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Markets for free from foods have undergone extensive growth as consumers attempt to manage their health in increasingly novel ways. This research explores the making of consumer perceptions about the health of gluten-free foods.

This research employs qualitative methods including in-depth interviews with consumers of gluten-free foods and content analysis of online consumer comments.

Findings illustrate how consumers leverage personal responsibility, social commentary and political criticism in ways that forge essential connections with traditional medical authority. In particular, consumers blend diverse views together by expressing reverence, positioning complementarity and framing temporality.

This research highlights the productive role of consumers in shaping what constitutes health-related concerns and widens the scope of explanatory factors beyond product- and individual-level differences. This research is set in the context of gluten-free foods and draws on interview data from a single set of consumers. Future research could consider other free from markets including, for example, soy-free foods and corn-free foods, both of which implicate some of the most common ingredients in food products and potential regional differences both within and outside of North America.

This research offers insights into the marketing of gluten-free foods and free from foods in general, specifically the participation of consumers in legitimising the need for these foods on the basis of health.

I weave together multiple streams of work across disciplines including food marketing, contested illnesses and institutional logics to further our understanding of the dynamic nature of contemporary markets for free from foods.

The paper provides a new definition of healthy and functional food considering the case of sorghum, which is dealing with environmental challenges, calling for exploration of eco-conscious consumers' behavior in the free-from food innovative market.

Through a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis, this article offers a deep and broad outlook on a sustainable open innovations approach for agri-food systems. The bibliometric analysis includes a total of 198 scientific papers, deeply analyzed through Bibliometrix package.

Results show increasing academic interest in sustainable innovations for the agri-food system, where the relevance of the food-grade sorghum is noticed. An open innovation approach is called for to deal with environmental challenges.

Theoretically, the research offers a new definition of healthy and functional food in line with current environmental challenges. It also provides a deep literature review on eco-conscious consumers and food-grade sorghum as functional food in the context of the free-from food market.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how individual’s health beliefs, nutrition knowledge (NK) and attitudes towards food technologies play a role in the anti-consumption of dairy products or the consumption of dairy alternatives.

Self-reported data concerning the consumption of milk, yogurt and dairy products in general were collected online among 1,705 adults in Canada. Also included in the survey instrument were measures of NK and health beliefs as well as questions from the food technology neophobia scale. Anti-consumption of milk, yogurt and dairy as well as alternative dairy consumption as a function of these characteristics, in addition to demographic characteristics, is analysed using probit models.

Individuals who demonstrate resistance to innovations in food technology, those with lower levels of dairy-specific NK, and people who have less belief that dairy avoidance will have negative impacts on their health are more likely to be anti-consumers of milk and/or yogurt. The same is true for dairy products in general with the exception that people with higher levels of dairy-specific NK are more likely to be anti-consumers of dairy products in general.

Inadequate intake of calcium and vitamin D has negative consequences for long-term health. Given that dairy products are the primary source of these nutrients in the Canadian diet, it is important to understand the reasons behind dairy anti-consumption so that appropriate policy measures can be taken to address potential public health issues.

Marketing products as guilt-free is not new, especially in the food industry, but what is new is the scope of ethical choice on offer and the variety and complexity of guilt-free narratives sold as part of the consumption package. The purpose of this paper is to present – and test – an innovative framework with which to analyse the key strategies in the creation of guilt-free narratives within the food industry and examine how consumer habits, motivations and attitudes are afforded by these narratives. The trend towards interpassivity, in which a consumer “outsources” moral responsibility to manufacturers, suppliers or retailers, is critically examined.

Data collection consisted of a non-probability quota sample of UK residents, administered online. There were three main areas of this study: consumers’ attitudes towards guilt-free products and marketing, consumers’ consumption habits and conscious-motivating factors and insights in unconscious-motivating factors. The questionnaire was designed to provide both qualitative and quantitative insights. It consisted of a variety of open-ended questions, as well as sets of given choices regarding habits and motivations, where the options were designed to encompass as many potential responses as necessary. The survey was shaped using a mini-focus group.

