The Crick-Eatery: A Novel Approach to Evaluate Cricket (Acheta domesticus) Powder Replacement in Food Products through Product Eating Experience and Emotional Response.

This study was conducted to evaluate three different food products containing cricket powder for consumer acceptability, emotional response, satiety, and plate waste. US untrained consumers (n = 108), from the San Luis Obispo, CA area, were recruited to evaluate three food products (sausage, pasta, and brownies) as components in a three-course meal that either contain cricket powder (CP) or not (Control). The CP sausage was found to have lower liking scores than the Control for the attributes tested (p < 0.05). The CP pasta was found to be higher in overall liking than the Control (p < 0.05). The CP Brownies were rated highly across the attributes, except for texture and aftertaste (p < 0.05). Though the CP products were found to be as acceptable as the Controls, the use of cricket powder may have affected the texture and flavor profile of both the CP sausage and brownies. The participants selected more positive emotions terms for both the CP and Control products than negative emotions. Negative terms selected, such as worried, decreased once the products were consumed (p < 0.05). Plate waste and subjective satiety may also be indicators of consumer acceptability. Significant correlations were found between appearance liking and satiety as well as taste liking and plate waste for both the Control and CP products/dishes (p < 0.05). Based on this work, future acceptance of insect-based products may be encouraged by evaluating the products throughout an eating experience.

Will It Cricket? Product Development and Evaluation of Cricket (Acheta domesticus) Powder Replacement in Sausage, Pasta, and Brownies.

Insect powders used in food products may lower the overall quality when compared to conventional counterparts. This preliminary study was used to develop and evaluate insect-based food products and to utilize them in a future consumer test. Pork sausage, dried pasta, and chocolate brownie formulations were developed to either contain NO cricket powder (Control) or have cricket powder (CP). The products were evaluated for proximate composition and product-dependent parameters. The protein content increased in the CP pasta and brownies (p < 0.05) while no changes were found in the sausage (p > 0.05). Fat content increased in both the CP pasta and brownies while it decreased in the CP sausage (p < 0.05). The CP sausage had a higher carbohydrate content than the Control (p < 0.05). Overall, this may be attributed to cricket powder being high in protein and fat while also containing dietary fiber. Cricket powder replacement may lead to noticeable color differences by increasing green and blue coloring in sausage and pasta (p < 0.05). Changes in textural properties (p < 0.05) may be attributed to cricket powder affecting protein solubility and emulsion stability in sausage while gluten formation may be interfered with in the brownies. Overall, cricket powder replacement had improved nutritional content with minor changes in quality parameters.

Associations between parenting stress, parent feeding practices, and perceptions of child eating behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The aim of this study was to explore associations between parenting stress, feeding practices, and perceptions of children's eating behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents (n = 284) of children ages 4-6 years completed a cross-sectional online survey during the onset of pandemic-related stay-at-home mandates in the U.S. Parents reported current levels of parenting stress, feeding practices, and child eating behaviors. Parents also reported whether parenting stress had increased, stayed the same, or decreased since prior to the onset of pandemic-related stay-at-home mandates. Greater levels of parenting stress were associated with less desirable feeding practices, including greater odds of high use of food for emotional regulation (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.03-1.08), food as a reward (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.02-1.08), and pressure to eat (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.01-1.06), and low use of encouraging a balanced diet (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.01-1.06). Greater levels of parenting stress were also associated with greater perceptions that children exhibited problematic eating behaviors, including greater odds of high food fussiness (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.02-1.08) and low enjoyment of food (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.02-1.07). For parents who reported their parenting stress had increased, greater parenting stress was associated with more frequent use of pressure to eat (p = .009) and less frequent monitoring their child's diet (p = .028). In conclusion, parenting stress during the pandemic was associated with use of food for emotional and behavioral regulation and perceptions that children exhibited problematic eating behaviors. Further research is needed to understand how to mitigate parenting stress and promote healthy feeding practices during times of crisis.

Studying the Emotional Response to Insects Food Products.

Insects have been proposed as a sustainable food solution due to their environmental, nutritional, and socioeconomic value; however, in the western world, insects are viewed as disgusting. This research aimed to understand the acceptance of insect-based products in the US market by studying the emotional response to such. A survey of 826 consumers was conducted using (1) a modified version of the EsSense Profile® questionnaire to capture the emotional response to pictures of different kinds of foods, (2) images to evaluate the influence of the presence or absence of non-visible insects in food products, (3) information about the environmental value of insects, and (4) socioeconomic demographics. Disgust was found as a barrier to product acceptance. Insect food products were positively correlated with the emotions of interest, understanding, daring, adventurous, and worried, and negatively correlated with the emotions satisfied, good, pleasant, happy, calm, warm, nostalgic, and secure. The influence of sustainability-related information on the emotional response to such products is complex and should be carefully considered.