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International audience; Large portion sizes can make children overeat, alter their self-regulation abilities and induce weight gain. However, little is known about how parents determine portion sizes for their children. Using semi-structured interviews with 5 fathers and 32 mothers of pre-schoolers, this study examined French parents’ food portioning practices. The division of responsibility between parent and child in deciding portion sizes was explored, as well as the influencing factors and possible sources of information. Parents described a wide range of practices. For most, determining portion sizes is an intuitive action that depends on habits and mainly arises from experiences with feeding their child and his/her appetitive traits. Few parents grant autonomy to their child for portioning and serving food, especially for the first serving. Many influencing factors were identified, including child-related (e.g., appetite, food preferences), parent-related (e.g., avoiding food waste), and external factors (e.g., influence of siblings, French food culture). Most parents do not search for information/recommendations to guide their practices. Stimulating optimal self-regulation of eating in children is important and parents can play a crucial role in this. This study identified barriers and facilitators to guide parents in providing appropriate portion sizes and help include children in this decision process.

BACKGROUND: Previous results based on dietary recall suggest that the ability to adjust eaten quantities to food energy density (ED) may deteriorate around the age of 1 y. However, this hypothesis has not been investigated experimentally. OBJECTIVES: The first aim of the study was to describe changes in the short-term caloric compensation ability of infants around the age of 1 y. We expected a decrease in this ability with age. The second aim was to identify individual factors [e.g., breastfeeding duration, body mass index (BMI) z-score, and change in BMI z-score] related to interindividual variations in caloric compensation ability. METHODS: We adapted the preload paradigm to calculate a COMPX score. The measure was performed in the laboratory at 11 and 15 mo. The parent offered a food preload that was either low or high in ED (LED = 33 kcal/100 g or HED = 97.9 kcal/100 g, respectively), followed by an ad libitum meal after 25 min. The infants were measured and weighed. Information about the infants' milk-feeding history was collected. RESULTS: We obtained COMPX scores at 11 and 15 mo for 31 infants (12 females). As hypothesized, the caloric compensation ability significantly decreased with age (COMPX11 = 52% +/- 133%; COMPX15 = -14% +/- 151%; P = 0.03). The more the COMPX score decreased, the more the BMI z-score between 11 and 15 mo increased (P = 0.03) and the higher the BMI z-score was at 2 y (P = 0.03). No associations were found between COMPX scores and breastfeeding duration (all P > 0.60). CONCLUSIONS: Caloric compensation ability decreases between 11 and 15 mo. This decrease is associated with a larger increase in weight status from 11 to 15 mo and a higher weight status at 2 y. This study calls for further research to better understand the early determinants of caloric compensation ability. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03409042 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03409042).

International audience; Previously, we demonstrated that, in the short term, infants undercompensated for the energy from a preload given 25 min before an ad libitum meal. However, although not consistent, there is evidence in young children that caloric adjustment may occur over longer periods. We investigated the extent to which further energy adjustment occurs up to 24 h after a single meal preceded by preloads of varying energy density (ED) in infants that are 11 and 15 months old. Short-term caloric adjustment was measured in 11- and 15-month-old infants through a preload paradigm meal in the laboratory. To assess their caloric adjustment over longer periods (12 and 24 h), we used 24 h dietary records to evaluate the energy intake (EI) after each visit to the laboratory. Three COMPX scores were calculated according to three different time periods after preload consumption (0 h [i.e., short-term], 12 h or 24 h). Our main result was that, on average, regardless of the time period considered, the infants undercompensated their EI after preload consumption: at 11 and 15 months, caloric adjustment was partial and similar overtime. Considering that a slight repeated imbalance of the energy balance may promote rapid weight gain over the first months, this study calls for further research focusing on facilitators and barriers of efficient appetite control abilities in infancy.

This study aimed to gain a better understanding of the associations between young children’s eating in the absence of hunger (EAH), inhibitory control, body mass index (BMI) and several maternal controlling feeding practices (food as reward, restriction for health, restriction for weight control). In addition, to more properly assess the relationship between children’s and maternal variables, the link between EAH and restriction was explored separately in two directionalities: “child to parent” or “parent to child.” To do this, mothers of 621 children aged 2.00–6.97years (51% boys,M=4.11years,SD=1.34) filled in a questionnaire with items from validated questionnaires. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. The results showed, whatever the directionality considered, a positive association between children’s eating in the absence of hunger and their BMI z-scores. Restriction for health and restriction for weight control were differently linked to EAH and to children’s BMI z-scores. Namely, low child inhibitory control, food as reward and restriction for health were identified as risk factors for EAH. Restriction for weight control was not linked to EAH, but was predicted by child BMI z-scores. Interventions aiming to improve children’s abilities to self-regulate food intake could consider training children’s general self-regulation, their self-regulation of intake, and/or promoting adaptive parental feeding practices.

International audience; Past research has mainly focused on the links between child eating behaviors and maternal food practices. The impact of fathers and of concordant/discordant food parenting practices within families has received much less attention. To fill this gap, both parents of 105 French children aged 2.01-6.51 years (54 boys, M(age) = 3.88 years, SD = 1.40) filled in a survey with items from validated questionnaires. Results showed that fathers and mothers perceived their child's eating behaviors in similar ways (Pearson correlations between 0.34 and 0.78; M = 0.60), despite mothers taking significantly more meals with their child than fathers. Fathers reported using significantly more pressure to eat and food as reward, but reported lower levels of "family meal setting" than mothers. Moderate to high correlations were observed between mothers' and fathers' feeding practices and styles. Regression analyses showed that both maternal and paternal practices and styles were predictors for child eating behaviors. One interaction effect was observed: in households where both parents used higher levels of pressure to eat, the child showed a significantly lower food enjoyment than expected if the effects were additive. Our findings underline the importance of studying the individual role of each parent in child feeding research and that both parents within families should avoid using coercive practices. This could finally stimulate new interventions and recommendations addressed to both parents.

