta-glucans, which have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries, advances with the help of modern immunological and biotechnological methods. However, it is still unclear into which area beta-glucans fit best: supplements or medicine? This review has highlighted the potential application of fungal beta-glucans in nutrition and medicine, reviewing their formulation, efficacy, safety profile, and immunomodulating effects. The current status of dietary fungal glucans with respect to the European scientific requirements for health claims related to the immune system and defense against pathogens has been reviewed. Comparing the evidence base of the putative health effects of fungal beta-glucan supplements with the published guidance documents by EFSA on substantiating immune stimulation and pathogen defense by food products shows that fungal beta-glucans could play a role in supporting and maintaining health and, thus, can be seen as a good health-promoting substance from food, which could mean that this effect may also be claimed if approved. In addition to these developments related to food uses of beta-glucan-containing supplements, beta-glucans could also hold a novel position in Western medicine as the concept of trained immunity is relatively new and has not been investigated to a large extent. These innovative concepts, together with the emerging success of modern immunological and biotechnological methods, suggest that fungal glucans may play a promising role in both perspectives, and that there are possibilities for traditional medicine to provide an immunological application in both medicine and nutrition.