The paper demonstrates that consumers are in general willing to pay more for a guilt-free product but not for the reasons normally presented within the marketing literature. The paper shows that while self-accountability and anticipatory guilt are reasons for the effectiveness of guilt-free marketing, they are only minor factors. The paper shows that other motivating factors are more important as many participants buy products they do not entirely trust or have a particular preference for. One motive relates to interpassivity, that is, that guilt and guilt-alleviating actions can be transferred or delegated to the product itself.

The concept of interpassivity and the idea of transference of actions or emotions to products has potential for new marketing frameworks. There are many different coping mechanisms for guilt or shame, and these could all be packaged into products to arouse a preference with the consumer. The entire area of guilt-free marketing is under-researched but because of the continued growth in consumer guilt-mitigation strategies, it is likely to see a lot of research activity in the near future. The main limitation is the limited statistical analysis afforded by the non-probability nature of the sample.

The paper has developed a clearer definition of what constitutes a guilt-free product, that is, a guilt-free product is created when a regular product has any one or more of the three types of guilt (anticipatory, reactive and existential) packaged into it. Using this definition, the paper examined why guilt-free marketing has been effective, identifying that though consumers are willing to pay more for a guilt-free product, self-accountability and anticipatory guilt are only part of the explanation, with guilt and guilt-alleviating actions being transferred or delegated to the product itself a significant factor.

The paper has impacts for producers and consumers wishing to highlight the social good of a product. The study shows that consumers are sophisticated enough to examine social impact but often express a desire to delegate action to firms. Firms can more clearly frame their activity and contrast their action to the misleading marketing claims of rivals.

This paper is the first detailed analysis of guilt-free foods of its type. It seeks to create clearer definitions and frameworks with which to examine marketing practices and discourses of guilt in food consumption and marketing. The paper findings suggest that a relatively novel approach to consumption – interpassivity – is a useful explanation for otherwise puzzling consumer behaviour in a newly emerging area of guilt-free food marketing.

Examines the applicability of EC rules on the free movement of goods to foodstuffs containing additives. Shows that the European Court of Justice has established an approach to disputes concerning additives which balances the interests of producers and consumers while giving manufacturers and traders a fair hearing.

As an aid to understanding brand image and brand attitude, this paper aims to present an innovative method of capturing qualitative brand associations from very large virtual groups.

From the target market, two familiar brands were selected: one more favored and one less favored by the market segment. Two samples of respondents engaged in a collaborative, virtual ideation session designed to elicit “top of mind” brand associations for two fast food brands, McDonald's and In‐N‐Out. Members of each group posted their brand associations and then rated each other's associations on the basis of agreement.

Analysis provided by dialogr.com showed sharp differences between the two brand images. To independently assess brand attitude, two judges evaluated favorability of the free associations as either “good,” “neutral,” or “bad.” The results confirmed initial expectations. The more favored brand received considerably more favorable free associations than did the less favored brand. The results are shown in qualitative word maps.

A potential limitation of this paper is that the proposed qualitative method is more applicable to well‐known, familiar brands; thus these techniques may not work as well with less familiar brands.

Virtual collaboration tools provide a proficient method of measuring brand image and brand attitudes, for very large groups. These tools are well suited for gaining greater understanding of the cognitive and affective dimensions of a realized brand position (image) as well as an aid to re‐positioning an errant brand image.

Most qualitative group interviews are limited to a small number of respondents, ranging from five to 12 people. Virtual ideation sessions, which are designed to elicit “top of mind” brand associations, enable collection of qualitative data from large groups quickly and efficiently; without the negative influences of face‐to‐face group interaction.

A Crown Court hearing of a charge of applying a false A description under S.2, Trade Descriptions Act, 1968, is given in some detail under Legal Proceedings in this issue of BFJ. It concerns using the word “ham”, ie., the natural leg of a single pig, to various pieces from several pigs, deboned, defatted, “tumbled, massaged and cooked” in a mould shaped to a leg of ham, from which the average purchaser would find it impossible to distinguish. As the defence rightly claimed, this process has been used for at least a couple of decades, and the product forms a sizeable section of the bacon trade. Evidence by prosecution witnesses, experienced shop managers, believed the product to be the genuine “ham”. There is nothing detrimental about the meat, save that it tends to contain an excess of added water, but this applies to many meat products today; or that the manufacturers are setting out to cheat the consumer. What offends is the description given to the product. Manufacture was described in detail—a county trading standards officer inspected the process at the defendant company's Wiltshire factory, witness to the extent of their co‐operation—and was questioned at great length by defending counsel. Specimens of the product were exhibited and the jury were treated to a tasting test—presumably designed to refute prosecution's claim that the meat was of “poor value”. The trial judge said the jury had no doubt been enlightened as to the methods of manufacturing ham. The marketing of the product was also a subject of examination.