The aims of the present study are to assess the impact of a pleasure-oriented intervention on the nutritional quality of midafternoon snacks chosen by mother-child dyads and to evaluate the evolution of the relationship between the liking and perceived healthiness of the food items offered for the snack choices. Data were collected at two laboratory sessions (T1 and T2), during which children and mothers were separately asked to choose two food items (among 10) for a midafternoon snack, first for themselves and then for the other dyad member. Participants also rated their liking and perceived healthiness of the 10 food items. After T1, dyads were randomly assigned to an experimental group (N = 94) with an in-home pleasure-oriented intervention to stimulate the pleasure of consuming healthy foods or to a control group (N = 93). Our study shows the lack of a significant effect of the intervention on the nutritional quality of snacks chosen at T2. However, for the children in the experimental group, the relationship between liking and perceived healthiness which was not significant at T1 (τmedian = −0.05, P = 0.56) became significant and positive at T2 (τmedian = 0.13, P = 0.002). Moreover, this increase of the relationship in T2 was significantly higher for the experimental group compared to the control group (P = 0.05). For mothers, the existing relationship between liking and perceived healthiness at T1 (τmedian = 0.27, P < 0.001) increased significantly between T1 and T2 (P = 0.006) only in the experimental group, even if this increase was not significantly higher compared to the control group (P = 0.21). Since the relationship between food liking and perceived healthiness in mother-child dyads increased after the intervention, one could argue that this higher positive attitude towards healthy foods could constitute the first step in a behavioural change in favour of healthier choices.

Studies about fathers and feeding are scarce and little is known about predictors of parental involvement in childfeeding and of paternal feeding practices. Therefore, this study aimed to examine possible differences betweenDanish mothers and fathers with regard to their feeding practices and involvement in feeding related tasks, andto assess possible parent-related predictors of parental practices and involvement. A total of 261 mothers and 321fathers of pre-schoolers completed an online survey with items from validated questionnaires. Gender differenceswere observed; fathers reported using higher levels of coercive control practices, while mothers reported usinghigher levels of structure practices and autonomy support practices. Both mothers and fathers reported to behighly involved in feeding their child. Regressions showed that a higher concern for child weight and a highermotivation for child preference when buying food were linked to a higher use of coercive control practices whilea higher motivation for health control when buying food, cooking confidence, feeding/general self-efficacy andperceived responsibility for feeding were linked to a higher use of structure and autonomy support practices. Theresults of this study provide valuable insight into maternal and paternal practices in Denmark and theirdeterminants.

Introduction et but de l’etude La periode de 2 a 6 ans est caracterisee par un pic de rejets alimentaires chez les enfants ainsi que par une deterioration de leur capacite d’autoregulation energetique. Les recherches anterieures se sont principalement centrees sur les liens entre les pratiques educatives maternelles en matiere d’alimentation et les comportements alimentaires des enfants. Le role des pratiques paternelles et de la convergence/divergence de ces pratiques entre les parents a recu beaucoup moins d’attention. L’objectif de cette etude est de combler cette lacune en examinant l’effet de convergence/divergence des pratiques educatives en matiere d’alimentation entre les parents sur differentes facettes du comportement alimentaire de l’enfant. Materiel et methodes Les deux parents de 105 enfants francais âges de 2,01 a 6,51 ans (51 filles, M âge = 3,88, ET = 1,40) ont rempli un questionnaire en ligne ou une « version papier » comportant des items issus de differents questionnaires valides (ex. CEDQ, CFPQ) permettant ainsi de calculer des scores pour differentes dimensions relatives aux comportements alimentaires des enfants (ex. plaisir a manger, neophobie alimentaire) et aux pratiques/styles educatifs parentaux (ex. pression a manger, style permissif). Resultats et analyse statistique Les meres et les peres percoivent les comportements alimentaires de leur enfant de maniere relativement similaire : correlations de Pearson pour les dimensions comprises entre 0,34 (compensation calorique de l’enfant) et 0,78 (petit appetit) (M = 0,60). Les meres sont principalement responsables des tâches liees a l’alimentation et prennent significativement plus de repas (petit-dejeuner, dejeuner, diner) avec leur enfant que les peres. Les peres ont declare imposer plus de pression a manger a l’enfant et donner plus de recompenses alimentaires. Dans les analyses de regression, les pratiques et les styles educatifs en matiere d’alimentation des meres et des peres se sont averes des predicteurs des comportements alimentaires des enfants. Aussi, des effets d’interaction entre les pratiques des parents ont ete observes. Dans les menages ou la mere et le pere utilisent tous deux des niveaux plus eleves de pression a manger, l’enfant montre un niveau de plaisir a manger significativement plus faible. Aussi, dans les menages ou l’un des parents utilise plus de restriction pour le controle du poids, les enfants mangent plus en l’absence de faim. Cependant, si les deux parents utilisent cette pratique cela n’augmente pas davantage la consommation en l’absence de faim de l’enfant. Conclusion Nos resultats soulignent ainsi l’importance de prendre en compte le role specifique de chaque parent, ainsi que la convergence/divergence de leurs pratiques en matiere d’alimentation dans l’etude des determinants educatifs et psychosociaux des comportements alimentaires des enfants. Ces donnees pourraient a terme permettre la formulation de recommandations plus adaptees et nuancees pour accompagner les parents dans la mise en place d’habitudes alimentaires plus favorables a la sante et au bien-etre de leur enfant.

International audience; The aging process is associated with physiological, sensory, psychological, and sociological changes likely to have an impact on food intake and the nutritional status. The present study aimed to explore the heterogeneity of the French older population (>65 years old) using a multidisciplinary approach. More specifically, the study aimed to highlight different typologies (i.e. clusters of individuals with similar characteristics) within the older population. We conducted face-to-face interviews and tests with 559 French older people, recruited from different categories of dependency (at home without help, at home with help, in nursing homes). Clustering analysis highlighted seven clusters. Clusters 1-3 contained ‘young’ older people (

International audience; A decline in appetite and consequently in food intake is often observed with ageing, particularly in older adults living in nursing homes. Several strategies have been tested in nursing homes to counter this phenomenon. However, the approaches have rarely focused on food improvement, and most studies have assessed the impact of flavor enhancement on eating behavior. The present experiment aimed to assess the impact of improving sensory quality versus increasing sensory variety on food intake and meal enjoyment in elderly individuals living in a nursing home. Four conditions were compared: control condition, a Quality+ condition (recipes were improved according to sensory preference of the target population), a Variety+ condition (participants were offered a variety of main dishes and several condiments throughout the meal) and a Quality&Variety+ condition combining the two previous conditions. Eighty-two residents (age range: 71-101 years) participated in eight lunchtime sessions (2 replicates x 4 conditions). Compared to control condition, our results showed that improving the sensory quality of the dishes and/or providing variety led to increased meal enjoyment and food intake (energy intake: +5% for Quality+; +7% for Variety+). No additional effect was observed when the two factors were combined (+7% for Quality&Variety+). These results suggest that meal improvement strategies can be used to increase food intake in order to prevent and treat malnutrition in dependent older adults.

