Department of Food Quality and Design, Wageningen University and Research, P.O. Box 17, 6700, AA Wageningen, the Netherlands; Wageningen Food & Biobased Research, P.O. Box 17, 6700, AA Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Department of Food & Industry, HAS Green Academy, Onderwijsboulevard 221, 5223, DE 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands.
Appetite. 2024 Oct 1;201:107615. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107615. Epub 2024 Jul 30.
Industrial food processing and its possible adverse effects on health are widely debated in scientific literature and media. There is not much known about consumers' attitudes towards the processing of foods. Therefore, a questionnaire (n = 463) was distributed and interviews (n = 11) were conducted with Dutch consumers to evaluate the attitudes and associations towards industrial food processing and to assess opinions about communications on food processing and health. The results showed that 51% of the respondents had a neutral, 23% had a positive, and 26% had a negative attitude towards food processing. Respondents with a background in food by profession or education (n = 159) had more frequently a positive attitude towards food processing (P = 0.008). Respondents and interviewees pointed out both positive and negative associations with industrial processing: additives, artificial, not fresh, low nutritional value, unnatural, but also palatability, food safety, shelf life, and convenience. The questionnaire showed that 70% of the respondents thought food processing had a (slightly) negative health effect. Most interviewees indicated that when doing groceries, food processing per se is not relevant in food choices, although some critically inspected the ingredients. Furthermore, interviewees indicated that communication about food and health is scattered and complex. They would like to gain easy and straightforward information from a central source. From the questionnaire respondents, 60% indicated that they would like to have more information about food processing. In conclusion, most Dutch consumers in this study have a neutral and nuanced attitude towards industrial food processing. A connection with food via profession or education showed a more positive attitude, which may indicate the importance of knowledge and the need for clear communication about nutrition, ingredients, and food processing.
工业食品加工及其对健康的潜在不良影响在科学文献和媒体中广泛讨论。对于消费者对食品加工的态度，人们知之甚少。因此，我们向荷兰消费者分发了一份问卷（n=463）并进行了 11 次访谈，以评估他们对工业食品加工的态度和看法，以及评估他们对食品加工和健康相关沟通的看法。结果表明，51%的受访者对食品加工持中立态度，23%持积极态度，26%持消极态度。具有食品专业或教育背景的受访者（n=159）对食品加工的态度更积极（P=0.008）。受访者和访谈参与者指出了与工业加工相关的积极和消极关联：添加剂、人工、不新鲜、营养价值低、不自然，但也有美味、食品安全、保质期和便利性。问卷调查显示，70%的受访者认为食品加工对健康有（轻微）负面影响。大多数访谈参与者表示，在购买食品时，食品加工本身并不是食品选择的相关因素，尽管有些人会仔细检查食品成分。此外，访谈参与者还表示，关于食品和健康的沟通是分散和复杂的。他们希望从一个集中的来源获得简单明了的信息。在问卷受访者中，60%表示希望获得更多关于食品加工的信息。总之，在这项研究中，大多数荷兰消费者对工业食品加工持有中立和微妙的态度。具有食品专业或教育背景的受访者表现出更积极的态度，这可能表明知识的重要性以及对营养、成分和食品加工相关信息进行清晰沟通的需求。
