This book provides comprehensive coverage of the numerous methods used to characterise food preference. It brings together, for the first time, the broad range of methodologies that are brought to bear on food choice and preference. Preference is not measured in a sensory laboratory using a trained panel - it is measured using consumers by means of product tests in laboratories, central locations, in canteens and at home, by questionnaires and in focus groups. Similarly, food preference is not a direct function of sensory preference - it is determined by a wide range of factors and influences, some competing against each other, some reinforcing each other. We have aimed to provide a detailed introduction to the measurement of all these aspects, including institutional product development, context effects, variation in language used by consumers, collection and analysis of qualitative data by focus groups, product optimisation, relating prefer ence to sensory perception, accounting for differences in taste sensitivity between consumers, measuring how attitudes and beliefs determine food choice, measuring how food affects mood and mental performance, and how different expectations affect sensory perception. The emphasis has been to provide practical descriptions of current methods. Three of the ten first-named authors are university academics, the rest are in industry or research institutes. Much of the methodology is quite new, particularly the repertory grid coupled with Generalised Procrustes Analysis, Individualised Difference Testing, Food and Mood Testing, and the Sensory Expectation Models.

The shelf-life of a product is critical in determining both its quality and profitability. This important collection reviews the key factors in determining shelf-life and how it can be measured. Part one examines the factors affecting shelf-life and spoilage, including individual chapters on the major types of food spoilage, the role of moisture and temperature, spoilage yeasts, the Maillard reaction and the factors underlying lipid oxidation. Part two addresses the best ways of measuring the shelf-life of foods, with chapters on modelling food spoilage, measuring and modelling glass transition, detecting spoilage yeasts, measuring lipid oxidation, the design and validation of shelf-life tests and the use of accelerated shelf-life tests. Understanding and measuring the shelf-life of food is an important reference for all those concerned with extending the shelf-life of food. Reviews the key factors in determining shelf-life and how they can be measured Examines the importance of the shelf-life of a product in determining its quality and profitability Brings together the leading international experts in the field

Globally, the food system and the relationship of the individual to that system, continues to change and grow in complexity. Eating is an everyday event that is part of everyone’s lives. There are many commentaries on the nature of these changes to what, where and how we eat and their socio-cultural, environmental, educational, economic and health consequences. Among this discussion, the term "food literacy" has emerged to acknowledge the broad role food and eating play in our lives and the empowerment that comes from meeting food needs well. In this book, contributors from Australia, China, United Kingdom and North America provide a review of international research on food literacy and how this can be applied in schools, health care settings and public education and communication at the individual, group and population level. These varying perspectives will give the reader an introduction to this emerging concept. The book gathers current insights and provides a platform for discussion to further understanding and application in this field. It stimulates the reader to conceptualise what food literacy means to their practice and to critically review its potential contribution to a range of outcomes.

In the United States, people living in low-income neighborhoods frequently do not have access to affordable healthy food venues, such as supermarkets. Instead, those living in "food deserts" must rely on convenience stores and small neighborhood stores that offer few, if any, healthy food choices, such as fruits and vegetables. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council (NRC) convened a two-day workshop on January 26-27, 2009, to provide input into a Congressionally-mandated food deserts study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. The workshop, summarized in this volume, provided a forum in which to discuss the public health effects of food deserts.