La pandemie liee au COVID-19 a conduit la France a imposer un confinement strict, affectant les habitudes des familles dans de nombreux domaines Cette etude visait a evaluer les changements possibles dans les comportements alimentaires des enfants, les pratiques educatives parentales en matiere d'alimentation et les motivations d'achat des aliments, pendant le confinement par rapport a la periode avant confinement Pendant le confinement, les parents de 498 enfants âges de 3 a 12 ans (238 garcons ;M = 7,32 ;ET = 2,27) ont repondu a une enquete nationale en ligne comprenant les items issus de questionnaires valides (ex CEDQ, CEBQ, HomeSTEAD) Ils ont decrit leur situation et celle de l'enfant pendant le confinement, et retrospectivement sur la periode le precedant (volet quantitatif) L'enquete comprenait aussi trois questions ouvertes (volet qualitatif) pour lesquelles les parents pouvaient partager leurs experiences positives et negatives concernant l'alimentation familiale durant cette periode, et ce qu'ils aimeraient maintenir au-dela Dans le volet quantitatif de l'etude, de nombreux parents ont signale des changements dans les comportements alimentaires des enfants (60 %), dans les pratiques educatives (65 %) et dans les motivations d'achat des aliments (85 %) Lorsque des changements etaient decrits, l'appetit de l'enfant, le plaisir a manger, la « reactivite aux aliments », le « manger emotionnel » et la frequence des collations augmentaient Aussi, 53 % des parents rapportaient une augmentation du niveau d'ennui de leur enfant L'ennui accru des enfants predisait de maniere significative une augmentation de la « reactivite aux aliments » et de la frequence des collations entre les repas Lorsque les parents ont change leurs pratiques, ils sont devenus plus permissifs : moins de regles, plus d'apaisement avec la nourriture (« soothing with food »), plus d'autonomie de l'enfant dans le choix des aliments a consommer, dans les quantites consommees, et du lieu de consommation Les parents achetaient plus frequemment des aliments « plaisir » et durables, preparaient plus de repas « faits maison » et cuisinaient davantage avec l'enfant Ces changements des pratiques et motivations des parents etaient expliques par le niveau d'etude, la situation professionnelle et financiere et l'augmentation du niveau de stress Les analyses du volet qualitatif revelent, sur le versant vecu positivement, une reappropriation de l'alimentation tant sur la qualite des aliments choisis (locaux, frais ) que sur les pratiques (importance du « fait-maison », de la transmission ), et un plaisir affirme de cuisiner ensemble et de partager les repas Sur le versant negatif, les parents soulignent la surcharge imposee par la frequence des repas a preparer, le stress et la surconsommation Le confinement a entraine des changements notables dans les habitudes alimentaires des familles : les comportements et pratiques sont devenus plus centres sur l'enfant, et plus axes sur les valeurs de plaisir, de commensalite et de durabilite [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Nutrition Clinique et Metabolisme is the property of Elsevier B V and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )

open access article; International audience; [u]Background & Aims[/u] Malnutrition in older adults results in significant personal, social, and economic burden. To combat this complex, multifactorial issue, evidence-based knowledge is needed on the modifiable determinants of malnutrition. Systematic reviews of prospective studies are lacking in this area; therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to investigate the modifiable determinants of malnutrition in older adults. [u]Methods[/u] A systematic approach was taken to conduct this review. Eight databases were searched. Prospective cohort studies with participants of a mean age of 65 years or over were included. Studies were required to measure at least one determinant at baseline and malnutrition as outcome at follow-up. Study quality was assessed using a modified version of the Quality in Prognosis Studies (QUIPS) tool. Pooling of data in a meta-analysis was not possible therefore the findings of each study were synthesized narratively. A descriptive synthesis of studies was used to present results due the heterogeneity of population source and setting, definitions of determinants and outcomes. Consistency of findings was assessed using the schema: strong evidence, moderate evidence, low evidence, and conflicting evidence. [u]Results[/u] Twenty-three studies were included in the final review. Thirty potentially modifiable determinants across seven domains (oral, psychosocial, medication and care, health, physical function, lifestyle, eating) were included. The majority of studies had a high risk of bias and were of a low quality. There is moderate evidence that hospitalisation, eating dependency, poor self-perceived health, poor physical function and poor appetite are determinants of malnutrition. Moderate evidence suggests that chewing difficulties, mouth pain, gum issues co-morbidity, visual and hearing impairments, smoking status, alcohol consumption and physical activity levels, complaints about taste of food and specific nutrient intake are not determinants of malnutrition. There is low evidence that loss of interest in life, access to meals and wheels, and modified texture diets are determinants of malnutrition. Furthermore, there is low evidence that psychological distress, anxiety, loneliness, access to transport and wellbeing, hunger and thirst are not determinants of malnutrition. There appears to be conflicting evidence that dental status, swallowing, cognitive function, depression, residential status, medication intake and/or polypharmacy, constipation, periodontal disease are determinants of malnutrition. [u]Conclusion[/u] There are multiple potentially modifiable determinants of malnutrition however strong robust evidence is lacking for the majority of determinants. Better prospective cohort studies are required. With an increasingly aging population, targeting modifiable factors will be crucial to the effective treatment and prevention of malnutrition.

International audience; Infants' olfactory experience begins before birth and extends after birth through milk and complementary foods. Until now, studies on the effects of chemosensory experience in utero and/or through human milk focused on experimentally controlled exposure to only one target food bearing a specific odor quality and administered in sizeable amounts. The present study aimed to assess whether early olfactory experience effect was measurable in everyday conditions of maternal food intake during pregnancy and lactation, and of infant intake at weaning, leading to expose the infant to corresponding odors as fetus, neonate, and infant up to 8 and 12 months of age. Infants’ early food exposures were assessed by asking mothers to fill out diaries about their food consumption during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and about their infant’s consumption during complementary feeding. To test odor liking, odorants representing a priori pleasant and unpleasant food odors, as well as odorless stimuli, were presented. The infant’s exploratory behavior toward odorized bottles and non-odorized control bottles was measured in terms of mouthing duration, which is thought to reflect attraction and/or appetence. At age 8 months only, positive correlations were found between liking of some unpleasant odors and early exposure to these odors through mother’s diet. No correlations were found between infants’ liking of the pleasant odors and early exposures to the foods bearing these odors. This study highlights that early exposure to unpleasant food odors may increase subsequent liking (or reduce subsequent dislike) of these food odors at least until the age of 8 months.

