<p>In the Swedish elderly-care sector the institutions are of different character and the kind of care and food-supply they offer vary in scope and intensity. The aim of this study was to analyse how food and meals were handled and provided to the elderly living within those situations and in this context, how food was expressed as a substance or/and in symbols. This study focus on the social organisation that embraces the diet of the elderly and shapes the provisions of their meals, on the norms, values and behaviours of the different social identities in the organisation. The empirical work included in-depth interviews and participant observations in four different residential care homes, including various hierarchical levels, i.e. politicians and different personnel, in the organisation of food-supply to the elderly. In each care home different types of care and food-supply were studied, i.e. elderly having their meals in 24hour care, partime day care and those who ate in the restaurants. Generally, provision of meals was routine and meals were planned, prepared and served with little or no attention to what substanse and symbol it brought to the elderly. The elderly had limited possibilities to influence their own meals and those with the largest need of care, being the most fragile and sick had the least influence. The views of politicians and different personnel indicated that they considered themself powerless, which resulted in a "freedom of responsibility". It was obvious that there existed a clear discrepancy between how the informants considered the provision of food and meals should be organised and carried out, in comparison to reality. The current unsatisfactory provision of meals to the elderly is attributed to the marginalisation of specifically three areas: the symbolic value of food, the life and needs of the elderly and the traditional knowledge and experiences of women in their role as housewife and carer of the family.</p>

In the Swedish elderly-care sector the institutions are of different character and the kind of care and food-supply they offer vary in scope and intensity. The aim of this study was to analyse how food and meals were handled and provided to the elderly living within those situations and in this context, how food was expressed as a substance or/and in symbols. This study focus on the social organisation that embraces the diet of the elderly and shapes the provisions of their meals, on the norms, values and behaviours of the different social identities in the organisation. The empirical work included in-depth interviews and participant observations in four different residential care homes, including various hierarchical levels, i.e. politicians and different personnel, in the organisation of food-supply to the elderly. In each care home different types of care and food-supply were studied, i.e. elderly having their meals in 24hour care, partime day care and those who ate in the restaurants. Generally, provision of meals was routine and meals were planned, prepared and served with little or no attention to what substanse and symbol it brought to the elderly. The elderly had limited possibilities to influence their own meals and those with the largest need of care, being the most fragile and sick had the least influence. The views of politicians and different personnel indicated that they considered themself powerless, which resulted in a "freedom of responsibility". It was obvious that there existed a clear discrepancy between how the informants considered the provision of food and meals should be organised and carried out, in comparison to reality. The current unsatisfactory provision of meals to the elderly is attributed to the marginalisation of specifically three areas: the symbolic value of food, the life and needs of the elderly and the traditional knowledge and experiences of women in their role as housewife and carer of the family.

<p>A pre-school-based dietary survey, using seven-day records, focus group interviews and semi-structured interviews, was carried out in a suburban area of Stockholm. The overall objective was to investigate the individual food and nutrient intake of pre-school children at all meals during the day, as well as factors that might influence children’s intake. </p><p>The average energy and nutrient intake per day for the whole week was satisfactory for the 109 pre-school children, but the temporal distribution throughout the day was skewed. The energy and nutrient intakes of food at the pre-school were lower than recommended. This was, however, compensated for by meals eaten at home. The children had a more varied food intake during weekdays than weekend days. This study has not provided any evidence to support the selection of water versus milk as a preferable lunch beverage in terms of pre-school children's total milk consumption and general dietary quality. However, the dietary analyses showed that there could be a reason to limit pre-school children’s daily milk and fermented milk intake to half a litre, according to the existing guidelines. </p><p>The children associated food and eating with rules and norms. They did not categorise food as good or bad, as adults often do, but as "food" and "non-food"; for example, sweets were not food. The method used in this study, the focus group interview, was judged to be a useful tool for exploring how children think about and jointly reflect upon food. The role of the teacher had changed over the past years and they had not yet found a solid ground for integrating food and meals into their everyday work. </p>

<p>Hampshire crosses of different genotype and sex were used to investigate the effects of rearing system, feed and handling on sensory quality, consumer preference and cooking loss. A selected and trained panel carried out descriptive tests. Two preference tests were carrieout by, in each case, 200 consumers.</p><p> The genotype had a major effect on sensory quality in all four studies irrespective of rearing system, feed and sex. In three of the four studies pork from RN¯ carriers scored higher for juicines, tenderness, acidulous taste and meat taste intensity. </p><p> Sex showed contradictory effects on sensory quality, while rearing system and feed had minor effects on sensory properties of pork. </p><p> Hams (<i>M. biceps femoris</i>) from pigs reared outdoors scored lower for juiciness and acidulous taste than hams from pigs reared indoors. Loins from pigs organically reared (KRAV) scored lower for juiciness and higher for crumbliness than ones from pigs conventionallreared.</p><p> Loins (<i>M. longissimus dorsi</i>) aged four days from conventionally fed pigs were juicier than ones from silage-fed pigs. When loins were aged eight days there was no difference in juicines while acidulous taste became weaker and tenderness and meat taste intensity increased.</p><p> In the case of loins stored frozen one year, those from silage-fed pigs scored higher for acidulous taste and off-flavour than those from conventionally fed pigs.</p><p>Cooking, thawing and total loss data showed minor and contradictory differences between genotypes, sexes, rearing systems and feeding regimes. </p><p> Organically and conventionally produced loins were equally liked and loins from RN¯ carrier pigs were preferred to loins from non-carriers.</p>

