Browsing by Author "Djekic, I."
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- Can we understand food oral processing using Kano model? Case study with confectionery productsPublication . Djekic, I.; Ilic, J.; Guiné, Raquel; Tomasevic, I.This study had two objectives, to determine oral processing parameters and its corre- lation with mechanical properties of selected confectionery products and to catego- rize oral processing and sensory attributes based on a Kano model. Thirteen panelists analyzed five confectionery products in the oral processing part of the study. In paral- lel, 327 interviews participated in a field survey to enable analyzing responses to food quality and oral processing attributes. It has been confirmed that oral processing parameters are interrelated with most of the mechanical properties of confectionery products. Average number of bites is correlated with consumption time per bite, chewing rate, and bite size. Consumption time and chewing rate were negatively cor- related for Brownie cake. Satiation was associated with eating rate and calorie intake rate for Jelly Candy and Waffle. All food quality requirements were categorized as “ attractive ” and “ one-dimensional. ” Oral processing parameters — food breakdown and eating rate are aligned to “ attractive ” category, bite size was identified as a “ must-be ” category, and number of chews is outlined as a “ reverse ” category. The Kano model results show that oral processing parameters have a strong influence on consumer satisfaction in parallel with well-known sensorial characteristics associated with food quality.
- Consumer perception about edible insects’ relation with environment and sustainabilityPublication . Guiné, Raquel P. F.; Klava, D.; Straumite, E.; Kruma, Z.; Florença, S. G.; Anjos, O.; Djekic, I.; Chuck-Hernandez, C.; Matek Saric, M.; Bartkiene, E.; Boustani, N. M.; Papageorgiou, M.; Baro, J. M. F.; Korzeniowska, M.; Cernelic-Bizjak, M.; Tarcea, M.; Damarli, E.; Ferreira, V.The interest in adopting more sustainable diets can be a driver for consumers to engage the consumption of edible insects, even in countries where they are not culturally accepted as food. This work aimed to study the perceptions and knowledge of consumers in different countries towards edible insects and their relation with environment and sustainability. The present investigation was based on a questionnaire survey (11 questions) and this descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on a non-probabilistic sample of 7221 participants from 14 countries. The participants in the survey revealed high knowledge (over 50%) about the sustainability issues related with edible insects as food. The sociodemographic variables education, sex and age are influential, by decreasing order of importance. Regarding living environment, rural areas have the lowest percentage of informed participants. Comparing countries, statistically significant differences were observed for all questions, making this the most important predictor for information about sustainability of edible insects. This is expected, having in mind that cultural influences are highly variable among the set of countries included in the study, with a high number of European countries, but also with Latin American countries like Mexico or Brazil, or Middle East countries like Turkey or Lebanon.
- Consumers’ purchasing habits and food poisoning risk - A portuguese surveyPublication . Goncalves, J. C.; Guiné, Raquel P. F.; Djekic, I.; Smigic, NIn the Western countries, despite tight food safety legislation, food poisoning episodes are still quite frequent. According to the European legislation, it is mandatory for all European member states the annual reporting of information on food-borne outbreaks. In Portugal, the National Institute of Health (INSA) notifies each year the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) about the data of the foodborne outbreaks occurred in Portugal, namely information about the pathogenic microorganism responsible, the food products involved and the places where the contamination or consumption have occurred. The aim of this research was to evaluate the Portuguese consumer knowledge about food products commonly responsible for poisoning outbreaks, and witch pathogenic microorganisms are most associated to those food poisoning episodes. In 2017, the Department of Food and Nutrition (DAN) of INSA, carried out laboratory research on 18 outbreaks of food-borne infections that occurred in Portugal which caused 323 cases of illness and involved 145 hospitalizations, with no deaths being reported. Also, we were collecting information through a questionnaire, which was disclosed in the google forms online platform. Ethical issues were respected in the design and application of the questionnaire, and validated by the CERNAS Research Centre. The questionnaire was approved by the Ethics Committee at the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, in June 2021 with reference 52/ SUB/2021. The data was collected between June of 2021 and January of 2022, involving 350 adult participants that voluntarily answered the questionnaire. Data analysis was made using Excel. In the EFSA report of 2017, a total of 5,079 foodborne outbreaks were reported. In these events, Salmonella spp. was the commonest detected agent, causing one out of seven outbreaks. Also, Salmonella spp. in eggs and in meat and meat products were identified as the highest risk agent/food pairs. Concerning the place where the food was prepared or consumed, 75% were in public places (institutions, residential, canteens, school bars, schools, colleges, kindergartens, day-care centers, restaurants, hospitals, and nursing homes) and 25% at home, i.e. all the patients involved belonged to the same household. The major foodborne pathogens, associated food vehicles, include: Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus. Listeria monocytogenes is able to grow at temperatures approaching 0 0 C, and is responsible for outbreaks of listeriosis often associated to the consumption of ready to eat meat, dairy and fishery products. The results show that consumers are quite well informed about food contamination by pathogenic microorganism. They consider products like eggs, meat, and dairy products, as having the greatest risk to the health of consumers and identify the salmonella as the microorganism most associated to those contamination.
- Food safety in portuguese Companies in Covid-19 Pandemic ContextPublication . C. Goncalves, J.; Guiné, Raquel P. F.; Correia, Paula; Tomasevic, I.; Djekic, I.