The first 1,000 days of life constitute an important period for the development of health and eating behavior. While the feeding mode drastically evolves, the child learns "how", "what," and "how much" food to eat. When orally exposed, infants discover food properties, with a variety of tastes, flavors, textures, as well as energy densities. Here, we focus on deciphering the involvement of taste and olfaction in the early establishment of eating behavior. In the OPALINE French birth cohort (Observatory of Food Preferences in Infants and Children), taste and flavor preferences were studied in relation to food preferences over the first 2 years. Both taste and flavor preferences evolved during this period. At weaning, a higher preference for sweet, sour, and umami tastes was associated with a higher acceptance of sweet-, sour- and umami-tasting foods, respectively. At 12 months, rejection of the odor of trimethylamine and dimethyl disulfide was related to the rejection of fish and sulfurous cheeses, respectively. Further, at 20 months, food neophobia was associated with odor but not taste differential reactivity, revealing the importance of olfaction in neophobic reactions. Further studies are ongoing to examine the long-term effect of early taste and flavor exposure on food preferences.

Projet EuroCod; International audience; We investigated consumer preferences for wild and farmed fish in an experiment with 276 participants in France. The experiment consisted of three rounds each round included a survey, sensory trials, and bidding. The survey results indicate consumers (1) perceive wild fish best for safety and health and farmed fish best for environmental sustainability and fish welfare; (2) rank salmon the highest on many attributes; and (3) prefer wild fish originating from the North Atlantic to farmed fish from France and northern Europe, and they rank farmed fish originating from developing countries lowest. In the sensory trials, salmon received the highest hedonic scores, followed by monkfish and cod, while pangasius scored significantly lower. Willingness to pay for salmon was almost as high as for monkfish and higher than for cod, while WTP for pangasius was substantially lower.

Previously, we demonstrated that infants' caloric compensation ability decreases between 11 and 15 months old. Here, we explored whether the inter-individual variation in infants' caloric compensation ability is associated with caregiver-infant interaction during laboratory test meals or with infant appetitive traits. To describe caregiver-infant interaction, we recorded feeding in laboratory ad libitum meals when the infants were 11 and 15 months old by using a connected weighing scale. We extracted the weight of each offered spoonful and the time interval between two spoonfuls. The caloric compensation score (COMPX) was assessed during the same meals. At 11 and 15 months old, the caregiver rated their infant's appetitive traits by completing the CEBQ-T. Student's t tests were applied to test the relationships between the variables describing the caregiver-infant interaction and the COMPX score. The relationships between the COMPX score or its change and the infants' appetitive traits were assessed with Kendall correlations. Regarding appetitive traits, the more the caloric compensation ability decreased between 11 and 15 months old, the more the infants were perceived as food responsive between these ages (τ = −0.36, p = 0.01, n = 28). At 11 months old, when the time interval between two spoonfuls was positively associated with the previous spoonful weight (i.e., a longer time interval after a larger spoonful weight), the infants exhibited a better caloric compensation ability (t = −2.1, p = 0.04, n = 38). Moreover, this study provides new evidence regarding the importance of a responsive feeding style by suggesting that adapting the feeding pace to the spoonful weight could be a favourable practice associated with better caloric compensation ability by the end of the first year. Trial registration This trial was registered at clinicals.gov as NCT03409042 ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03409042 ).

International audience; Children's mid-afternoon snack is usually characterized by the consumption of fatty and sweetened foods (Anses, 2017). To the best of our knowledge, no study has investigated differences or similarities in terms of nutritional quality of mid-afternoon snack choices made by children or by their mothers. Our first goal was to compare the nutritional quality of children's mid-afternoon snack choices made by mothers or by themselves. Our second goal was to see whether the potential differences were maintained or not when mothers and children were informed about the product's nutritional quality. We invited 95 mother-child dyads (children mean age = 9.4±0.10) to choose in the laboratory one beverage (among 6) and two food items (among 9) for the mid-afternoon snack, first for themselves and then for the other dyad's member. After an explanation of the Nutri-Score label (French nutritional labelling system), we invited participants to choose again one beverage and two food items for themselves and for the other dyad's member, among products labelled with the Nutri-Score. Participants were informed at the beginning of the experiment that one of the four choices (the two selected by the participant for himself and the two selected by the other dyad's member for this participant) would be randomly selected to be consumed. To answer our questions, we focused here on the nutritional quality of the children's snacks. We found that children's choices for themselves were lower in terms of nutritional quality than mothers' choices for their child (P < 0.001). The difference between the nutritional quality of choices made by children for themselves and those made by their mothers was not reduced after labelling (P=0.86). Thus, in terms of nutritional quality it seems preferable that mothers choose the mid-afternoon snack of their child.

Tastes are often described as having a nutrient-signaling function eliciting expectations about the food and its nutrient content. The objectives of this work was to investigate correlations between taste intensity and nutrient content, to evaluate the impact of competing tastes on these relationships, and to know if the content in certain nutrients could be inferred from a combination of tastes. The Food Taste Database (Martin et al., 2014) and a French Food Composition table (ANSES-Ciqual) were used to obtain a dataset combining sensory and nutritional information for 365 foods. Our results confirm the existence of several taste-nutrient relationships previously suggested by other works. Among direct relationships (dose-response type), we highlighted correlations between sweet taste intensity and mono-disaccharide content, salty taste and sodium content, sour taste and organic acid content, and fat sensation and lipid content. A link between protein content and umami taste intensity was also found. We demonstrated that direct taste-nutrient relationships (dose-response) were not equally modulated by the intensity of competing tastes and that these interactions could partly explain why the association between some nutrients well-known for their taste properties and the intensity of the corresponding tastes is often of less good quality than expected. Finally, limiting our conclusion to the 51 nutrients and 365 foods studied, we demonstrate that the probability of finding nutrients was theoretically higher in fat, salty and sweet food products. However, this general statement needs to be qualified when considering the degree of food processing, in particular for ultra-processed foods.

