To Örebro University

Delta 9-Desaturase (stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1, SCD-1) regulates the desaturation of SFA, mainly stearic and palmitic, to MUFA. Delta 6-Desaturase (D6D) and Delta 5-desaturase (D5D) are involved in the metabolism of linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid to polyunsaturated metabolites. The objective of the present study was to study the effects of different types of dietary fat on indices of fatty acid desaturase (FADS) activity (evaluated as product: precursor ratios) in plasma and skeletal muscle in human subjects. A high SCD-1 index has been related to obesity and metabolic disorders, while the D5D index is associated with insulin sensitivity. Fatty acid composition of serum and skeletal muscle lipids was analysed by GLC during a randomised, controlled, 3-month dietary intervention in healthy subjects. A comparison of the effects of a diet containing butter fat (SFA, n 17) with a diet containing monounsaturated fat (MUFA, n 17), keeping all other dietary components constant, showed a reduced SCD-1 activity index by 20% on the MUFA diet compared with the SFA diet assessed in serum cholesteryl esters. The D6D and D5D indices remained unaffected. Supplementation with long-chain n-3 fatty acids reduced the SCD-1 index by a similar magnitude while the D6D index decreased and the D5D index increased. It is concluded that changes in the type of fat in the diet affect the indices of FADS activity in serum and skeletal muscle in human subjects. The desaturase activity indices estimated from the serum lipid ester composition are significantly related to corresponding indices studied in skeletal muscle phospholipids.

Purpose - This observational study set out to investigate the effect of sensory description labels on consumer choice of apples in a grocery retail store.

Design/methodology/approach - An independent observation study was conducted in a retail grocery store setting. A total of 1623 consumers were observed over a four day period in four different sessions, each using three apple varieties (JONAGOLD, INGRID MARIE, and ELISE). Marketing strategies differed between the sessions as follows: (1) sort name labelling only, (2) sort name and sensory description labelling, (3) sort name and sensory semantic description labelling, and (4) sort name labelling and allowing consumers to taste the apples before choosing.

Findings - Consumer product choice was affected by the sensory description labels. When only the sort name was given on the label, the consumers tended to choose INGRID MARIE, which has a strong sort name. With the addition of sensory description labels, the consumer choice shifted to ELISE, which had been chosen with a low frequency when only sort name was given, but was chosen with a high frequency when sensory description labelling was used.

Research limitations/implications - The study was limited to red apples and one national market.

Practical implications - Practitioners, managers, and marketers may benefit from using proper sensory labelling as a marketing tool for various food products, such as a apples, in a grocery retail store.

Originality/value - This study shows the importance and value of sensory description label marketing for food products in grocery retail stores. Little attention has previously been paid to the research area within sensory marketing communication concerning the interplay of sensory perception of food and the formulation of marketing labels, or taste marketing. This paper also addresses the possible interaction between the disciplines of sensory and marketing science

Background. Rapeseed oil (RO), also known as canola oil, principally contains the unsaturated fatty acids 18:1n-9, 18:2n-6 and 18:3n-3 and may promote cardiometabolic health. Objective. To investigate the effects on lipoprotein profile, factors of coagulation and insulin sensitivity of replacing a diet rich in saturated fat from dairy foods (DF diet) with a diet including RO-based fat (RO diet). Design. During a 2 x 3-week randomized, controlled, cross-over trial, 20 free-living hyperlipidaemic subjects were provided with isocaloric test diets that differed in fat composition alone. Blood lipoprotein profile, coagulation and fibrinolytic factors and insulin sensitivity (euglycaemic clamp) were determined before and after the dietary intervention. Results. All subjects completed the study, and compliance was high according to changes in serum fatty acids. The RO diet, but not the DF diet, reduced the levels of serum cholesterol (-17%), triglycerides (-20%) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (-17%), cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ratio (-21%), apolipoprotein (apo) B/apo A-I ratio (-4%) and factor VII coagulant activity (FVIIc) (-5%) from baseline. These changes were significantly different between the diets (P = 0.05 to P < 0.0001), except for FVIIc (P = 0.1). The RO diet, but not the DF diet, modestly increased serum lipoprotein( a) (+6%) and tended to increase the glucose disappearance rate (K-value, +33%). HDL cholesterol, insulin sensitivity, fibrinogen and tissue plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 levels did not change from baseline or differ between the two diets. Conclusions. In a diet moderately high in total fat, replacing dairy fat with RO causes a rapid and clinically relevant improvement in serum lipoprotein profile including lowering of triglycerides in hyperlipidaemic individuals.

