Sensobus visited Finland

Tuesday, 22 September 2009 19:34

The Integrated EU Project HEALTHGRAIN aims at producing health promoting and safe cereal foods and ingredients of high eating quality. Whole grain products and the effects of whole grain diet are studied in the 5 year project by 44 organisations from 15 European countries.

The collaboration in the HEALTHGRAIN project between VTT and Belgian ingredients company Puratos group brought a Sensobus for a two-days visit to Finland. The Sensobus is a mobile consumer research lab of Puratos built into the 13 meters long trailer of a truck. The Sensobus contains a small laboratory where consumers are invited to taste products, and rate them by answering a questionnaire with computer. Additionally, there are waiting and storage areas and kitchen for preparing samples. Sensobus travels around Europe doing hundreds of consumer studies yearly. Finland was by far the most Northern destination of Sensobus.

The aim in the Sensobus study was to evaluate the consumer attitudes and likeness on wholegrain wheat breads and given health information related to breads. The study is performed in Finland and in Belgium. In Finland the Sensobus study was organised in Helsinki, outside the Citymarket Itäkeskus. The studied samples were four types of breads developed in the project. For the Sensobus study, 200 kg of breads was baked at VTT. The study went well and during two days 350 consumers visited the Sensobus. The corresponding study will be carried out in Belgium later this autumn. After both studies the consumer responses will be analysed and compared between the countries.

The breads were also studied on their sensory characteristics at VTT and Puratos. At VTT, ten experienced members of the sensory panel evaluated the bread samples using 13 attributes describing the characteristics of breads. The results from the consumer study will be related to the sensory characteristics of the breads. The outcome of this collaborative experiment is believed to give more insight about the European consumer attitudes towards wholegrain breads.

HEALTHGRAIN is the acronym for "Exploiting Bioactivity of European Cereal Grains for Improved Nutrition and Health Benefits", an Integrated Project of the European Union's Sixth Framework Programme's "Food Quality and Safety" activity. Please see further information about the project from the website http://www.healthgrain.org/pub/.

The Sensobus in sunny Finnish weather. Parking takes six car places.

VTT’s Sensobus team ready for inviting the consumers in.

Evaluation booth in the second floor of Sensobus.

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