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The EU recommended a new method for making smoked salmon. But what did Norwegians think about this?
Many consumers are sceptical of salmon that hasn’t been smoked in the traditional way.
In Norway, no buffet is complete without some salmon or trout – preferably smoked over juniper wood chips or some other deciduous tree.
Smoking food is an ancient preservation method. But it also gives the food a distinctive and highly valued flavour. And it’s tradition.
Traditional smoking, however, has a drawback: It can lead to the formation of harmful substances such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The EU has therefore previously recommended replacing traditional smoking methods with smoke flavouring.
“According to this recommendation, smoke flavourings were thought to be a safer and more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional smoking,” says Lene Waldenstrøm.
She is an assistant professor at NTNU’s Department of Biotechnology and Food Science.
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Consumers are sceptical
But many consumers remain sceptical about the use of smoke flavouring.
“There’s been quite a lot of debate in Norway about the use of smoke flavouring. Some producers have chosen to avoid this method for the simple reason that they know people are sceptical,” says Waldenstrøm.
She has extensive experience from the food and beverage industry, and recently completed a PhD on the subject. She looked at consumers’ attitudes towards smoke flavouring in three scientific articles.
The taste is not the problem
First, the researchers had people taste various smoked salmon products. Some were smoked the traditional way, while others had added smoke flavouring.
The taste – specifically whether it is perceived as good – has previously been found to be crucial for whether people accept a food product or a new production method.
The researchers used various methods both to make the product as good as possible and to measure the sensory aspects, including acceptance, appearance, taste, smell, and texture.
When the consumers who participated assessed the salmon samples, they were anonymised. In other words, they were not told which samples had been smoked the traditional way and which had been produced using smoke flavouring. This is called blind tasting.
"In the end, we used smoke flavouring to develop a smoked salmon product that did not differ much from the traditional one. Consumers liked the product and accepted it in much the same way as traditionally smoked salmon,” says Waldenstrøm.
The results indicated that salty, smoky, and what consumers perceive as 'natural' flavours were important for how much they liked the product.
However, that was not enough.
Only 15 per cent were open to smoke flavouring
“A digital survey showed that only 15 per cent of Norwegian consumers were positively inclined towards salmon with smoke flavouring,” says Waldenstrøm.
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Many consumers perceive smoke flavouring as unnatural and a break from tradition. They also believe that it affects the quality of the fish and may pose health challenges.
Interestingly, consumers’ attitudes towards smoke flavouring vary depending on the type of product being eaten.
Consumers are much more willing to accept the use of smoke flavouring in the production of everyday foods, such as ham, bacon, and sausages, than in traditional foods like smoked salmon.
This is an area where more research is needed.
Who says yes, who says no?
This time they asked more than 1,000 Norwegian consumers what they really thought about the use of smoke flavouring. The researchers also looked at other factors that influence food choices.
“In this large survey, 44 per cent of the respondents were negative, 36 per cent neutral, and 20 per cent positive towards the use of smoke flavouring,” says Waldenstrøm.
So who thinks it is okay to use smoke flavouring? Not necessarily those who know the most about food, but rather those who are more positive towards the use of new technology in the food industry.
“The positive and neutral respondents were significantly less engaged and interested in food, and they were generally less sceptical towards the use of new food technologies than the respondents who were negative towards the use of smoke flavouring,” the researcher says.
Overall, those who responded negatively were worried about the degree of processing and reduced natural quality.
Among the consumers who were negative towards smoke flavouring, the researchers identified two subgroups with different characteristics:
- Food enthusiasts who value tradition and natural quality. They tend to be outgoing, adventurous, and friendly.
- Elderly, often retired people living in rural areas.
Slightly different groups of people, but with the same negative attitude towards smoke flavouring.
Why is this significant?
Why is it important to know these things? Well, if we lift our gaze from the smoked salmon on our plates, we might see things from a more global perspective.
“Before we reach the year 2050, there will be ten billion people living on the planet. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization states that there's an urgent need to achieve sustainable food production and fair distribution of food,” says Waldenstrøm.
It is therefore important to find out which new production methods people are willing to accept and, ultimately, are actually willing to eat.
If there is to be enough food for everyone, we will most likely need to change our eating habits and the raw materials we use, adopt new methods, and process food differently than we do today.
“It's therefore important to understand why people make the food choices they do. Consumers are influenced by a number of factors, not just taste, availability, and how healthy the food is. Other factors are related to psychology, how the food is perceived, culture, and the context in which the food is served," she says.
Smoke flavouring recommendation withdrawn
So, what have we actually found out about smoke flavouring? Well, as is the nature of research, we keep discovering new things.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has now withdrawn its approval of all previously approved smoke flavourings from the entire EU market. This comes after scientific studies found that the artificial flavourings could also pose a health risk.
New developments and further studies of both traditionally smoked and smoke-flavoured products are now needed to determine what should be recommended in the future.
References:
Waldenstrøm et al. Bruk av alternativ røykemetode (Use of alternative smoking methods), Norsk Sjømat, 2021.
Waldenstrøm et al. Norwegian Consumers’ Skepticism towards Smoke-Flavoring of Salmon – Is it for Real?, Foods, 2022. DOI: 10.3390/foods11142170
Waldenstrøm et al. Sensory methodology in product optimization of coldsmoked Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) processed with atomized purified condensed smoke, Journal of Food Science, 2021. DOI: 10.1111/1750-3841.15915
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Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
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