Consumers as Sensory Panellists

Abstract

Reports on evaluation of the reliability and consistency with which consumers assessed roast beef L. dorsi by presenting duplicate samples under standardized conditions in a sensory evaluation laboratory. Seven‐point hedonic scales were used, which were designed to assess flavour, tenderness, juiciness and overall eating quality. Results indicate that the samples were evaluated with very high levels of reliability and consistency, despite major differences in the eating qualities of the beef L. dorsi. Variation greater than ± 1 point on the hedonic scale was rare. While Quantitative Descriptive Sensory Profiling (QSP) provides detailed information on the eating qualities of foods, using panellists trained to identify small differences in specific foods, consumers may be used as sensory panellists to provide information on the likely impact on the consuming public. Under certain circumstances, consumers may also be a much more convenient choice for sensory panellists.

Instrumental and consumer evaluation of pork restructured with activa™ or with fibrimex™ formulated with and without phosphate

“…Seaman et al (1993) found that consumers using a 7-point hedonic scale can discern treatment differences in beef steaks for flavor, tenderness, juiciness and overall eating quality. Consumer acceptance testing is a passive measure to indicate the degree of liking of a product (Stone & Sidel, 1985).…”

“…Sensory evaluations of restructured products by trained or descriptive panels are used to distinguish among treatments for texture, flavor and overall liking (Risvik, 1994;Seaman et al, 1993). Seaman et al (1993) found that consumers using a 7-point hedonic scale can discern treatment differences in beef steaks for flavor, tenderness, juiciness and overall eating quality.…”

Statistics for food science – VI: correlation and regression (part B)

“…One application is in``test-retest'' reliability studies, where correlation can be used to check the stability of a measure over a period of time. Seaman et al (1993) used correlation coefficients to establish whether or not consumers were reliable when measuring meat quality. A duplicate sample was included in a set of six products tested by 50 consumers.…”

Statistics for food science III: sensory evaluation data. Part A – sensory data types and significance testing

“…; others are possible, such as the scoring ranges used by Seaman et al. [9] in which the use of correlation coefficients was also employed to compare large numbers of duplicates. Confidence intervals are less used in sensory work, although the importance of this statistical measure has been emphasized[ 10,11].…”