Hedonic measurements: developing new approaches

July 27, 2009 The 8th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium, of which Vitagora is a sponsor, is one of the most important scientific events for the world of sensory evaluation.

The symposium was created in 1992 in honor of Rose-Marie Pangborn, an eminent researcher in this area, with its first edition held in Dijon in 2001 and entitled “The odyssey of the senses”. It now takes place every two years and its latest edition, held in Florence, was the occasion for several researchers and doctoral students from FLAVIC* (Flavor, Vision and Consumer Behavior) and the European Center for the Sciences* of Taste in Dijon to take part in the program.

Sylvie Issanchou, director of the “Food Preferences and Behaviors” research team within FLAVIC, gave a general presentation on so-called “hedonic” measurements, which means measuring the enjoyment and satisfaction level of the consumer. “It is an area which is at the heart of the activity of our team since our research essentially looks into behavior, preferences and consumer satisfaction”, she explains.

Widely used by food manufacturers, service providers and public research institutes like FLAVIC, hedonic measurements are generally carried out in blind consumer tests – where the consumers have no information at all on the product they are testing. This is in contrast to so-called “objective” testing, where the enjoyment component is excluded and the tester carries out a precise description of the various product characteristics (aroma, flavor, texture etc.) – generally carried out by carefully selected testers trained in this exercise. “For several years, specialists in hedonic measurements have been questioning the validity of objective testing, that is to say the predictive value of the level of satisfaction of the average consumer. It must be said that we are often confronted with numerous difficulties for which we don’t always have the answers”, she concludes.

Sylvie Issanchou is also making the most of this event to put together an overview of hedonic measurement techniques, this being an area with a lot of scope for advancement, and to identify potential future research areas. “One of the recommended approaches is to develop more real-life situational measurements”, she indicates.

This subject is all the more important for the Dijon-based research teams for the fact that they are among the leading scientists throughout the world in the area of sensory evaluation, along with a few American and Northern European research teams. “Today, France, and in particular the region of Burgundy thanks to the AgroSup Dijon engineering school, are offering a range of specific training courses in the area of sensory evaluation of which there are very few equivalents throughout the world. Hence the significant presence in overseas laboratories of PhD and post-doctoral researchers who have come through these training courses”, she concludes.

*
- FLAVIC, Unité Mixte de Recherche (INRA, AgroSup Dijon, Université de Bourgogne)
- CESG, Unité Mixte de Recherche (CNRS, Université de Bourgogne, INRA)

Contact
Sylvie Issanchou
Email : sylvie.issanchou@dijon.inra.fr

Source : Agence JFD and Co