High levels of child obesity alongside rising stunting and the absence of a coherent food policy have deemed UK’s food system to be broken. The National Food Strategy (NFS) was debated intensely in media, with discussions on how and who should fix the food system.

Using a mixed methods approach, the authors conduct framing analysis on traditional media and sentiment analysis of twitter reactions to the NFS to identify frames used to shape food system policy interventions.

The study finds evidence that the media coverage of the NFS often utilised the tropes of “culture wars” shaping the debate of who is responsible to fix the food system – the government, the public or the industry. NFS recommendations were portrayed as issues of free choice to shift the debate away from government action correcting for market failure. In contrast, the industry was showcased as equipped to intervene on its own accord. Dietary recommendations made by the NFS were depicted as hurting the poor, painting a picture of helplessness and loss of control, while their voices were omitted and not represented in traditional media.

British media’s alignment with free market economic thinking has implications for food systems reform, as it deters the government from acting and relies on the invisible hand of the market to fix the system. Media firms should move beyond tropes of culture wars to discuss interventions that reform the structural causes of the UK’s broken food systems.

As traditional media coverage struggles to capture the diversity of public perception; the authors supplement framing analysis with sentiment analysis of Twitter data. To the best of our knowledge, no such media (and social media) analysis of the NFS has been conducted. The paper is also original as it extends our understanding of how media alignment with free market economic thinking has implications for food systems reform, as it deters the government from acting and relies on the invisible hand of the market to fix the system.

This exploratory study aims to identify the main risk reduction strategies when individuals suffer from coeliac disease (CD) or non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) travel. Based on Yeung and Yee's (2013; 2019) model, the paper offers a new framework for analysing the main travel risk reduction strategies for people with specific food needs. The empirical work focuses on the perspectives of different stakeholders (CD and NCGS community, restaurant managers/service providers and nutritionists).

A qualitative approach based on thematic analysis is adopted. The results of 32 semi-structured in-depth interviews reveal different stakeholders' perspectives in order to understand the various strategies.

The findings confirm the high level of consensus that the main food risk reducers are: travel information, staff training in safety assurance, legislation and risk prevention protocols. The findings also show significant limitations in the information offered by restaurants, organisations and tourist destinations and the negative repercussions on the tourist experience and the reputation on a particular destination.

The results will help hospitality business managers and destination management organisations develop food risk reduction strategies to solve some of the most important food-related problems when people in this market segment travel.

This work contributes to the literature by providing a new framework on travel risk reduction strategies for people with specific food needs. The novelty of this research is mainly found in the study of risk reduction strategies related to the travel decision-making process for those with CD and NCGS from different perspectives.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the consumer acceptance of foods that are pesticide-free while obtained by cisgenics, a form of genetic modification that only allows gene transfers between sexually compatible species. Potential differences in acceptance between conventional and organic consumer segments are explored.

Data were collected from a survey, including a choice experiment, which was distributed to a consumer panel in Denmark. Survey responses were combined with actual purchase data among the same respondents and thereby providing information about the respondents’ share of organic consumption.

No consumer segment differentiated between pesticide-free, cisgenic bread and conventional alternatives. Conventional consumers preferred cisgenics over transgenics, while pesticide-free is not highly valued. Frequent organic consumers were having willingness-to-pay (WTP) a large premium for organic, indicating that they will continue to purchase such products even if cisgenic, pesticide-free products are introduced.

This paper provides insights on the potential reception of cisgenic food, and if there is a positive willingness to pay for a pesticide-free label if this is cisgenics. Moreover, the possibility to allow new breeding techniques in the organic requirements has been discussed, and this paper contributes with insights on the organic consumers’ preferences on this matter.