- Investigation of the Level of Knowledge in Different Countries about Edible Insects: Cluster SegmentationPublication . Guiné, Raquel P. F.; Florença, S. G.; Costa, Cristina Amaro Da; Correia, Paula; Ferreira, Manuela; Cardoso, Ana Paula; Campos, Sofia; Anjos, Ofélia; Chuck-Hernández, C.; Sarić, M. M.; Djekic, I.; Papageorgiou, M.; Baro, J. M. F.; Korzeniowska, M.; Černelič-Bizjak, M.; Bartkiene, E.; Tarcea, M.; Boustani, N. M.; Klava, D.; Damarli, E.This study aimed to investigate the level of knowledge about edible insects (EIs) in a sample of people from thirteen countries (Croatia, Greece, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey). Data collection was based on a questionnaire survey applied through online tools between July and November 2021. For data analysis, techniques such as factor analysis, cluster analysis, and chi-square tests were used, with a significance level of 5%. A total of 27 items were used to measure knowledge on a five-point Likert scale. Applying factor analysis with principal components and Varimax rotation, a solution that explains about 55% of variance was obtained. This accounts for four factors that retained 22 of the 27 initial items: F1 = Sustainability (8 items), F2 = Nutrition (8 items), F3 = Production Factors (2 items), and F4 = Health Concerns (4 items). Internal consistency was evaluated through Cronbach’s alpha. The cluster analysis consisted of the application of hierarchical methods followed by k-means and produced three clusters (1—‘fearful’, 2—‘farming,’ and 3—‘ecological’ individuals). The characterisation of the clusters revealed that age did not influence cluster membership, while sex, education, country, living environment, professional area, and income all influenced the composition of the clusters. While participants from Mexico and Spain were fewer in the ‘fearful’ cluster, in those from Greece, Latvia, Lebanon, and Turkey, the situation was opposed. Participants from rural areas were mostly in cluster 2, which also included a higher percentage of participants with lower income. Participants from professional areas linked with biology, food, and nutrition were mostly in cluster 3. In this way, we concluded that the level of knowledge about EIs is highly variable according to the individual characteristics, namely that the social and cultural influences of the different countries lead to distinct levels of knowledge and interpretation of information, thus producing divergent approaches to the consumption of insects—some more reluctant and measuring possible risks. In contrast, others consider EIs a good and sustainable protein-food alternative.
- Marketing motivations influencing food choice in 16 countries: segmentation and cluster analysis.Publication . Henriques, Carla; Matos, Ana; Malva, Madalena; Bartkiene, E.; Djekic, I.; Tarcea, M.; Saric, M.; Bizjak, M.; Dolar, V.; EL-Kenawy, A.; Ferreira, V.; Klava, D.; Korzeniowska, M.; Vittadini, E.; Leal, M.; Frez-Muñoz, L.; Papageorgiou, M.; Guiné, RaquelFood behaviour is governed by different kinds of motivations, some of individual nature and others related with the external food environment. This study investigated the eating motivations in sixteen countries with respect to commercial and marketing influences on food choices. The questionnaire survey was developed between September 2017 and June 2018, via online tools, targeting a convenience sample of residents in sixteen countries (Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and the United States of America). The number of valid responses received was 11,919 participants. The data were treated using SPSS software, and the main statistical techniques used included exploratory factor analysis, evaluation of internal reliability through Cronbach’s alpha, cluster analysis (hierarchical and k-means) and logistic regression. The results obtained showed two groups of people: low motivated and notably motivated consumers. The results showed high asymmetries between countries, with highest percentage of highly motivated consumers in Egypt and the lowest percentage of highly motivated in Portugal. It was further observed that consumers more influenced by commercial and marketing aspects (the notably motivated) tend to be women, young, single, less educated, less likely to be professionally active, and those who live mostly in rural or suburban areas. Less exercise and overweight are also factors associated with greater propensity for commercial and marketing motivations. Furthermore, health problems such as shellfish or gluten intolerance, hypertension and high cholesterol confer less propensity to be in the segment of the notably motivated consumers. In conclusion, this work highlighted the role of geographic, sociodemographic and lifestyle factors as food choice determinants.
- The eating motivations scale (EATMOT): Development and validation by means of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM)Publication . Guiné, Raquel; Duarte, João; Ferrão, Ana Cristina; Ferreira, Manuela; Correia, Paula; Cardoso, Ana Paula; Bartkiene, E.; Szucs, V.; Nemes, L.; Ljubicic, M.; Bizjac, M.; Isoldi, K.; El-Kenawy, A.; Ferreira, V.; Straumite, E.; Korzeniowska, M.; Vittadini, E.; Leal, M.; Frez-Munoz, L.; Papageorgiou, M.; Djekic, I.Introduction: The objective was to develop and validate an instrument that measures different determinants of people’s food choices and simultaneously accounts for a variety of factors: health, emotions, price and availability, society and culture, environment and politics, and marketing and advertising. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study focusing on food choice determinants. It was carried out in 16 countries in 2017 and 2018. This study included 11,960 volunteer adult participants from different countries. The data was validated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Results: Validation using CFA with SEM revealed that multi-factor modelling produced first- and second-order models that could be used to define the EATMOT scale, the first presenting better fitting indices, with the goodness-of-fit and comparative-fit indices very close to 1, as well as root-mean-square-error-of-approximation, root-mean-square-residual and standardised-root-mean-square-residual at practically zero. Conclusion: The validated EATMOT scale guarantees confidence in the information obtained through this instrument, and can be used in future studies to better understand food choice determinants in different geographical areas and help plan strategies to improve healthy eating patterns and diminish the burden of non-communicable diseases.