Are They Careful Enough? Testing Consumers’ Perception of Alternative Processing Technologies on the Quality of Organic Food

Abstract

Given the increasing public interest in how ingredients are processed and the growing demand for organic food products, it is critical to understand consumers’ expectations about the process-related quality of organic products. Consumers perceive organic food to be nutritious, healthy and either natural or less processed, as they are afraid of the loss of nutritional, organoleptic and sensory properties of the food products. However, alternative food processing technologies might generate healthy and safe food options with nutritional quality properties. Simplified communication schemes might help to overcome this barrier for the consumer. The main objective of this study is to propose a working definition of “careful processing” for organic products and test its consistency through an experiment, while being used to rate different processing methods by consumers. Results show that the proposed definition allows the consumer to consistently rate alternative processing technologies. Consumers tend to score alternative processing technologies such as pulsed electric fields and microwaves as less careful, supporting the idea that organic consumers want as little man-made interference in their food products as possible. Results show that a simple but effective definition of careful processing may help consumers to distinguish more organic food products from conventional ones, no matter which communication scheme is used.

Microorganisms in Organic Food-Issues to Be Addressed

“…With packaging methods, the industry has designed modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), edible-film coating, and active packaging. Packaging methods need minimal human intervention over the properties of the food product, giving consumers a sense of an “unprocessed” and “natural” product [ 102 , 103 , 104 ].…”

“…Particularly, processing techniques that do not significantly alter the nutritional and sensory qualities of food could provide goods that look appealing and fresh. Given that they are required to maintain the nutritional value of food, health-conscious consumers should prefer “minimally” processed food [ 102 , 105 , 106 ]. It is proved that even with restricted usage of chemical substances, simple combinations of water heated to 60 °C, acetic acid (0.2–5%), and H 2 O 2 (3–4%) can reduce the count of all three species of bacterial pathogens on mung bean [ 107 ].…”

Information on the processing of organic food: consumers' perception

“…Consumers' understanding of careful processing concerns environmentally friendly products, naturally produced, minimally processed, which preserve the natural taste of foods and with greater retention of nutrients (Hüppe and Zander, 2021). A simple definition of careful processing referring to the preservation of nutritional and sensory quality, negligible use of additives, minimal health risk and minimal impact on environment was effective in allowing consumers to consistently distinguish and rate different processing technologies (Kilic et al. , 2021).…”

“…The principle of carefulness/careful processing is used by organic food producers/retailers in customer communication, and mostly refer to minimal technological processing. Simple and effective definition of careful processing could help consumers to consistently distinguish and evaluate alternative processing technologies (Kilic et al. , 2021).…”

Consumer Attitudes towards Food Preservation Methods

“…[ [54][55][56] Despite the many advantages and electromagnetic heating being widespread, especially the microwave spectrum, some consumers still negatively perceive this kind of preservation. Negative associations are related to radiation and it being harmful for human health [3,[57][58][59]. One of the potential ways to improve microwave perception among consumers is changing the method name to another "safe sounding" synonym.…”