ASSESSMENT OF PREFERENCE WITH CONTROLS FOR RESPONSE BIAS OPERATING IN THE TEST SITUATION: A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE USING OMEGA-3 ENRICHED WHOLEGRAIN BREADS WITH ECUADORIAN CONSUMERS

摘要

Ecuadorian consumers performed paired preference tests between sunflower rye bread and artisan wholegrain bread enriched with omega-3 fatty acids. Preferences for each were, split fairly evenly. Further difference tests suggested that these preferences were elicited by visual rather than flavor/ texture cues. The preference test included a "placebo" pair of "identical" stimuli to assess statistically whether the responses to the two test stimuli were merely because of response biases operating in the test situation and not differences in their sensory attributes. The concept of an "operational preference" was introduced to understand some of the ambiguities involved in the definition of preference.