We purchase an object or enter a scene not for their own sake but for the expectations we have of them. When we purchase an orange we do so in the expectation that it will quench our thirst or that it will taste good, or that it will make us healthy. On the other hand, our orange is so perfect looking (because it has been dosed with insecticide and herbicide) and shiny (because it has been coated with wax) that if we do not wash it thoroughly before eating we will eat it in the expectation that it will poison us. The activity of the moment is pursued not only for duty or immediate pleasure, but also with the dread, excitement, or merely boredom of that which we have a plate of food in front of us, we are lies ahead. This applies whether entering a room, shopping, at work or play, or merely doing the washing up. We are continually experiencing expectations, most of them subconsciously. However, all lead to motivation and state of mind. Joy or disappointment results from the fulfilment or otherwise of prior expectations. In other words, the stimulus provided by the total appearance of an object or scene engenders expectations of the outcome of our involvement with the object or event.

Examining the development of alternative crops, this volume covers topics which include genetic engineering and tissue culture techniques, and marketing potential utility of new crops.

Whenever I step into an aeroplane I cannot avoid considering the risks associated with flying. Thoughts of mechanical failure, pilot error and ter rorist action fill my mind. I try to reassure myself with statistics which tell me there is greater chance of injury crossing the road. The moment the plane takes off I am resigned to my fate, placing faith in pilots who are highly qualified and superbly trained for the task of delivering me safely to my destination. To be a passenger in an aeroplane is to express faith in the systems used by the airline. It is to express a faith in the quality of the airline's organisation and the people who work within it. The same is true of surgery. Thoughts of mortality are difficult to avoid when facing the surgeon's knife. However, faith in the surgeon's training and skill; faith in the anaesthetist and theatre technicians, faith in the efficient resources and quality of the hospital all help to convince that there is little need to worry. Apart from flying and surgery there are many facets of life which entail risk, but, knowing the risks, we willingly place our confidence in others to deliver us safely. In the consumption of food, however, few of us consider the risks. Everyday, if we are fortunate, we eat food. Food sustains and gives us pleasure. Food supports our social interactions.

The acceptance and preference of the sensory properties of foods are among the most important criteria determining food choice. Sensory perception and our response to food products, and finally food choice itself, are affected by a myriad of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The pressing question is, how do these factors specifically affect our acceptance and preference for foods, both in and of themselves, and in combination in various contexts, both fundamental and applied? In addition, which factors overall play the largest role in how we perceive and behave towards food in daily life? Finally, how can these factors be utilized to affect our preferences and final acceptance of real food and food products from industrial production and beyond for healthier eating? A closer look at trends in research showcasing the influence that these factors and our senses have on our perception and affective response to food products and our food choices is timely. Thus, in this Special Issue collection “Consumer Preferences and Acceptance of Food Products”, we bring together articles which encompass the wide scope of multidisciplinary research in the space related to the determination of key factors involved linked to fundamental interactions, cross-modal effects in different contexts and eating scenarios, as well as studies that utilize unique study design approaches and methodologies.

Ai Hisano exposes how corporations, the American government, and consumers shaped the colors of what we eat and even the colors of what we consider “natural,” “fresh,” and “wholesome.” The yellow of margarine, the red of meat, the bright orange of “natural” oranges—we live in the modern world of the senses created by business. Ai Hisano reveals how the food industry capitalized on color, and how the creation of a new visual vocabulary has shaped what we think of the food we eat. Constructing standards for the colors of food and the meanings we associate with them—wholesome, fresh, uniform—has been a business practice since the late nineteenth century, though one invisible to consumers. Under the growing influences of corporate profit and consumer expectations, firms have sought to control our sensory experiences ever since. Visualizing Taste explores how our perceptions of what food should look like have changed over the course of more than a century. By examining the development of color-controlling technology, government regulation, and consumer expectations, Hisano demonstrates that scientists, farmers, food processors, dye manufacturers, government officials, and intermediate suppliers have created a version of “natural” that is, in fact, highly engineered. Retailers and marketers have used scientific data about color to stimulate and influence consumers’—and especially female consumers’—sensory desires, triggering our appetites and cravings. Grasping this pivotal transformation in how we see, and how we consume, is critical to understanding the business of food.