• Environmentally conscious consumers more

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Tue Mar 22 22:30:46 2022
    Environmentally conscious consumers more likely to buy chicken raised on insects or algae
    Meat labels explaining health and environmental benefits can encourage consumer trust, study shows

    Date:
    March 22, 2022
    Source:
    University of Alberta
    Summary:
    Eating chicken raised on a diet of bugs or algae may sound downright
    unappetizing to some, but there are ways to make the idea more
    palatable to at least one type of food shopper. Consumers who are
    environmentally aware will likely warm up to the idea of using
    alternative proteins like insect meal in poultry feed if they're
    given enough information about the health and environmental
    benefits, a new study shows.



    FULL STORY ========================================================================== Consumers who are environmentally aware will likely warm up to the idea
    of using alternative proteins like insect meal in poultry feed if they're
    given enough information about the health and environmental benefits,
    a new University of Alberta study shows.


    ========================================================================== Alternative poultry feed can make noticeable differences in the look
    of the meat -- in this case more intense red and yellow hues -- which
    makes consumer education important.

    The use of the unusual proteins is still experimental, but when they
    eventually become commercially viable alternatives, food producers
    and policy makers need to be ready, said study co-author Sven Anders,
    an agricultural economist and professor in the Faculty of Agricultural,
    Life & Environmental Sciences.

    "Producers need to get the labelling sorted out as these feeds are
    developed.

    If you want consumers to believe in these alternative products, you have
    to educate them about it, then they can decide -- and hopefully we can
    overcome their rejection," he said.

    Anders said there are currently no regulations governing mandatory
    labelling of feed ingredients in the European Union or any other market, including the United States and Canada, but interest is growing in
    finding alternative sources of protein for animal feed.

    Soybeans feed the majority of the world's livestock but also gobble up
    massive amounts of arable land and water resources. Insects and algaecan
    be grown muchmore sustainably. But people won't start digesting the
    idea of insects or algae as part of their food chain if they aren't
    given reliable information up front, Anders added. It's a crucial step
    in getting consumer buy-in.

    In the study, 1,197 German consumers were shown photographs of raw
    chicken breasts. Some of the chickens had been fed a standard diet of
    soybean meal.

    Others had been fed with either insect meal containing blackfly larvae
    or spirulina, a known dietary supplement made of blue-green algae. The
    two alternative protein sources produced more intense red and yellow
    hues in the meat.

    Half of the participants were also given information about the nutritional
    and environmental benefits associated with each feed. The other half
    received no such information. Both groups were asked to choose repeatedly
    among random pairs of chicken products that differed in price, feed diets
    and labels with information about sustainability and health attributes.

    Although participants' preferences were mixed, those who were already interested in sustainability and who received information about the
    insect and algae-fed meat were more inclined to buy it, said Anders. Those environmentally aware consumers were also drawn to package labelling that promoted elevated levels of beneficial omega-3 acids in the alternatively
    fed chicken samples.

    When told about the insect meal or spirulina in the chicken, consumers who didn't identify as environmentally conscious said they wouldn't buy it.

    "The findings show that providing information is a double-edged sword,"
    Anders said. "It can cause mainstream western consumers to react with
    disgust around insect- or algae-derived foods." Package labelling paired
    with widespread education campaigns would help raise consumer awareness,
    he suggested.


    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Alberta. Original
    written by Bev Betkowski.

    Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Brianne A. Altmann, Sven Anders, Antje Risius, Daniel Mo"rlein.

    Information effects on consumer preferences for alternative
    animal feedstuffs. Food Policy, 2022; 106: 102192 DOI: 10.1016/
    j.foodpol.2021.102192 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220322122528.htm

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