For children it is important to consume enough vegetables to establish healthy dietary patterns. Taste acceptance is an important factor contributing to food choice and consumption. Sweetness and sourness enhancement can increase acceptance of specific foods in children. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of sweetness and sourness enhancement on acceptance of cucumber and green capsicum purees in 5-6-year-old children. Three concentrations of sucrose (2, 5 and 10%) and citric acid (0.05, 0.08 and 0.15%) were added to cucumber and green capsicum purees. Children (n = 70, 5.7 ± 0.5 yrs) assessed acceptance of the vegetable purees using a 5-point hedonic facial scale. Sweetness enhancement significantly increased acceptance of cucumber purees (5 and 10% sucrose) and green capsicum purees (2 and 10% sucrose) compared to unmodified purees. Sourness enhancement (0.05, 0.08 and 0.15% citric acid) did not significantly influence acceptance of cucumber and green capsicum purees compared to unmodified purees. Children differed in acceptance of vegetable purees with added sucrose and citric acid. Sweetness likers (cucumber 77.1%, green capsicum 58.6%) accepted sucrose concentrations better than sweetness non-likers in both vegetables. Sourness likers (cucumber 50.0%, green capsicum 44.3%) accepted medium and high concentrations of citric acid better than sourness non-likers in cucumber and all citric acid concentrations in green capsicum. We conclude that enhancement of sweetness increases acceptance of cucumber and green capsicum purees in most children whereas enhancement of sourness is better accepted by only a few children. This study highlights the challenge to get children to better accept vegetables, since only sweetness enhancement improved acceptance while addition of sucrose is undesirable. For a small subset of children enhancing sourness might be an alternative strategy to increase acceptance of vegetables
Despite policy efforts, consumers' well-informed healthful choice is a challenge. Due to increasing number of benefit claims advertising taste or health front of pack (FOP), consumers face the dilemma to trade taste for health. To understand the mechanisms underlying food evaluation, this study investigates the health-pleasure trade-off and its effect on consumers' choice. 240 EU consumers took part in a taste experiment, after being presented with the product FOP. Half of the products carried a nutrition label FOP, respectively, reduced fat for potato chips, reduced sugar for cereal bars. Further, one third of the products carried health benefit claim, one third taste benefit claim, and one third no additional claim FOP. Attention to information and its effect on experienced taste, health perception and the buying intention were measured. The results show that the message displayed FOP altered consumers evaluation and choice. The effectiveness of the FOP message further depended on consumers' health motivation and the healthfulness perception of carrier products. The outcomes are summarized in a framework of health-pleasure trade-off. Current findings call for the establishment of standards to avoid the use of misleading information FOP.
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Objective: Patients with chronic limb threatening ischemia (CLTI) are at high risk for amputation and other cardiovascular adverse events. Nutrition-related symptoms and malnutrition are common in the CLTI population, and lead to worse clinical outcomes. Understanding of the factors influencing nutritional intake is required to determine whether optimization of nutritional intake in this population requires interventions. Therefore, this study aimed to describe perceptions and experiences on nutrition of patients with CLTI, and to identify perceived barriers and facilitators influencing their nutritional intake.Methods: In this phenomenological qualitative study, individual semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with patients with CLTI who lived independently. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and reflexive thematic analysis was performed.Results: Twelve participants were interviewed. Five themes were generated: (1) lack of nutritional risk perception, (2) role of nutrition for health, functioning and surviving, (3) multiple factors influencing nutritional intake, (4) limited nutritional advice, and (5) no intention to change current nutritional intake.Conclusion: Patients with CLTI perceive nutritional intake as a necessity to survive and function. Patients express limited risk perception regarding adequate nutritional intake and undernutrition. Nutritional intake is mainly based on non-health related factors, as habits and taste, and multiple barriers hinder nutritional intake. Patients received no or only limited nutritional advice. Together this leads to an expressed lack of intention to change nutritional intake. Findings of this study stress the urgency for patient-centered nutritional support, to increase nutrition-related knowledge and motivation, to prevent or treat undernutrition, and may improve clinical outcomes in patients with CLTI.
