Crown E, Rovai D, Racette C M, Barbano D M, Drake M A
Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences, Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606.
Department of Food Science, Northeast Dairy Food Research Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.
J Dairy Sci. 2024 Dec;107(12):10552-10570. doi: 10.3168/jds.2024-24862. Epub 2024 Sep 7.
Consumers are interested in products with reduced sugar, a trend which has been attributed to consumers associating high-sugar foods with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. The objective of this study was to evaluate consumer perception of sugar reduction in yogurt-both conceptually and for liking of actual products. An online survey (n = 1,290) was conducted to evaluate consumer perception of sweeteners available in commercial yogurts. Participants who purchased yogurt at least once in the past 3 mo completed a series of exercises that involved demographics, agreement, Kano, and maximum difference (MaxDiff) scaling questions. Subsequently, vanilla 1% milkfat yogurts sweetened with sucrose were formulated to isosweet taste intensity with either stevia, allulose, a blend of sucrose and honey, or a blend of sucrose, stevia, and allulose using magnitude estimate scaling followed by paired comparison tests with consumers (n = 40). A consumer acceptance test (n = 229) was then conducted using the 5 vanilla yogurts. Half of the consumers (n = 115) were primed with the specific yogurt sweetener and the other half were not. Survey and acceptance test data were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses. Conceptually, consumers preferred the claim "naturally sweetened" over a reduced sugar claim in yogurt (P < 0.05). Honey was preferred over other sweeteners, followed by agave nectar and cane sugar (P < 0.05). Allulose was the least preferred sweetener option conceptually (P < 0.05). Priming with sweetener type positively affected consumer acceptance, regardless of sweetener (P < 0.05). When yogurts were tasted, yogurts sweetened with sucrose were the most preferred regardless of priming (P < 0.05). Yogurts sweetened with allulose or a blend of allulose, stevia, and sucrose received higher liking scores than yogurts with stevia (P < 0.05), suggesting that allulose can assist with sugar reduction in yogurt. Consumers are interested in healthy yogurts that are naturally sweetened, but flavor or taste remains the driving force for liking and purchase. The use of a natural non-nutritive sweetener that delivers the sensory experience of sucrose is ultimately more important than familiarity with the actual sweetener.
消费者对低糖产品感兴趣，这一趋势归因于消费者将高糖食品与肥胖、糖尿病、心脏病和高血压联系在一起。本研究的目的是评估消费者对酸奶中糖减少的认知——从概念上以及对实际产品的喜好方面。开展了一项在线调查（n = 1290），以评估消费者对市售酸奶中可用甜味剂的认知。在过去3个月内至少购买过一次酸奶的参与者完成了一系列练习，包括人口统计学、同意程度、卡诺模型和最大差异（MaxDiff）量表问题。随后，使用量值估计量表将用蔗糖调味的1%乳脂肪香草酸奶调配成与甜菊糖苷、阿洛酮糖、蔗糖与蜂蜜的混合物或蔗糖、甜菊糖苷与阿洛酮糖的混合物具有同等甜味强度，接着对消费者进行成对比较测试（n = 40）。然后使用这5种香草酸奶进行消费者接受度测试（n = 229）。一半消费者（n = 115）事先被告知特定的酸奶甜味剂，另一半则未被告知。通过单变量和多变量分析对调查和接受度测试数据进行评估。从概念上讲，消费者在酸奶中更喜欢“天然甜味”的宣称而非低糖宣称（P < 0.05）。蜂蜜比其他甜味剂更受青睐，其次是龙舌兰花蜜和蔗糖（P < 0.05）。从概念上讲，阿洛酮糖是最不受欢迎的甜味剂选择（P < 0.05）。无论使用何种甜味剂，事先告知甜味剂类型对消费者接受度有积极影响（P < 0.05）。品尝酸奶时，无论是否事先告知，用蔗糖调味的酸奶最受青睐（P < 0.05）。用阿洛酮糖或阿洛酮糖、甜菊糖苷和蔗糖的混合物调味的酸奶比用甜菊糖苷调味的酸奶获得更高的喜好评分（P < 0.05），这表明阿洛酮糖有助于降低酸奶中的糖分。消费者对天然甜味的健康酸奶感兴趣，但风味或口感仍然是喜好和购买的驱动力。使用能带来蔗糖感官体验的天然非营养性甜味剂最终比熟悉实际的甜味剂更为重要。
