Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre

The choice of foods by free-living individuals is an area of concern for many people involved in the production and distribution of foods. but also for those concerned with nutrition and health education. Despite a great deal of knowledge gained on the impacts of diet on health and on specific diseases (Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy. 1994). relatively little is known about how and why people choose the foods that make up their diets or about how to influence their choices in an effective way. Given recommendations. for example. ...

Genetic tests are currently being offered to the general public with little oversight and regulation as to which tests are allowed to be sold clinically and little control over the marketing and promotion of sales and use. This article provides discussion and data to indicate that the general public holds high opinions of genetic testing and that current media outlets for public education on genetic testing are not adequate to increase accurate knowledge of genetics. The authors argue that more regulation is needed to control and correct this problem in the United States.

Abstract The repertory grid method and the 'item by use'appropriateness method were used to study the place milk occupies within the diet, its perceived appropriateness and people's beliefs concerning different types of milk. The results of both methods suggest that consumers tend to find their most used type of milk suitable for all their uses of milk. In the repertory grid study the high-fat milk users separated the milks to a greater extent on 'taste/flavour','richness', and 'wateriness' whereas the low-fat milk users separated the ...

There not only seems to be a trend for people to underestimate the dietary risks that they face, but it appears that this underestimation may be related to the difficulties they encounter when trying to assess their own dietary intake. A study (n = 118) examining the effects of providing people with information about their own dietary fat intake on their attitudes towards dietary change and their subsequent fat consumption is described. Participants in a group receiving feedback about their fat intake did not decrease their consumption of fat more than did those in a control group. No effects on subsequent fat consumption were observed in a group who had higher than average levels of fat consumption, higher perceived fat consumption than actual fat consumption and who received feedback information about their fat consumption. The results are discussed in relation to their implications for health promotion strategies that focus on the motivational effects of providing people with information about their fat consumption.

The repertory grid method (short structured interviews) was used to study the place milk occupies within the total diet, its perceived appropriateness and people's beliefs concerning different types of milk (" ultra‐high temperature processed”(UHT) versus “fresh” and different levels of fat content) in Finland, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (UK). Twenty subjects (10 male, 10 female, 18–74 years) were interviewed in each country. The repertory grid method lends itself well to such a cross‐country and language comparison. ...