Does Allulose Appeal to Consumers? Results from a Discrete Choice Experiment in Germany

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Authors

  • Kristin Jürkenbeck
  • Theresa Haarhoff
  • Achim Spiller
  • Maureen Schulze

Reducing the sugar content in food is an important goal in many countries in order to counteract obesity and unhealthy eating. Currently, many consumers eat a number of foods with too much sugar content. However, mankind has an innate preference for sweet foods, and thus one strategy is to have food products which taste sweet but consist of a reduced calorie and sugar content. Allulose is a rare monosaccharide and is considered a safe ingredient in foods, for example in the US, Japan, Singapore, and Mexico, while in Europe, it is in the approval process as a novel food. Thus, it is relevant to find out how consumers perceive the different attributes of allulose in comparison to other sweeteners. Therefore, an online survey consisting of a choice experiment was conducted in Germany to find out consumer preferences of sweeteners. The survey data were analyzed using a mixed logit model. The results reveal that taste is the most important attribute for sweeteners, which explains about 40% of the choice. In the attribute level, a typical sugar taste is preferred. As allulose has a typical sugar taste, the likelihood that it appeals to consumers is high. The second most important attribute is the base product.

Original languageEnglish
Article number3350
JournalNutrients
Volume14
Issue number16
Number of pages12
ISSN2072-6643
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 08.2022
Externally publishedYes

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