Anais do Simpósio Latino Americano de Ciências de Alimentos
Proceedings of 14 SLACA - Latin American Symposium on Food Science

Popcorn is a product obtained from the heating of the corn grain and is a source of dietary fiber. Currently, there are new products on the market in order to meet consumer demands for healthier foods. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the consumers’ perception regarding microwave popcorn labels. The word association technique was used, in which the participants were asked to write the first four words that came into their minds after visualizing four microwave popcorn labels, namely A) popcorn, natural flavor, with salt; B) popcorn, natural flavor, unsalted; C) whole grain popcorn, 0% sodium, 25% less total fat, natural flavor; and D) whole grain popcorn, 0% sodium, 25% less total fat, natural flavor with salt. The data was submitted to the multiple correspondence analysis. All the labels generated positive and negative associations in the consumers’ perceptions. The popcorn A was associated with the categories ‘health/nutrition - negative’, ‘descriptive sensory aspect’, ‘affective memory of leisure/behavior’, ‘affective memory of consumption’, ‘package/brand - positive/neutral’, and ‘origin - positive/neutral aspect’. Still, the category ‘origin - negative aspect’ differentiated this popcorn from the others. The label of popcorn B was associated with the categories ‘affective sensory aspect - positive’, ‘neutral association’, and ‘purchase/consumption intention’. The label of popcorn C was associated with the categories ‘health/nutrition - positive’, ‘package/brand - negative’, and ‘negative association’. The label of popcorn D was described by the categories ‘ingredients/composition’, ‘health/nutrition - neutral', ‘positive association’, and ‘affective sensory aspect - negative'. Thus, the popcorns C and D were associated to the composition and nutritive aspects, while the other two to sensory aspects. Concluding, the four labels were perceived differently by consumers, showing the relevance of the information presented on the label for the consumers' perception of the microwave popcorn.