International audience; The aim of this study was to assess the impact of a nutritional traffic-light label, the Nutri-Score, on snack choices in mother-child dyads and to assess a potential hedonic cost associated with a change in favour of healthier choices. French mothers and children (n=95; children's age: 7-11 years) who participated were asked to choose, for themselves and for the other dyad member, a snack composed of one beverage and two food items selected among several products with different nutritional quality. In the first step, the products were presented without any information. In the second step, the products were labelled with the Nutri-Score. Mothers and children were asked to rate their liking for all proposed products before being informed of their nutritional quality. The nutritional quality, the hedonic score, and the estimated budget of the selected snacks were compared before and after labelling. As hypothesized, the Nutri-Score label led to a significant increase in the nutritional quality of the chosen snacks. The budget for the chosen snacks was unchanged or decreased after the nutritional labelling was applied. Children and mothers had significantly lower liking for the snacks after nutritional labelling than before nutritional labelling, suggesting a hedonic cost associated with a change in favour of healthier snack choices. This raises the question of the sustainability of the behavioural change induced by the Nutri-Score label.

PMID: 30865953 DOI series title: 10.1159/issn.1664-2147; International audience; The first 1,000 days of life constitute an important period for development of health and eating behavior. While the feeding mode drastically evolves, the child learns “how”, “what” and “how much” food to eat. When orally exposed, infants discover food properties, with a variety of tastes, flavors, textures, as well as energy densities. Here we focus on deciphering the involvement of taste and olfaction in the early establishment of eating behavior. In the OPALINE French birth cohort (Observatory of Food Preferences in Infants and Children), taste and flavor preferences were studied in relation with food preferences over the first 2 years. Both taste and flavor preferences evolved during this period. At weaning, a higher preference for sweet, sour and umami tastes was associated to a higher acceptance and sweet, sour- and umami-tasting foods, respectively. At 12 months, rejections of the odor of trimethylamine and of dimethyl disulfide were related to the rejection of fish and sulfurous cheeses, respectively. Further, at 20 months, food neophobia was associated to odor differential reactivity but not to taste differential reactivity, revealing the importance of olfaction in neophobic reactions. Further studies are ongoing to examine the long term effect of early taste and flavor exposure on food preferences.

International audience; The French mid-afternoon snack is characterized by consumption of energy-dense foods. Nutrition labelling can constitute a lever to improve choices but at the expense of liking (Poquet et al., 2017). Thus, it seems important to develop strategies to increase the pleasure of consuming healthy foods. Our aim is to compare the nutritional quality of snacks chosen within mother-child dyads before and after a pleasure-based intervention. At baseline (T1) and eight weeks later (T2), mothers and children (n=189 7-11 years) were invited in the laboratory to choose separately a snack composed of two food items (among ten) for a mid-afternoon snack for themselves and for the other dyad's member. Then, they rated their liking for all items. One of the two snacks chosen by oneself and by the other dyad's member was randomly selected to be consumed. Participants were then randomized into an intervention (n=95) or a control (n=94) group. Between T1 and T2, all participants will receive three boxes at home. The intervention boxes targeted three dimensions of pleasure (sensory, symbolic and social) to stimulate pleasure of eating three categories of heathy foods: fruit, dairy and cereal products. The control boxes are focused on culinary arts. Results at T1 showed that mother's choices for themselves were healthier than children's choices for themselves (P

Un article correspondant à cette présentation devrait paraître en 2017 dans Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism.Un article correspondant à cette présentation devrait paraître en 2017 dans Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism.; Eating habits form early during childhood and are likely to track until the beginning of adulthood. Thus, understanding the formation of eating habits is important. In the HabEat* project we focused on the development of preferences for vegetables since they are the less liked foods for children. Based on the analyses of data from different European cohorts, HabEat found that breast milk may facilitate the consumption of vegetables in later childhood. HabEat found some evidence that introducing a variety of different vegetables in the complementary feeding period increases later acceptance of novel foods. Habeat also found that repeated exposure is as much or more efficient than flavour-flavour learning to increase vegetable intake even for 2- to 6-year-old children who are more likely to be neophobic. Food intake adjustment in young children (aged 3 to 6 years) was also studied. HabEat found that when children ate a preload of energy-dense food less than one hour before a meal, they ate less during the meal but adjusted their food intake only partially for the energy ingested from the preload. HabEat found that when palatable foods were available freely after a meal, most children ate in the absence of hunger and consumed extra energy, and the extra-consumption was higher for children whose parents who used ‘Food as a reward' than for children whose parents did not use this practice. * The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/ 2007-2013) under the grant agreement n.FP7-245012-HabEat.

Les experiences gustatives et olfactives anterieures a la diversification alimentaire sont memorisees et peuvent favoriser l'introduction d'aliments nouveaux. Toutefois, la conduite de la diversification joue un role tres important dans le developpement des preferences alimentaires et peut favoriser, jusqu'a l'âge de 6 ans, l'appreciation de legumes familiers et nouveaux.

International audience; Given the growing evidence that sugar intake could promote a positive energy balance and lead to weight gain and obesity, the World Health Organization published new recommendations in terms of sugar consumption in children and adults. However, the influence of sweet food and drink consumption on sweetness liking has not been fully characterized. Therefore, the present study aimed at exploring whether sweet food consumption is positively associated with sweetness liking in 101 children aged between 7 and 12 years. Sweetness 'preference' and liking optima for sweetness (calculated for 100% and 60% of the children, respectively) were measured by asking the children to taste and rate on a 9-point hedonic scale three ranges of food products that varied in sucrose content. Each range of products (sugar water, strawberry syrup with water, and cornflakes in milk) contained 5 levels of sweetness. Sweet food consumption from sweet drinks, candies and snacks, cereal/dairy/fruit products or added sugar were calculated using data from a food frequency questionnaire which focused on the children's consumption of sweet products, taking into account the sweetness intensity of each food. Structural Equation Modelling fitted for the 101 children showed a weak but significant positive association between candy and snack consumption and sweetness liking (path coefficient = 0.28; p = 0.04). However, sweetness liking was not associated with sweet drink consumption, cereal/dairy/fruit product consumption or added sugar consumption. The absence of a clear relationship between sweet food consumption and sweetness liking in this sample calls for further clarifications on the potential effect of sweet food consumption on preferred sweetness level in liquid and solid foods.

