Durban University of Technology laboratory technician and masters student Sindisiwe Nene has invited the public to join her this weekend for a sensory taste session that aims to assess people’s sweetness threshold.
The sessions will take place on March 10 between 1pm-3pm and March 11 between 9am-2pm at Stonebridge Library, Stonebridge, Phoenix.
Nene, 35, is currently studying a masters degree in Food and Nutrition Consumer Science in the Faculty of Applied Sciences (MAppSc). She said the aim of the project was to determine if the health promotion levy (HPL) also known as the sugar tax had altered the behavioural and sugar consumption patterns of South Africans.
“This study will examine if reducing added sugar in sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) can condition and alter sweetness perceptions and general sugar consumption decisions,” Nene said.
She said the study would be grouped into four phases. The first phase of the study would entail retrieving sales of SSBs from a large retail outlet that would share sales trends for SSBs.
In the second phase a community will be identified and through a cross-sectional survey, insight into the general household and individual sugar usage and purchasing behaviours will be obtained.
The third phase will include a sensory test to determine the sugar or sweetness threshold of individuals, and a preference taste panel using market samples for 100 adult (18 years and older) participants. The fourth phase will consist of analysing the data collected and concluding with applicable observations, conclusions, and recommendations.
She said that the reason she was using the community of Southgate, Phoenix, was that she wanted to make an impact on the community where she had spent most of her life.
“Statistically this community is a representation of a typical South African urban middle-income dwelling as it is made up of predominantly the Indian and black population (South African Statistics 2011). With the rise in the middle-income, more households have access to food and drink items they had previously not had access to resulting in increased consumption of energy-dense diets,” Nene said.
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