IDENTIFYING DRIVERS OF LIKING FOR COMMERCIAL SPREADABLE CHEESES WITH DIFFERENT FAT CONTENT

The aim of this work was to obtain information about how perceptible differences among commercial spreadable cheeses with different fat content affect consumer liking/disliking. Sensory profiles of six commercial samples, three with regular fat content and three with low-fat content were determined using a trained panel (n = 10), and hedonic responses were obtained from a group of consumers (n = 106). Sensory variability among samples was mainly due to texture and flavor attributes. Three subgroups of consumers with different preference criteria were identified using cluster analyses: a small group of consumers (11%) for whom the variability in sensory attribute intensity among samples did not affect sample acceptability and two subgroups of consumers (39% and 50%) for whom certain sensory attribute intensity influenced hedonic scores. Partial least squares regression was used to determine the sensory factors driving liking/disliking for the latter two consumer subgroups.