Understanding consumer liking of beef patties with different firmness among younger and older adults using FaceReader™ and biometrics.

Sensorial perceptions change as people age and biometrics analysis can be used to explore the unconscious consumer responses. Investigation was conducted of effects of consumer age (younger, 22-52 years; older, 60-76 years) on facial expression response (FER) during consumption of beef patties with varying firmness (soft, medium, hard) and taste (±plum sauce). Video images were collected and FERs analysed using FaceReader™. Younger people exhibited higher intensity for happy/sad/scared and lower intensity for neutral/disgusted, relative to older people. Interactions between age and texture/sauce showed little FER variation in older people, whereas younger people showed considerable FER variation. Younger people, but not older people, had lowest intensity of happy FER and highest intensity of angry FER for the hard patty. Sauce addition resulted in higher intensity of happy/contempt in younger consumers, but not older consumers. FER collected using FaceReader™ was successfully used to differentiate between the unconscious responses of younger and older consumers.

Effect of age on sensory perception of beef patties with varying firmness.

Sensorial perceptions change as people age; hence the aim of this study was to test if there were differences between younger (n = 95; aged 20-56) compared to older (n = 97; aged 60-81) consumers in sensory assessment of beef patties with varying firmness ('soft', 'medium', 'hard') and the influence of adding plum sauce as a lubricant and flavouring. The firmness of patties influenced consumer scores for overall liking, appearance, texture, flavour, and saltiness for both age groups. Both groups preferred the 'soft' patty regardless of sauce addition. When sauce was added, there was an increase in appearance and texture liking for younger consumers, but it did not influence liking for older people. In contrast to older consumers, younger subjects noted a 'sour-acidic' taste in samples. Sensorial perception of flavour does change as people age, and this is important to consider when developing suitable foods for older adults' consumption.

Exploring Meal and Snacking Behaviour of Older Adults in Australia and China.

Sensory perception and food preferences change as we age. This paper encompassed two studies with the aim being to investigate meal and snacking behaviour of older adults towards food, especially meat products, and understand the desirable characteristics of those products. A qualitative multivariate analysis (QMA) focus group with Australian and Chinese older (60-81 years old) adults was conducted. A conjoint concept database was used to determine older consumers' wants and needs for food in Australia and China. The QMA suggested that Australian consumers are not eating a proper breakfast or dinner but are 'snacking' throughout the day. In contrast, Chinese consumers are eating three regular meals through the day and occasionally snacks. For both groups, texture and flavour were key drivers for food choice. Difficulty in eating meat products was evident, e.g., beef jerky was found too dry and hard. Older consumers in China and Australia differed in responses to the four food categories investigated in terms of product traits and segmentation. Both the conjoint analysis and QMA showed that demographics have an impact on consumer preferences towards food. This research suggested that there is an opportunity to create ready-to-eat, nutrient dense products to enhance the wellness of older consumers.

Short communication: Lactose enhances bile tolerance of yogurt culture bacteria.

Lactose is an energy source for culture bacteria. Bile tolerance is an important probiotic property. Our aim was to elucidate the effect of lactose on bile tolerance of yogurt starter culture Lactobacillus bulgaricus LB-12 and Streptococcus thermophilus ST-M5. Bile tolerance of pure cultures was determined using 0.3% oxgall in MRS THIO broth (Difco, Becton Dickinson, Sparks, MD) for L. bulgaricus and 0.3% oxgall in M17 broth (Oxoid, Basingstoke, UK) for Strep. thermophilus. Lactose was added to both broths at 0 (control), 1, 3, and 5% (wt/vol) broth. Dilutions were plated hourly for 12 h. Experiments were replicated 3 times. At 2, 4, and 12 h of incubation, lactose incorporated at all amounts, 1, 3, and 5% (wt/vol), showed higher counts of Strep. thermophilus ST-M5 compared with the control. Lactose use at 5% (wt/vol) significantly enhanced bile tolerance of both L. bulgaricus and Strep. thermophilus compared with control.