Sensory profiles and consumer acceptability of a range of sugar-reduced products on the UK market

Abstract

Current UK intake of non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES) is above recommendations. Reducing the sugar content of processed high sugar foods through reformulation is one option for reducing consumption of NMES at a population level. However, reformulation can alter the sensory attributes of food products and influence consumer liking. This study evaluated consumer acceptance of a selection of products that are commercially-available in the UK; these included regular and sugar-reduced baked beans, strawberry jam, milk chocolate, cola and cranberry & raspberry juice. Sweeteners were present in the reformulated chocolate (maltitol), cola (aspartame and acesulfame-K) and juice (sucralose) samples. Healthy, non-smoking consumers (n = 116; 55 men, 61 women, age: 33 ± 9 years; BMI: 25.7 ± 4.6 kg/m 2) rated the products for overall liking and on liking of appearance, flavor and texture using a nine-point hedonic scale. There were significant differences between standard and reduced sugar products in consumers' overall liking and on liking of each modality (appearance, flavor and texture; all P < 0.0001). For overall liking, only the regular beans and cola were significantly more liked than their reformulated counterparts (P < 0.0001). Cluster analysis identified three consumer clusters that were representative of different patterns of consumer liking. For the largest cluster (cluster 3: 45%), there was a significant difference in mean liking scores across all products, except jam. Differences in liking were predominantly driven by sweet taste in 2 out of 3 clusters. The current research has demonstrated that a high proportion of consumers prefer conventional products over sugar-reduced products across a wide range of product types (45%) or across selected products (27%), when tasted unbranded, and so there is room for further optimization of commercial reduced sugar products that were evaluated in the current study. Future work should evaluate strategies to facilitate compliance to dietary recommendations on NMES and free sugars, such as the impact of sugar-reduced food exposure on their acceptance. 3 Highlights:  We examine acceptability of commercially-available sugar-reduced products.  We compare regular and sugar-reduced beans, jam, chocolate, cola and juice samples.  Mean liking scores were significantly lower for sugar-reduced beans and cola.  45% of consumers gave lower liking scores to 4 of 5 sugar-reduced products.

Sensory Profile and Consumer Acceptability of Prebiotic White Chocolate with Sucrose Substitutes and the Addition of Goji Berry (Lycium barbarum)

“…However, these samples were similar ( P > 0.05) to the prebiotic chocolate with sucrose (Sucro). Markey and others () studied the consumers’ acceptance of milk chocolate sweetened with maltitol as a sucrose replacer, and observed no differences in the flavor acceptance when compared to a traditional formulation (sucrose), with a lower acceptance for the attribute texture, differing from the findings of the present study.…”

Consumer acceptance of dairy products with a saturated fatty acid–reduced, monounsaturated fatty acid–enriched content

“…A previous cluster analysis of liquid dairy products highlighted that liking varied according to age, sex, and income (Richardson-Harman et al, 2000). Using a cluster approach, we have shown that a distinct cluster of consumers that were representative of the UK population with regard to age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and socioeconomic class (SEC) had less of a preference for a range of reformulated, sugarreduced products when compared with regular-sugar alternatives (Markey et al, 2015). To our knowledge, no study has used a cluster approach to investigate consumer acceptance of FA-modified dairy products and to examine whether consumer clusters of liking for such products are associated with sociodemographic characteristics.…”

“…As a result of time constraints, it was not feasible to assess the effect of information provision on acceptability of the milk and butter samples. In addition, not all of the product types were processed under standardized conditions (i.e., different process parameters and milk sources were used), and it is acknowledged that this could have affected product acceptance (Markey et al, 2015) independent of variations in FA or total fat content. Furthermore, it was not feasible to purchase all commercial samples in a single batch (cheese and butter or spread) or in units that were consistent with those of the modified and control dairy products.…”

“…The SEC was determined according to the 2010 National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification Guidelines (Rose and Pevalin, 2010). Based on previous work (Markey et al, 2015), a sample size of 100 consumers was deemed necessary to detect a difference in overall liking (primary outcome measure) of 2 on a 9-point hedonic scale between products at 80% power and P < 0.05. With the allowance for a 20% dropout rate, 115 consumers were recruited to the study.…”

Physico‐chemical and sensory properties of marmalades made from mixtures of fruits and under‐exploited Andean tubers

“…Excessive consumption of sucrose is considered to be a major contributor in the progression of dental caries, metabolic diseases and hypertension . However, sucrose replacement by low‐calorie sweeteners could provide a feasible strategy for reduction of sugar intake . Thus the development of sugar‐reduced marmalades is an attractive alternative.…”