Hampshire crosses of different genotype and sex were used to investigate the effects of rearing system, feed and handling on sensory quality, consumer preference and cooking loss. A selected and trained panel carried out descriptive tests. Two preference tests were carrieout by, in each case, 200 consumers. The genotype had a major effect on sensory quality in all four studies irrespective of rearing system, feed and sex. In three of the four studies pork from RN¯ carriers scored higher for juicines, tenderness, acidulous taste and meat taste intensity. Sex showed contradictory effects on sensory quality, while rearing system and feed had minor effects on sensory properties of pork. Hams (M. biceps femoris) from pigs reared outdoors scored lower for juiciness and acidulous taste than hams from pigs reared indoors. Loins from pigs organically reared (KRAV) scored lower for juiciness and higher for crumbliness than ones from pigs conventionallreared. Loins (M. longissimus dorsi) aged four days from conventionally fed pigs were juicier than ones from silage-fed pigs. When loins were aged eight days there was no difference in juicines while acidulous taste became weaker and tenderness and meat taste intensity increased. In the case of loins stored frozen one year, those from silage-fed pigs scored higher for acidulous taste and off-flavour than those from conventionally fed pigs. Cooking, thawing and total loss data showed minor and contradictory differences between genotypes, sexes, rearing systems and feeding regimes. Organically and conventionally produced loins were equally liked and loins from RN¯ carrier pigs were preferred to loins from non-carriers.

A pre-school-based dietary survey, using seven-day records, focus group interviews and semi-structured interviews, was carried out in a suburban area of Stockholm. The overall objective was to investigate the individual food and nutrient intake of pre-school children at all meals during the day, as well as factors that might influence children’s intake. The average energy and nutrient intake per day for the whole week was satisfactory for the 109 pre-school children, but the temporal distribution throughout the day was skewed. The energy and nutrient intakes of food at the pre-school were lower than recommended. This was, however, compensated for by meals eaten at home. The children had a more varied food intake during weekdays than weekend days. This study has not provided any evidence to support the selection of water versus milk as a preferable lunch beverage in terms of pre-school children's total milk consumption and general dietary quality. However, the dietary analyses showed that there could be a reason to limit pre-school children’s daily milk and fermented milk intake to half a litre, according to the existing guidelines. The children associated food and eating with rules and norms. They did not categorise food as good or bad, as adults often do, but as "food" and "non-food"; for example, sweets were not food. The method used in this study, the focus group interview, was judged to be a useful tool for exploring how children think about and jointly reflect upon food. The role of the teacher had changed over the past years and they had not yet found a solid ground for integrating food and meals into their everyday work.

<p>The aim of the present thesis was to study elderly self-managing and disabled women’s dietary intake and meals in relation to age, household structure (single-living or cohabitant), disability and cooking ability. The women were aged 64-88 years and living at home, in the mid-eastern part of Sweden. The self-managing women were randomly selected. The disabled women – suffering from Parkinson's disease, rheumatoid arthritis or stroke – were selected from patient records. A total of 139 self-managing and 63 disabled women participated. Two dietary assessment methods were used: a repeated 24-h recall and a three-day estimated food diary, providing dietary intake for five non-consecutive days. The results indicate that elderly women still living in their homes seem to manage a sufficient dietary intake despite disability and high age. The reported energy intakes in all groups of women were low, which might be explained by an actual low intake and/or under-reporting. The portion sizes seemed to be smaller in the highest age group, leading to lower intakes of some nutrients. Thus also the nutrient density of the food should be given greater consideration. The meal pattern was shown to be regular and the distribution of main meals and snacks was found to be satisfactory. Meals and snacks that were defined as such by the women themselves thus seem to be more significant from an energy and nutritional perspective. Perceived cooking ability co-varied with energy and nutrient intake as well as with meal pattern.</p><p>Further, a qualitative dietary assessment method, FBCE, was analysed. It was concluded that it must be supplemented with a dietary assessment method providing energy intake figures to ensure a sufficient intake, especially when studying groups at risk for low energy intake. </p><p>Furthermore, the aim was to perform a dropout analysis. When studying older women and food, a low participation rate might be expected since the most active, the very ill as well as the disabled tend to decline participation, but also since food is a gender issue. Food could, especially for women, be a sensitive area of discussion, even though older women seem to choose "healthy foods" and eat "proper meals".</p>