Inside Out is an innovative research project that translates cutting-edge microbiome science into immersive, multisensory experiences aimed at long-term behavioral and mental health transformation. Combining extended reality (XR), speculative gastronomy, and narrative therapy, the project enables participants to explore their inner microbiome landscape through taste, smell, touch, and interactive storytelling. This pioneering methodology connects gut-brain science with emotional and sensory engagement. Participants experience their bodies from the inside out, cultivating a visceral understanding of the symbiotic microbial worlds within us. The project includes AI-generated "drinkable memories," microbiome-inspired food designs, haptic-olfactory VR environments, and robotic interactions that choreograph the body as terrain. Developed in collaboration with designers from Polymorf, producer Studio Biarritz, psychiatrist-researcher Anja Lok, and microbiome scientists from Amsterdam UMC and the Amsterdam Microbiome Expertise Center, Inside Out bridges scientific rigor with artistic expression. The project seeks to: • Increase embodied understanding of the microbiome’s role in health and well-being • Shift public perception from hygiene-based fear to ecological thinking • Inspire behavioral change related to food, gut health, and mental resilience The outcomes are designed to reach a large audience and implementation in science museums, art-science festivals, and educational programs, with a view toward future clinical applications in preventive healthcare and mental well-being. By making the invisible microbiome tangible, Inside Out aims not only to inform, but to transform—redefining how we relate to the ecosystems within us.
De postdoc kandidaat, Tanja Moerdijk, zal op structurele wijze de reeds door haar gemaakte verbinding tussen het lectoraat Marine Biobased Specialties (MBBS) en de opleiding Chemie van HZ University of Applied Sciences verder uitbouwen en bestendigen. Streven is dat het MBBS Bioprospecten onderzoek zichtbaar is in alle studiejaren van de opleiding Chemie en praktijkcasuïstiek structureel ingebracht wordt in het curriculum. De postdoc is daarom betrokken bij alle studiejaren van de opleiding. Zij zal de ontwikkeling van een geïntegreerde onderzoeksleerlijn in het Chemie curriculum coördineren, welke gevoed wordt vanuit het MBBS onderzoeksprogramma waardoor inbedding van onderzoek in de opleiding wordt geborgd. Verdieping, overdracht en deling van kennis met betrekking tot het chemische smaak- en textuurprofiel van zeewier zal uitgevoerd worden door zowel postdoc als studenten door te participeren in het uitvoeren van praktijkgericht onderzoek aan (polymeer)moleculen uit zeewier in samenwerking met de zeewierproducenten. Deze kennis zal uiteindelijk bijdragen aan een duurzame productie en verwerking van zeewier tot eindproducten voor de consument. Omdat het onderwerp breed en maatschappelijke relevant is, creëert het bovendien de mogelijkheid voor andere opleidingen en onderzoeksgroepen om de verbinding eenvoudig te kunnen oppakken. De postdoc gaat de daadwerkelijke verbinding maken tussen onderzoekers, docenten en studenten. De postdoc ontwikkelt tevens projectleiderschapsvaardigheden door het volgen van een training en door lopende projecten binnen het MBBS onderzoek te benutten om samenwerking met (inter)nationale kennisinstellingen en bedrijven uit te bouwen. De postdoc zal begeleid en ondersteund worden in de uitvoering van haar activiteiten door lector en opleidingscoördinator (olc) (onder andere on the job en formele planningsafspraken), Centre of Expertise Biobased Economy (CoE BBE) alsmede het HZ kernteam CoE BBE (uitbouwen netwerk). Het personeelsbeleid en functiereeks onderwijs en onderzoek van de HZ voorzien in de ontwikkelingsmogelijkheid van de postdoc.