Healthier and more natural reformulated baby food pouches: Will toddlers and their parents sensory accept them?

• Published in: Food quality and preference 2022-07, Vol.99, p.104577, Article 104577
• Main Authors: Klerks, Michelle, Román, Sergio, Juan Francisco Haro-Vicente, Bernal, Maria Jose, Sanchez-Siles, Luis Manuel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: added sugars; Baby food pouches; Clean label; consumer demand; cross-over studies; Food naturalness; food quality; fruits; hedonic scales; infant foods; Product reformulation; Sensory evaluation; Spain; sugar content; Sugar reduction; yogurt
• ISSN: 0950-3293; 1873-6343
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2022.104577

•Parent-toddler dyads evaluated old and reformulated (lower sugar, fewer processed ingredients) recipes of yogurt pouches.•All reformulated recipes were highly accepted by toddlers and parents.•Reformulated recipes acceptance was lower in sugar reductions of 28% and 30%, but not 23%.•Reformulation did not influence parent’s ingredient list evaluation and purchase intention.•Healthier and more natural yogurt pouches can be formulated without jeopardizing market acceptance. Consumer demand of commercial baby food packaged in squeezable pouches has increased in the last few years. However, pouches have been criticized for having excessive levels of sugar and too many processed ingredients. This study examined how reformulations towards healthier (lower sugar levels) and more natural (fewer processed ingredients) products influenced toddlers’ and parents’ sensory acceptability. Three pairs of baby yogurt pouches (old versus reformulated recipes) were tested. In the reformulated recipes, fruit concentrates were replaced by fruit purees, and added sugar was eliminated. 150 parent-toddler (1–4 years) dyads were included in a 4-day double-blind randomized cross-over study in Spain. Each parent-toddler dyad tested one of the three yogurt pairs (A-B, C-D, E-F). Toddler’s acceptability was measured by the toddler’s reaction and by the estimated and relative intake. Parent’s overall liking and sensory evaluation was measured on a 7-point hedonic scale. Although the reformulated recipes of two yogurt pairs scored significantly lower on acceptability in toddlers (pair A-B: 3.39 ± 0.49 and 3.12 ± 0.70; pair C-D: 3.54 ± 0.61 and 3.30 ± 0.65, P