Background: The association between the orosensory detection of lipids, preference for fatty foods, and body mass index (BMI; in kg/m 2 ) is controversial in humans. Objective: We explored the oral lipid-sensing system and the orosensory-induced autonomic reflex system in lean and obese subjects. Design: Lean (BMI: 19 to ,25; n = 30) and obese (BMI .30; n = 29) age-matched men were enrolled. Their oral threshold sensitivity to linoleic acid (LA) was determined by using a 3-alternative forced-choice ascending procedure, and their eating habits were established by the analysis of 4 consecutive 24-h food-consumption diaries. The effect of brief oral lipid stimulations on plasma triglyceride [(TG)pl] concentrations was analyzed in overnight-fasted lean and obese individuals subjected to a whole-mouth stimulation (sipand-spit procedure) with a control or 1% LA emulsions for 5 min according to a within-subject randomized design. Results: A large distribution of LA detection was shown in both groups. Mean detection thresholds were 0.053% (wt:wt) and 0.071% (wt:wt) in lean and obese subjects, respectively. No relation between the LA detection threshold and BMI was observed. The 5 subjects who detected only the higher concentration of LA (5% wt: wt) or were unable to distinguish properly between control and LA emulsions were obese. An analysis of dietary habits showed that these obese LA nontasters consumed more lipids and energy than did all other subjects. Brief whole-mouth stimulations (sip-and-spit procedure) with a control or 1% LA emulsion revealed an LAmediated rise in (TG)pl concentrations in overnight-fasted, lean subjects. The origin of this change seemed to be hepatic. This (TG)pl upregulation was not shown in obese subjects, which suggested that obesity led to disturbances in the oral-brainstem-periphery loop. Conclusion: Altogether, these data strongly suggest that obesity may interfere with the orosensory system responsible for the detection of free long-chain fatty acids in humans. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02028975. Am J Clin Nutr doi: 10. 3945/ajcn.113.077198.

Children's vegetable consumption is below the public health recommendations. This study aimed to compare learning mechanisms to increase vegetable acceptance in infants at complementary feeding, namely repeated exposure (RE), flavor-flavor learning (FFL), and flavor-nutrient learning (FNL); measure the stability of the learning effect; and examine the impact of infants' feeding history on vegetable acceptance. The study was composed of a preexposure test, an exposure period, a postexposure test, and tests at 2-wk, 3-mo, and 6-mo follow-ups. At pre- and postexposure, a basic artichoke puree and carrot puree were presented to 95 French infants (6.4 ± 0.8 mo). During the exposure period, infants were randomly split into 3 groups and were exposed 10 times to the basic (RE group; 2 kJ/g; n = 32), a sweet (FFL group; 2 kJ/g; n = 32), or an energy-dense (FNL group; 6 kJ/g; n = 31) artichoke puree 2 or 3 times/wk. To evaluate acceptance, intake (g) and liking were recorded at home by parents. Between pre- and postexposure, intake of the basic artichoke puree significantly increased in the RE (+63%) and FFL (+39%) groups but not in the FNL group; liking increased only in the RE group (+21%). After exposure, artichoke was as much consumed and as much liked as carrot only in the RE group. Learning of artichoke acceptance was stable up to 3 mo postexposure. Initial artichoke intake was significantly related to the number of vegetables offered before the study started. RE is as effective as and simpler to implement than FFL and more effective than FNL for increasing vegetable acceptance at complementary feeding.

indexation en coursSupplementary data related to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.03.002; The objective of this study was to develop a new elaborate method to evaluate infants' liking of foods that could be applied at home and to compare the results of this elaborate method with those of a basic method. Mothers of infants aged 4 to 7 (n = 44) and 12-15 months (n = 46) participated in this study. For the basic method, mothers were asked to assess their infant's global liking at the end of a meal. Then, for the elaborate method, mothers received detailed instructions on how to feed their infant, how infants might express like/dislike and when to stop the meal. During the first nine spoons, they were asked to report the presence/absence of positive and negative behaviours after each spoon, and the infant's initial liking was reported after each triplet of spoons. They also assessed their infant's global liking at the end of the meal. Both methods were applied using three commercial familiar baby foods adapted to each age range. In 4-7-month-olds, the elaborate method showed a significant difference across products for liking, whereas the basic method did not show any difference. In 12-15-month-olds, the elaborate method showed more differences across products for liking than the basic method. In both age groups, negative behaviours, despite being less frequently reported, provided better liking discrimination than positive behaviours. In conclusion, the elaborate method produced better product liking discrimination than the basic method by focusing maternal attention on infants' eating behaviours since the first spoons.

indexation en cours; Previous studies on taste acceptance have been conducted taste-by-taste and with a cross-sectional design. The aim of this study was to longitudinally evaluate the acceptance of sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami solutions, and a fat emulsion comparatively in a birth cohort from 3 to 20 months old. The acceptance of each taste relative to water was defined using proportional variables that are based on ingestion (IR) or liking evaluated by the experimenter (LR). These data were analyzed with mixed models that accounted for age and subject effects (minimum 152 observations/age/taste; maximum 216). For saltiness, acceptance increased sharply between 3 and 12 months old. The trajectories of acceptance were parallel for sweetness, sourness, and the umami tastes between 3 and 20 months old, with sweetness being preferred. Between 12 and 20 months old, the acceptance of all tastes, except bitterness, decreased, and at 20 months old, only sweetness was not rejected. The acceptance of bitterness remained stable. For the fat emulsion, acceptance evolved from indifference to rejection. The acceptance of saltiness and umami tastes were lower in girls than boys at 20 months old. The acceptance of the fat emulsion was higher in infants who were born heavier and taller. At 20 months old, the fat emulsion acceptance was higher in infants who were born from mothers with a higher prepregnancy body mass index. Finally, the taste differential reactivity (the standard deviation of the IRs) significantly increased from 3 to 20 months old.