Background: Comparative studies on dietary patterns and long-term mortality are sparse.

Objective: The objective was to examine the relations between 10-y mortality and adherence to the World Health Organization dietary guidelines [Healthy Diet Indicator (HDI)], a Mediterranean-like diet, and a carbohydrate-restricted (CR) diet in elderly Swedish men.

Design: Dietary habits were determined by 7-d dietary records in a population-based longitudinal study of 924 Swedish men (age: 71 ± 1 y). The HDI score (–1 to 8 points), the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS; 0–8 points), and the CR score (2–20 points) were calculated for each participant. Nonadequate reporters of energy intake were identified (n = 413). Mortality was registered during a median follow-up of 10.2 y. Cox proportional hazards regression, with multivariable adjustments, was used to determine the effects of adherence to each dietary pattern.

Results: Two hundred fifteen and 88 subjects died of all-cause and cardiovascular disease, respectively. In all individuals, risk relations to mortality for each SD increment in the scores were observed for only MDS, with an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.83 (95% CI: 0.70, 0.99). Among adequate dietary reporters (n = 511), adjusted HRs for each SD increment in scores were enhanced for MDS (ie, 0.71; 95% CI: 0.55, 0.92) for all-cause mortality and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.42, 0.96) for cardiovascular mortality. Corresponding HRs for CR diet score were 1.19 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.45) for all-cause mortality and 1.44 (95% CI: 1.03, 2.02) for cardiovascular mortality.

Conclusion: Adherence to a Mediterranean-like dietary pattern reduced mortality, whereas adherence to a CR dietary pattern appeared to increase mortality in elderly Swedish men, especially when only adequate dietary reporters were considered.

This study (1) examines the sensory attributes of a large group of red apples and compares consumer perceptions of them with those of a trained sensory panel; and (2) uses a sensory semantic frame classification to analyze the vocabulary used. Descriptive analysis was carried out with the trained panel, while a simplified version of the repertory grid method was used for one-to-one interviews with consumers. The perceptions expressed by the consumers correlated quite well with the terminology used by the trained panel, and the two groups used many identical words when describing the apples' texture, flavor and taste according to partial least squares regression. A sensory semantic frame was constructed based on the vocabulary used by the two groups. The combination of sensory and semantic analysis could be one way of extracting valuable words for use in contexts such as product description for marketing purposes in retail stores.

Background: A simplified optically readable food record (ORFR) was developed and compared with an openended weighed record (WR). Objective: To compare intake of nutrients and foods using a seven-day ORFR with intake estimated using a seven-day WR. The results from each method were validated against 24-h urine nitrogen excretion and energy intake (EI)/estimated basal metabolic rate (BMR) cut-off values. Design: The study comprised 73 free-living, healthy 70-year-old Swedish men. Dietary data were collected during seven consecutive days, starting either with WR or ORFR. Results: Average intakes of energy and several nutrients were significantly lower when estimated using ORFR than when using WR. However, when adjusted for nutrient density, only a few nutrients were still lower with ORFR. Spearman correlation coefficients between the two methods regarding intakes of energy and energy-yielding nutrients were moderate to high, i.e. 0.4 0.6, while figures for most micro-nutrients were in the range 0.30.5. A large proportion of subjects under-reported their EIs, a higher proportion doing so when using ORFR. Protein intake obtained using ORFR was 31% lower than the values calculated from the 24-h urine nitrogen excretion, and 22% lower than those obtained from WR. Average intakes of milk, cheese and other milk products as well as coffee, tea and alcohol were significantly higher when estimated using ORFR than when using WR, while intakes of vegetables, meat and meat products, fish, bread and cereal products as well as number of sweet foods were significantly lower with ORFR. Conclusions: Based on these results, adjustments of some portion sizes in ORFR are suggested. In view of the advantages of ORFR with respect to lower response burden and rapid processing of data, such adjustments would make ORFR a suitable dietary assessment tool for use in dietary surveys, including larger resourcedemanding epidemiological investigations.