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Walk down the aisle of a typical supermarket and it's easy to be dazzled by row upon row of colorful food packages with nutrition, taste, convenience, and other appeals. How can a food buyer choose? One way is to consult a consumer magazine like CONSUMER REPORTS. Each year CONSUMER REPORTS tests and rates 6 to 10 foods and beverages from iced teas to fast foods.
CONSUMER REPORTS food articles provide guidance that goes beyond evaluating the flavor and texture of food products. CONSUMER REPORTS also looks at ease of preparation and other convenience factors; home-recipe alternatives; ease of use; opening, and handling by physically challenged consumers; packaging disposal and other ecological issues; and marketing tactics. In addition, it provides nutrition and health information so that readers understand how their food choices can enhance &emdash; or undermine &emdash; their own health.
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- To identify criteria by which to judge food products.
- To compare and evaluate food products.
- To discover how CU tests and evaluates food products.
- To develop sensory-evaluation skills.
- To build skill at reading label information and analyzing label claims.
- To develop food-shopping skills. a car.
- To understand how to calculate and use unit price and price per serving.
- To explore government's responsibility in regulating food advertising, labeling, safety, and quality.
VOCABULARY
convenience food
fast food
processed food
nutrition label
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RDA
serving size
unit price
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KEY CONCEPTS
- Food experts use many criteria to judge foods. Among these are: taste, texture, nutrition, safety, cost, and packaging.
- At Consumers Union, food testing is carried out by trained professionals in state-of-the-art laboratories. Often trained sensory panelists are called on to help identify flavors and textures.
- Many factors affect our food choices. Among these are: physical and psychological needs, habit, availability, cost, family values and goals, special diets, religious requirements, marketing strategies, and advertising. Understanding these influences can help consumers make healthy and satisfying decisions.
- Modern processed, convenience, and fast foods offer benefits, but have drawbacks. Convenience and other benefits need to be weighed against health, environmental, and other factors.
- By using food labels, food shoppers can select foods that meet their nutrition and health criteria. Labels reveal ingredients, freshness, and nutrition information.
- When buying foods, consumers can often save money by comparison shopping. Store brands are usually cheaper than name brands and many times are of comparable quality.
- The U.S. government regulates food labeling and safety. Among the agencies involved are the USDA and FDA.
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TEACHING STRATEGIES
BEFORE READING
Review what students already know about shopping for foods.
- When shopping for food, why do you choose the brands that you do? Price? Habit? Packaging? Advertising? A friend's advice? Explain.
- When is it a good idea to get expert advice? Explain.
Review what students already know about the food covered by the article..
- Is this a food you have tried before? What experiences have you had with it? What brands have you tried? What questions do you have about this food that the article may answer?
DISCUSSION AND ACTIVITIES
SENSORY ATTRIBUTES.
- What are some words you'd use when trying to describe the taste, texture, aroma, and consistency of this food? Which of these qualities are desirable? Undesirable?
- What sensory attributes did CU use to judge this food? Are they the same you would use? Explain.
Research sensory words. Have students identify and define sensory words and keep them in a dictionary for easy reference..
NUTRITION AND HEALTH
- Do you think this is a nutritious food? Does this matter? Explain.
- What are the main ingredients used in this food? Which ingredients contribute the most nutritionally? Least? Explain.
- Are there any health concerns associated with this food? Safety or environmental concerns? Would these concerns influence your purchase of this food? Explain.
Research food regulation. What government agency regulates food safety? Labeling? Advertising? How? Do you think regulation of this food is necessary? Explain.
TESTING AND EVALUATING
- How did CU test this food? What physical tests did it do? Sensory tests?
- In sensory tests, do you think brand names could influence a tester's judgment? Why or why not? Why do you think CU always hides brand names during sensory tests?
- Why do you think CU uses trained sensory panelists rather than untrained volunteers to taste-test food products?
- Study the ratings chart for this food. What information about each brand is given on the chart? In what order are the foods listed? Why? Are the brands listed familiar to you? Are any brands that you know of missing? Why might this be?
- How could ratings influence a consumer? Manufacturer? Store owner?
Student Activity 4-A1: Design a Food-Product Test
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ACTIVITY OBJECTIVES
- To discover how food products are tested and to understand the benefits of testing and rating food products.
- To identify criteria by which to judge a particular food.
- To learn to design a food-product test.
ACTIVITY PLAN
- Discuss why it's important to test food products. How could knowing the results of these tests benefit consumers? Manufacturers?
- Ask students to read the article and decide which sensory attributes this food should have. Then have them use the activity sheet to design a test to evaluate one of those attributes.
- If possible, have students perform the test and graph or chart their findings. Discuss test results in class.
- If students do not perform the test, discuss their testing ideas. Did they have any problems in devising the test? Are the proposed tests viable? If not, what suggestions can other students make to correct any difficulties?
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES
Conduct a preference test. Would your classmates' taste evaluations of this food match the Consumer Reports ratings? Conduct this preference test to find out. 1. Select two brands to test. Give each brand a code letter, A or B. 2. Prepare samples of each brand for blind testing: a) Put in identical containers; b) Identify each by its code letter; c) Make sure each sample is served in the same way (same temperature, same amount, etc.). 3. Choose a panel of tasters.4. Have half the tasters try Brand A first, and then take a sip of water. (The other half should taste B first.) 5. Then have each taster try the other brand and decide which they prefer and for what reasons. Record tasters' verdicts on a ballot. 6. Tally the number of votes each brand got. 7. What are your conclusions from this test?
Make your own recipe. How would a homemade food compare to the tested manufactured ones? Suggest that students make a comparable food from scratch at home, following a cookbook recipe. How does it compare on the basis of sensory attributes? Price? Convenience? Nutrition?
Research food ads. Have students look for print and TV advertisements that make food alluring. Analyze the approaches and claims. Are there commonalities? Explain. |
SHOPPING
- What do you think people need to know about this food when shopping for it? Explain.
- What are CU's main recommendations about buying this food? Do you agree with these recommendations? Why or why not?
- When shopping for this food, would you compare price per ounce (unit price) or price per serving? Why? With what foods might price per ounce comparisons be misleading?
ADVERTISING/MARKETING
- Have you seen ads for this food? What claims were made? How accurate were those claims in light of the information in CONSUMER REPORTS? Explain.
- Evaluate other techniques used to market this food&emdash; displays, shelf positions, sample giveaways, coupons, etc. Do you think these techniques are effective? Explain.
Research advertising claims. Compare the claims on a food package or ad to what CONSUMER REPORTS says about it.
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