José María Hernández Gimeno

Marketing, Services & Q.C. Manager ANH Iberia

Poultry-Egg Manager Area Europe

DSM Nutritional Products Iberia S.A.

C/ Honduras, Pol. Ind. El Descubrimiento

28806-Alcalá de Henares, Madrid (Spain)

The European Consumer Association (BEUC) pointed out in 1999 some of the most relevant attributes for consumers when judging food quality but until that moment, there were not many published consumer reports about the potential ranking of those food quality items. 

With respect to egg quality, a study with 3.085 Spanish consumers was run in 2001 with the objective of validating and ranking in eggs those attributes proposed by BEUC.  Results show how  “Safety“ and “Freshness”  were the most important quality factors, "Sensory characteristics" being also a key element according to consumer’s opinion. Since 1997, additional studies have been conducted in European countries such as France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Spain, Poland, and Greece to find out how consumers perceive egg quality from a sensory point of view. Consumers defined egg quality through the tangible characteristics of the egg, most especially shell strength, albumen consistency, and intense yolk colour. When offered egg samples with different yolk colours (8,10,12 and 14 in the Roche Fan, now DSM Fan) a majority of surveyed persons in all countries preferred colour 14.

With respect to chicken meat quality, two consumer studies in Spain (3.100 consumers) and Germany (2.000 consumers) were organized in 2000 with the objective of validating in meat those food quality attributes proposed by BEUC as well as ranking them in order of importance. As seen consistently in previous research, “Safety“, “Hygiene“ and "Organoleptic characteristics" were the most important meat quality characteristics as perceived by those consumers. Additional consumer surveys have been carried out and published in countries like Spain, South Africa and France where, once again, consumers showed their preferences for yellow broilers as synonymous of chicken meat quality.

Carotenoids have been historically used by the poultry industry to provide the homogenous yolk and skin colour demanded by consumers. Recently researchers have started to work on the potential biological benefits of some carotenoids for animals and humans. Recent data support the hypothesis that dietary canthaxanthin in breeders can modulate antioxidant systems in the developing chick as well as contribute to decrease embryo mortality during hatching. On the other hand a large number of epidemiological studies in humans indicate that dietary intake of lutein and zeaxanthin is associated with a reduced risk of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.

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