FOOD SELECTION

AND EVALUATION
FOOD SELECTION CRITERIA
 Sensory criteria

 Sight – color, texture, size, shine, shape

 Odor - volatile flavor substances
 Taste – sweet, salt, sour, bitter
 Touch (by the tongue) – sensations of: warm,
hot, cold, astringency,pain,texture
 Sound – pop, crackle, pouring, fizz, bubbling
Nutritionalcriteria
Cultural and Religious criteria
 An increasingly diverse population, with
greater access to travel and expanded global
communication has resulted in huge increase
in the variety of food available today.
 Familiar taste preferences acquired in
childhood as well as religious tenets affect
many people food habits throughout their lives
 Psychological and Sociological criteria
 Advertising, social conscience and peer
pressure can all play a part in individual’s
food choices
 The controversies surrounding genetically-
engineered foods and organic foods are
examples of how food products can be
affected by these criteria.
Budgetary criteria
 Cost helps determine the types of food and
brands that are bought and the frequency of
restaurant patronage
 A shortage of time for food preparation or
eating out can result in greater use of
convenience foods and “fast foods” even if
they are often more expensive and less
nutritious.
FOOD EVALUATION
Food manufacturers use both subjective and
objective evaluation methods to determine
consumer acceptance of new products
 Subjective tests – evaluate food quality by
relying on the sensory characteristics and
personal preferences of selected individuals.
Taste panels, consisting of either randomly
chosen members of the population or experts
trained in tasting a particular product are
used to conduct subjective tests:
•Analytical tests -are based on discernible
differences
•Affective tests -are based on individual
preferences
Objective
 tests -rely on laboratory methods and
equipment to evaluate foods through physical and
chemical tests
--Physical tests -measure certain observable
aspects of food such as size, shape, weight,
volume, density, moisture, texture and viscosity
-- Chemical tests -are used to
determine the various nutrient and
non-nutrient substances in food.