Fiambres de peixe. Preferência da cor e aceitabilidade

To study the consumer preference regarding the color of fish hams, cooked hams with meagre were prepared. The colors of the hams were manipulated by the individual addition and in different proportions of cochineal pigment (red tones), Fibricolor (pink tones) and Instanka sugar powder 75/700 (brown tones). Photographs of the samples served as the basis for the creation of an online survey. In this survey, in addition to seeking to understand the profile of the respondent and their eating habits, it was requested to choose the expected or most attractive colors of a fish cooked ham. Of the total of 2237 respondents, about 78% were aged between 44 years old and under, showing a Higher Education Degree as a degree of training. Regarding the consumption of cooked ham, the female gender showed a preference for turkey cooked ham and the male gender for pig cooked ham. The frequency of consumption of cooked ham and fish was similar, “3x a week”. More than half of respondents (55%) answered “I don't know” when faced with the possible purchase of fish ham. It was concluded that a winter meagre cooked ham prepared with 0.0005% cochineal, whose color was very similar to that of the meagre cooked ham without dye, had a good acceptance by the respondents.