Investigating the disclosure of ingredient lists impact on consumers' sensory perceptions of red wines produced in Nova Scotia, Canada

Abstract

Wineries have started to state their ingredients list on their bottles of wine; however, they have not considered how this may affect consumers' acceptability and sensory perception. The first objective was to determine the attributes consumers used to describe Nova Scotia (NS) red wines. The second objective was to identify the impact ingredient lists have on consumers' sensory perceptions of wine. In the first trial, 81 participants evaluated NS red wines (n = 8) using projective mapping and ultraflash profiling. In the second trial, three red wines were selected to be evaluated with and without an ingredient list. Participants (n = 98) evaluated the wines through a check-all-that-apply questionnaire and 9-point hedonic scales. Sweet, fruity, and floral attributes were used more frequently to describe the wines with a shorter ingredient list. However, there was no significant difference in the acceptability of wines when they were evaluated blinded and with the ingredient list. Practical applications Consumers are asking for more information on to be presented on alcoholic beverages, including ingredients. Understanding which attributes contribute to and the impact of ingredient lists on consumer liking is vital to the wine industry. This study used check-all-that-apply and hedonic scales were used to evaluate how the presence of ingredient lists affected the participants' sensory perception and overall liking of the red wines. It was determined that the presence of ingredient lists did not significantly affect the acceptability or the perceived sensory properties of red wines. 1 | INTRODUCTION Consumers highly rely on these external cues, including labels and descriptors, when choosing wines. The price, ingredient list, and elaborate taste descriptors have consistently been found to be the primary extrinsic factors that influence consumers' choices of wine, upon initial purchase (Mueller, Lockshin, Saltman, & Blanford, 2010). Currently, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) does not require standardized alcoholic beverages (such as beer, wine, rum, and whiskey) to list ingredients on the product's label (Government of Canada, 2019). Nevertheless, consumers desire the disclosure of this information (Grunert, Hieke, & Juhl, 2018), to assess a product's nutritional value, authenticity, "naturalness," and taste (Cheung et al., 2016; Youn & Kim, 2017). A risk for wineries and businesses in adding ingredient lists on wine bottles is consumers' potential misunderstanding and confusion with the ingredient information (Mueller et al., 2010; Pabst, Szolnoki, & Mueller, 2019). Consumers expect that wine is a natural product and have been found to prefer wine when the ingredient list is short, and familiar ingredients are listed (Pabst et al., 2019).

The Effect of Banana Fiber and Banana Peel Fiber on the Chemical and Rheological Properties of Symbiotic Yogurt Made from Camel Milk

“…Some studies have shown that prebiotics in the probiotic yoghurt cause improvement of the texture of the product; however, over time, as the production of acid increases and the pH decreases, the sensory properties of the final product decrease. Similar findings have been reported previously [ 34 – 36 ].…”

Using check‐all‐that‐apply to evaluate wine and food pairings: An investigation with white wines

“…The second dimension also separated W2 (L'Acadie) from W1 (L'Acadie) and W3 (Seyval Blanc). The attributes identified by the participants agree with past studies investigating white wines produced in NS (Hayward, Finlay, et al, 2020; Hayward, Jantzi, Smith, & McSweeney, 2020; Smith & McSweeney, 2019). Also, it is clear from the results that the panelists were able to separate the different varieties of wine.…”

“…The liking of citrus was also seen in this study as the participants indicated that a citrus‐aroma drove their liking of the wine (Figure 2). The floral aroma has also been found to be important to consumers when evaluating white wines (Lattey, Bramley, & Francis, 2010) and when evaluating wines produced in NS (Hayward, Finlay, et al, 2020; Hayward, Jantzi, et al, 2020; Hayward & McSweeney, 2020); however, these studies investigated red and rosé wines, respectively. Participants also identified several attributes that drove their disliking of wine, which included earthy and sour attributes.…”

Projective mapping and ultra‐flash profile studies should include a list of descriptors and definitions: An investigation into descriptors used by untrained panelists

“…However, King et al's (2013) study evaluated red wine, not white wine. As discussed above in other studies investigating NS wine using PM and UFP, the participants focused on the wine's taste and aroma attributes (Hayward, Finlay, et al, 2020; Hayward, Jantzi, et al, 2020). Moreover, this result was reinforced when asking the participants to define the attributes in the survey.…”

“…Many researchers have used PM and UFP to determine differences in the sensory properties of wine (Heymann, Hopfer, & Bershaw, 2014; Hopfer & Heymann, 2013; Ross, Weller, & Alldredge, 2012; Torri et al, 2013; Wilson, Brand, du Toit, & Buica, 2019). The authors have also used PM and UFP extensively to evaluate wines produced in Nova Scotia (NS), Canada (Barton, Hayward, Richardson, & McSweeney, 2020; Hayward, Finlay, et al, 2020; Jantzi, Hayward, Barton, Richardson, & McSweeney, 2020; Smith & McSweeney, 2019). One of the main disadvantages discovered based on these studies is that the words used during the UFP are not well defined by the participants in the task.…”