Article sous presse. Épreuves corrigées par l'auteur. Disponible en ligne depuis le mardi 13 juin 2017.Revue non répertoriée par l AERES ou dans des bases de données internationales.; ObjectivesBased on the postulate that social representations drive and influence people's eating habits, the first aim of this study is to identify the social representations towards proteins of French women with children from 6 to 11 years old, in order to understand the barriers to a potential reduction of meat consumption. Secondly, this study aims to highlight some levers able to modify, on the long term, eating habits while rebalancing consumption of animal and vegetable proteins.MethodQualitative study. Development of a semi-structured interview guide. Implementation of 21 semi-structured interviews conducted at home and analysis of the interviews’ thematic content.Results and discussionThis study allowed us to highlight, among French mothers, obstacles to the reduction of meat consumption and to the replacement of animal proteins by vegetable proteins. The mothers identified as “high consumer of meat” do not consider the possibility of substituting food with high animal protein content by another food, whereas, “low consumers of meat” spontaneously evoke food with high vegetable protein content as an alternative to meat consumption. However, leverage actions towards a rebalancing have also been identified. They could be found more in the smaller portions than in the replacement of a meat product by a vegetable one. Another option would be the access to information through media in order to improve knowledge, and consequently, social representations related to vegetable proteins.; Objectifs. – Dans la mesure où les représentations sociales guident et influencent les comportements alimentaires des individus, cette étude a pour objectif premier d'identifier les représentations sociales de mères françaises d'enfants âgés de 6-11 ans vis-à-vis des protéines pour comprendre les freins à une éventuelle réduction de la consommation de viande. En second lieu, cette étude vise à mettre en exergue des leviers susceptibles de modifier in fine les pratiques alimentaires en vue d'un rééquilibrage entre les protéines animales et végétales. Méthode. – Etude qualitative. Conception d'un guide d'entretien semi-directif. Réalisation de 21 entretiens semi-directifs au domicile et analyse de contenu thématique des entretiens. Résultats et discussion. – La présente étude nous a permis de mettre en évidence, chez les mères françaises, des freins à la réduction de la consommation de produits carnés ainsi que des freins à la substitution des protéines animales par des protéines végétales. Les mères identifiées comme de « grandes consommatrices de viande » n'envisagent pas la possibilité de substituer les aliments riches en protéines animales par d'autres aliments, tandis que les faibles consommatrices de viande évoquent spontanément des aliments riches en protéines végétales comme substitut à la viande. Toutefois, des leviers pour un rééquilibrage ont pu être également identifiés. Ils sont à rechercher davantage dans la réduction de la portion que dans la substitution d'un aliment carné par un aliment végétalisé. Une au tre piste envisagée serait l'accès à l'information par le biais des médias pour améliorer les connaissances et par là même, les représentations sociales associées aux protéines végétales.

Introduction et but de l’etude L’equilibre de la balance energetique est maintenu soit par l’ajustement des depenses energetiques soit par l’ajustement des apports energetiques. L’enquete americaine « 2002 Feeding infants and toddlers » laisse penser qu’une diminution des capacites d’ajustement energetique se produirait autour de 11 mois. Ces capacites se deterioreraient sous l’effet des pratiques de nourrissage notamment au cours de la diversification alimentaire. Aucune etude n’a mesure les capacites d’ajustement energetique a court terme chez des nourrissons entre 10 et 15 mois. L’objectif principal de ce projet etait donc d’evaluer les capacites d’ajustement energetique a court terme a ces âges et de decrire les eventuels changements developpementaux. Materiel et methodes Quarante nourrissons ont ete recrutes. Une mesure de compensation calorique a court terme, refletant la propension a manger en reponse a des signaux internes de faim/rassasiement, a ete developpee. Elle est conduite en donnant au sujet un aliment dit precharge plus ou moins energetique, suivi d’un repas ad libitum apres un laps de temps determine. Les nourrissons ont participe a une mesure de compensation calorique a 10,5 mois et a 14,5 mois. A chaque âge, la mesure se fait en deux venues au laboratoire. La mere fait consommer a l’enfant une precharge de 67 g (puree de carotte) apportant 22 ou 65 kcal (ordre contrebalance). Puis, 25 min plus tard, la mere offrait a son enfant un repas ad libitum (300 g de puree de legumes-viande/poisson, et 195 g de compote selon les choix de la mere apportant au maximum 289 kcal). Les quantites consommees lors de ces repas permettent de calculer un score exprime en % (COMPX) traduisant l’ajustement energetique a court terme. Un score de 100 % correspondait a un ajustement energetique parfait. En parallele, les apports energetiques des 24 h suivant les repas ad libitum etaient consignes a domicile. Les pratiques parentales de nourrissage, et certaines caracteristiques maternelles et enfantines ont ete enregistrees au travers de differents questionnaires. L’etude a ete menee apres avis favorable du CPP Est-I (2015-A00014-45). Resultats Sur les 40 nourrissons (19 filles/21 garcons), un score de COMPX a pu etre calcule a 10,5 mois pour 28 d’entre eux (âge moyen = 10,55 ± 0,23 mois ; 12 filles/16 garcons). Ces donnees preliminaires montrent qu’a 10,5 mois, les nourrissons n’ajustent que partiellement leur prise alimentaire a la suite de la consommation de precharges plus ou moins energetiques (COMPX moyen = 24,21 % ; min : −250,91 % et max : + 230,38 %), avec de fortes differences interindividuelles. Un comportement de mauvaise compensation ( n = 23) a ete plus frequemment observe qu’un comportement de surcompensation ( n = 5). Conclusion Les capacites d’ajustement energetique a court terme seront mises en lien avec les pratiques de nourrissage. De plus, l’ajustement energetique au cours des 24 h suivant les repas ad libitum sera egalement evalue grâce aux releves de consommation. Enfin, la mesure a 14,5 mois permettra d’evaluer si les capacites d’ajustement evoluent avec l’introduction des aliments dit adultes dans le regime alimentaire.

RevueRevue; Réussir écologiquement une nutrition équilibrée et sensoriellement adaptée pour SENiors. Journées francophones de nutrition (JFN)

International audience; The main objective of the study was to evaluate Polish consumers' liking and willingness to pay for innovations in traditional sausages "Kabanos". The study also attempted to determine whether regional differences may influence acceptance of innovations and the willingness to pay for such products. As both sensory factors and prices are important in food choice decisions, the methodological approach combined hedonic liking and experimental auctions. The study involved 221 consumers of traditional pork sausages who evaluated intrinsic and extrinsic product attributes in blind (tasting only), expectancy (product information only) and fully informed (tasting and product information) experimental conditions. The results show that acceptance of innovation in traditional sausages is determined by the type of innovation proposed. Innovation related to extrinsic attributes like packaging i.e. biodegradable packaging seem to be the most welcome regardless experimental conditions while innovations improving healthiness of traditional sausages but violating their sensory properties i.e. lower salt level tend to be disapproved. There are regional differences observed in acceptance and willingness to pay for innovative variants of Kabanos. In general, consumers in Warsaw are more inclined to pay more for innovative variants of Kabanos than consumers in Cracow. Participants from the two regions had also different hedonic reactions towards organic and spicy variant of Kabanos. Prior research concerning acceptance of innovation in traditional food products in Poland is scarce. Therefore, such information is particularly pertinent to SMEs and distributors operating in traditional food sector to support innovation and development of adequate communication strategies.