<p>In order to study the <i>effect of production systems</i> aimed at sustainability<i> on product quality</i> and of sensory and non-sensory factors on product acceptance – the effect of farming system, year, milling and baking techniques on the sensory qualities of wheat bread as a model product was investigated using a descriptive test, and the effect of information and values on liking of bread using consumer tests.</p><p>Whole wheat and white breads were baked with wheat grown in six lots in established conventional and organic farming systems in field trails, in two subsequent years for the white bread.</p><p><i>Milling technique</i> influenced flours’ rheology and had greater impact on the sensory qualities of whole wheat bread and on the slice area than did <i>farming system</i> and <i>baking technique</i>. Bread baked with roller-milled wheat was characterized by sweetness, juiciness, compactness and smaller slice area than bread baked with stone-milled wheat, which was characterized by saltiness, deformity and roasted cereals.</p><p>The <i>effect of year </i>on the white bread was greater than the effect of <i>farming system </i>or <i>recipe modification</i>. Bread baked with wheat harvested in 1999 had significantly lower intensities of crumb attributes such as smoothness, juiciness and elasticity, but higher rancid flavour, springiness, compressibility, mastication resistance than bread baked with wheat harvested in 2000. Bread baked with conventional flour had significantly higher juiciness and elasticity than organic bread.</p><p>Image analysis did not show differences in slice area between bread baked with conventionally and organically grown wheat harvested in 1999 compared with 2000. <i>Information</i> affected liking in relation to the type of provided information. Information on organic origin enhanced most liking of bread, particularly for the less liked samples and frequent consumers of organic food. Significantly different <i>values</i> and different specific liking of breads were found among consumer segments. Results linked values and age with “taste”.</p>

In order to study the effect of production systems aimed at sustainability on product quality and of sensory and non-sensory factors on product acceptance – the effect of farming system, year, milling and baking techniques on the sensory qualities of wheat bread as a model product was investigated using a descriptive test, and the effect of information and values on liking of bread using consumer tests. Whole wheat and white breads were baked with wheat grown in six lots in established conventional and organic farming systems in field trails, in two subsequent years for the white bread. Milling technique influenced flours’ rheology and had greater impact on the sensory qualities of whole wheat bread and on the slice area than did farming system and baking technique. Bread baked with roller-milled wheat was characterized by sweetness, juiciness, compactness and smaller slice area than bread baked with stone-milled wheat, which was characterized by saltiness, deformity and roasted cereals. The effect of year on the white bread was greater than the effect of farming system or recipe modification. Bread baked with wheat harvested in 1999 had significantly lower intensities of crumb attributes such as smoothness, juiciness and elasticity, but higher rancid flavour, springiness, compressibility, mastication resistance than bread baked with wheat harvested in 2000. Bread baked with conventional flour had significantly higher juiciness and elasticity than organic bread. Image analysis did not show differences in slice area between bread baked with conventionally and organically grown wheat harvested in 1999 compared with 2000. Information affected liking in relation to the type of provided information. Information on organic origin enhanced most liking of bread, particularly for the less liked samples and frequent consumers of organic food. Significantly different values and different specific liking of breads were found among consumer segments. Results linked values and age with “taste”.

The aim of the present thesis was to study elderly self-managing and disabled women’s dietary intake and meals in relation to age, household structure (single-living or cohabitant), disability and cooking ability. The women were aged 64-88 years and living at home, in the mid-eastern part of Sweden. The self-managing women were randomly selected. The disabled women – suffering from Parkinson's disease, rheumatoid arthritis or stroke – were selected from patient records. A total of 139 self-managing and 63 disabled women participated. Two dietary assessment methods were used: a repeated 24-h recall and a three-day estimated food diary, providing dietary intake for five non-consecutive days. The results indicate that elderly women still living in their homes seem to manage a sufficient dietary intake despite disability and high age. The reported energy intakes in all groups of women were low, which might be explained by an actual low intake and/or under-reporting. The portion sizes seemed to be smaller in the highest age group, leading to lower intakes of some nutrients. Thus also the nutrient density of the food should be given greater consideration. The meal pattern was shown to be regular and the distribution of main meals and snacks was found to be satisfactory. Meals and snacks that were defined as such by the women themselves thus seem to be more significant from an energy and nutritional perspective. Perceived cooking ability co-varied with energy and nutrient intake as well as with meal pattern. Further, a qualitative dietary assessment method, FBCE, was analysed. It was concluded that it must be supplemented with a dietary assessment method providing energy intake figures to ensure a sufficient intake, especially when studying groups at risk for low energy intake. Furthermore, the aim was to perform a dropout analysis. When studying older women and food, a low participation rate might be expected since the most active, the very ill as well as the disabled tend to decline participation, but also since food is a gender issue. Food could, especially for women, be a sensitive area of discussion, even though older women seem to choose "healthy foods" and eat "proper meals".