Flash Profile- the study of a set of processed cheese for sensory and consumer science

Abstract:

The process of designing food represents a challenge for many SMEs in the food industry. The design of new developed food should be based on consumer voice first of all. One way to capture it is to ask consumers to describe products and to quantify their perception of this description.

Recently, in response to industrial demand for R&D to develop new food products faster and cheaper, modern methods of descriptive analysis have been developed. Flash Profile is one of the new alternative to conventional profiling. This sensory method is less time consuming, more flexible and can be used with semi trained assessors and even consumers, providing sensory maps very close to a classic descriptive analysis with highly trained panels.

In this context, the Flash Profile method was explored among target consumers of processed chesse with the assumption that meaningful sensory descriptors can be generated and quantified, and product maps can ultimately be drawn.

The results support the usability of Flash Profile as a fast method for sensory characterisation, with the advantage of providing a product characterisation based on consumer experience, for a better development of new food products.