Research report; International audience; This study aimed to observe the influence of the monotonous consumption of two types of fibre-enriched bread at breakfast on hedonic liking for the bread, subsequent hunger and energy intake. Two groups of unrestrained normal weight participants were given either white sandwich bread (WS) or multigrain sandwich bread (MG) at breakfast (the sensory properties of the WS were more similar to the usual bread eaten by the participants than those of the MG). In each group, two 15-day cross-over conditions were set up. During the experimental condition the usual breakfast of each participant was replaced by an isocaloric portion of plain bread (WS or MG). During the control condition, participants consumed only 10 g of the corresponding bread and completed their breakfast with other foods they wanted. The results showed that bread appreciation did not change over exposure even in the experimental condition. Hunger was lower in the experimental condition than in the control condition. The consumption of WS decreased energy intake while the consumption of MG did not in the experimental condition compared to the corresponding control one. In conclusion, a monotonous breakfast composed solely of a fibre-enriched bread may decrease subsequent hunger and, when similar to a familiar bread, food intake.

International audience; Alliesthesia is the modulation of the rewarding value of a stimulus according to the internal state (hungry or satiated). This study aimed to evaluate this phenomenon as a function of the nature of the stimulus (odors evoking edible and non-edible items, and the food odors evoking fatty and non-fat foods) and to compare the effectiveness of two reward evaluations (measures of pleasantness and appetence) to reveal alliesthesia. The results showed that both fatty and non-fat food odors were judged as less pleasant and less appetent when the subjects were satiated than when they were hungry, whereas no such difference was observed for non-food odors. There was a greater decrease in appetence than there was in pleasantness. Moreover, the decrease in appetence was greater for fatty than for non-fat food odors, whereas the decrease in pleasantness was similar for both fatty and non-fat food odors. Our study allows for the definition of a more comprehensive pattern of alliesthesia based on odor category. It demonstrates that alliesthesia is specific to food odors and that it is more pronounced when odors are associated with fatty rather than non-fat foods. It also reveals that an appetence measure is more sensitive than a pleasantness measure for describing an acute reward modulation process.

article présenté lors du 18. Annual Meeting of the Society-for-the-Study-of-Ingestive-Behavior ; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvanie (Etats-Unis) - (2010-07-13 - 2010-07-17) / Rencontres; International audience; Introduction of solid foods is a major step in the establishment of eating behavior and is likely to affect children's health. However, the role of taste in acceptance of new foods, in particular in the first months of complementary feeding, is not fully understood and was the aim of the present study. Infants had to be in good health to participate (N=74). First, the infants' reactions to new foods were recorded by their parents between the ages of 5 and 7 months using a 4-point-scale ranging from very negative to very positive. Taste intensities of infant foods were scored by a trained panel and foods were clustered into groups showing similar taste profiles. Infants' reactions were used to calculate new food acceptance (NFA) defined as the average reaction towards a group of foods showing a similar taste profile. Second, preferences for the five basic tastes over water were measured using a 4-bottle test at 6 months old comparing intake of tastant solutions to water. Taste acceptance was evaluated through ingestion ratio (IR=intake of tastant solutions/intake of tastant solutions and water). NFAs were compared across food groups. Kendall correlations were calculated between NFA and IR. Most reactions (88%) to new foods were positive. However, NFA varied according to the taste profile of the foods: vegetables in which salt or a salty ingredient was added were more accepted than plain vegetables (P

WOS:000293677900024; International audience; About 18% of 6-11-year-old French children are overweight, of whom 3.3% are obese. Parental feeding practices, especially restriction and pressure-to-eat, seem to promote overeating in children. Since no tool was available for the perception of parental feeding practices of French children, our aim was to validate a French version of the Kids'Child Feeding Questionnaire (KCFQ, Carper, Orlet Fischer, & Birch, 2000), and to determine the relationship between KCFQ's dimensions and children's standardised body mass index (BMI z-scores). The questionnaire was completed by 240 normal-weighted or overweight children between the age of 9 and 11. The validation was based on a confirmatory factor analysis. The internal consistency of factors was confirmed using Cronbach's coefficients. After deleting some items (3 for the pressure-to-eat subscale and 3 for the restriction subscale), the two-factor model (pressure-to-eat, restriction) provided an acceptable fit (χ² (34)=64; RMSEA=.06; CFI=0.93; NNFI=.90), and satisfactory internal consistency. Children's perception of restriction was significantly and positively correlated with BMI z-scores (r=36, p

International audience; A total of 721 consumers were interviewed in order to obtain and compare consumer-driven associations to the word ‘‘Traditional”, in a food context, in six European regions. Participants, who were individually interviewed, had to state the first words that came into their mind when the word ‘‘Traditional” was verbally presented. Frequencies of occurrence of associations were obtained and analysed by means of simple correspondence analysis. The different word associations obtained were classified in 55 classes and then grouped in ten principal dimensions by triangulation. In general, southern European regions tended to associate the concept of ‘‘Traditional” more frequently with broad concepts such as heritage, culture or history. Central and Nordic European regions tended to focus mainly on practical issues such as convenience, health or appropriateness. As a final outcome of the analyses, a consensus conceptual map of traditional food products was obtained. The empirical findings of this qualitative exploratory free word association test provide valuable insights for product positioning, innovation and new developments in the traditional food market.

International audience; Traditional food products (TFP) are an important part of European culture, identity, and heritage. In order to maintain and expand the market share of TFP, further improvement in safety, health, or convenience is needed by means of different innovations. The aim of this study was to obtain a consumer-driven definition for the concept of TFP and innovation and to compare these across six European countries (Belgium, France, Italy, Norway, Poland and Spain) by means of semantic and textual statistical analyses. Twelve focus groups were performed, two per country, under similar conditions. The transcriptions obtained were submitted to an ordinary semantic analysis and to a textual statistical analysis using the software ALCESTE. Four main dimensions were identified for the concept of TFP: habit-natural, origin-locality, processing-elaboration and sensory properties. Five dimensions emerged around the concept of innovation: novelty-change, variety, processing-technology, origin-ethnicity and convenience. TFP were similarly perceived in the countries analysed, while some differences were detected for the concept of innovation. Semantic and statistical analyses of the focus groups led to similar results for both concepts. In some cases and according to the consumers’ point of view the application of innovations may damage the traditional character of TFP.