of attitudes and beliefs about particular foods; it may be important to
our culture, it may be produced in a way that we find specifically ac-
ceptable, i.e., organically, without meat, and so on, or we believe that it
is nutritionally beneficial.
The study of how attitudes and beliefs are developed and impact on
food selection is particularly relevant in the context of understanding
how consumers react to novel foods and novel production processes and
why consumer risk perception is different from that of experts. In a re-
cent study by Frewer et al. (1997), the public’s concerns about genetic
modification were examined. The paper concluded that the public’s con-
cerns should be incorporated into the debate about the strategic devel-
opment of the technology and that scientists should address ethical
concerns as well as issues of risk. Indeed a great deal of research has
been conducted into the issue of consumer acceptance of genetic mod-
ification but more focused research is needed, especially as public atti-
tudes change and new products come onto the market (Frewer and
Shepherd, 1998).
Mood Effects and Post-Digestive Conditioning
There are also psychobiological reasons. Our bodies require suste-
nance, and our brain learns quickly what foods or beverages satisfy its
desire for nutritional intake or pleasure. Recent research is showing how
these post-digestive effects can be very influential in determining our
preferences for particular foods and flavors, for example, caffeine, al-
cohol and perhaps carbohydrates (Rogers and Richardson, 1993; Rogers,
1995). Infants and young children tend to reject the flavor of black cof-
fee, but later on in life many people develop a strong preference for this
drink. Mood changes occur when alcohol or caffeine are consumed; thus
it is reasonable to assume that preferences for alcoholic drinks and
caffeine-containing drinks may be acquired partly due to post-digestive
conditioning mechanisms.
Lloyd et al. (1994) examined the acute effects of manipulating the
fat:carbohydrate ratio of individual meals. Subjects’ consumed iso-
energetic meals containing varying amounts of fat and carbohydrate and
their subsequent mood and cognitive performance were measured. The
authors found that the subjects’ reaction times and mood were better in
the afternoon following a medium fat-medium carbohydrate lunch vs.
either a high- or low-fat lunch.
In a second study Lloyd and Rogers (1994) concluded that morning