Explaining tolerance for bitterness in chocolate ice cream using solid chocolate preferences.

Chocolate ice cream is commonly formulated with higher sugar levels than nonchocolate flavors to compensate for the inherent bitterness of cocoa. Bitterness, however, is an integral part of the complex flavor of chocolate. In light of the global obesity epidemic, many consumers and health professionals are concerned about the levels of added sugars in foods. Once a strategy for balancing undesirable bitterness and health concerns regarding added sugars has been developed, the task becomes determining whether that product will be acceptable to the consumer. Thus, the purpose of this research was to manipulate the bitterness of chocolate ice cream to examine how this influences consumer preferences. The main goal of this study was to estimate group rejection thresholds for bitterness in chocolate ice cream, and to see if solid chocolate preferences (dark vs. milk) generalized to ice cream. A food-safe bitter ingredient, sucrose octaacetate, was added to chocolate ice cream to alter bitterness without disturbing other the sensory qualities of the ice cream samples, including texture. Untrained chocolate ice cream consumers participated in a large-scale sensory test by indicating their preferences for blinded pairs of unspiked and spiked samples, where the spiked sample had increasing levels of the added bitterant. As anticipated, the group containing individuals who prefer milk chocolate had a much lower tolerance for bitterness in their chocolate ice cream compared with the group of individuals who prefer dark chocolate; indeed, the dark chocolate group tolerated almost twice as much added bitterant in the ice cream before indicating a significant preference for the unspiked (control) ice cream. This work demonstrates the successful application of the rejection threshold method to a complex dairy food. Estimating rejection thresholds could prove to be an effective tool for determining acceptable formulations or quality limits when considering attributes that become objectionable at high intensities.

Tolerance for high flavanol cocoa powder in semisweet chocolate.

Endogenous polyphenolic compounds in cacao impart both bitter and astringent characteristics to chocolate confections. While an increase in these compounds may be desirable from a health perspective, they are generally incongruent with consumer expectations. Traditionally, chocolate products undergo several processing steps (e.g., fermentation and roasting) that decrease polyphenol content, and thus bitterness. The objective of this study was to estimate group rejection thresholds for increased content of cocoa powder produced from under-fermented cocoa beans in a semisweet chocolate-type confection. The group rejection threshold was equivalent to 80.7% of the non-fat cocoa solids coming from the under-fermented cocoa powder. Contrary to expectations, there were no differences in rejection thresholds when participants were grouped based on their self-reported preference for milk or dark chocolate, indicating that these groups react similarly to an increase in high cocoa flavanol containing cocoa powder.

Rejection thresholds in solid chocolate-flavored compound coating.

UNLABELLED: Classical detection thresholds do not predict liking, as they focus on the presence or absence of a sensation. Recently however, Prescott and colleagues described a new method, the rejection threshold, where a series of forced choice preference tasks are used to generate a dose-response function to determine hedonically acceptable concentrations. That is, how much is too much? To date, this approach has been used exclusively in liquid foods. Here, we determined group rejection thresholds in solid chocolate-flavored compound coating for bitterness. The influences of self-identified preferences for milk or dark chocolate, as well as eating style (chewers compared to melters) on rejection thresholds were investigated. Stimuli included milk chocolate-flavored compound coating spiked with increasing amounts of sucrose octaacetate, a bitter and generally recognized as safe additive. Paired preference tests (blank compared to spike) were used to determine the proportion of the group that preferred the blank. Across pairs, spiked samples were presented in ascending concentration. We were able to quantify and compare differences between 2 self-identified market segments. The rejection threshold for the dark chocolate preferring group was significantly higher than the milk chocolate preferring group (P= 0.01). Conversely, eating style did not affect group rejection thresholds (P= 0.14), although this may reflect the amount of chocolate given to participants. Additionally, there was no association between chocolate preference and eating style (P= 0.36). Present work supports the contention that this method can be used to examine preferences within specific market segments and potentially individual differences as they relate to ingestive behavior. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This work makes use of the rejection threshold method to study market segmentation, extending its use to solid foods. We believe this method has broad applicability to the sensory specialist and product developer by providing a process to identify how much is too much when formulating products, even in the context of specific market segments. We illustrate this in solid chocolate-flavored compound coating, identifying substantial differences in the amount of acceptable bitterness in those who prefer milk chocolate compared to dark chocolate. This method provides a direct means to answer the question of how much is too much.

Rejection Thresholds in Chocolate Milk: Evidence for Segmentation.

Bitterness is generally considered a negative attribute in food, yet many individuals enjoy some bitterness in products like coffee or chocolate. In chocolate, bitterness arises from naturally occurring alkaloids and phenolics found in cacao. Fermentation and roasting help develop typical chocolate flavor and reduce the intense bitterness of raw cacao by modifying these bitter compounds. As it becomes increasingly common to fortify chocolate with `raw' cacao to increase the amount of healthful phytonutrients, it is important to identify the point at which the concentration of bitter compounds becomes objectionable, even to those who enjoy some bitterness. Classical threshold methods focus on the presence or absence of a sensation rather than acceptability or hedonics. A new alternative, the rejection threshold, was recently described in the literature. Here, we sought to quantify and compare differences in Rejection Thresholds (RjT) and Detection Thresholds (DT) in chocolate milk spiked with a food safe bitterant (sucrose octaacetate). In experiment 1, a series of paired preference tests was used to estimate the RjT for bitterness in chocolate milk. In a new group of participants (experiment 2), we determined the RjT and DT using the forced choice ascending method of limits. In both studies, participants were segmented on the basis of self-declared preference for milk or dark solid chocolate. Based on sigmoid fits of the indifference-preference function, the RjT was ~2.3 times higher for those preferring dark chocolate than the RjT for those preferring milk chocolate in both experiments. In contrast, the DT for both groups was functionally identical, suggesting that differential effects of bitterness on liking of chocolate products are not based on the ability to detect bitterness in these products.