27 Consumer satisfaction and nutrient proile of reformulated dry soups Aly R ABDEL-MOEMIN Nutrition and Food Science, Faculty of Home Economics, Helwan University, Egypt ABSTRACT he aim of this study was to reformulate 6 commercial dry soups available in the Egyptian market into healthy sensory and nutritional proile. Commercial dry soups (CDS) were sensory and chemically evaluated. he sensory test included 50 people; male and female equally divided (25-50y), in order to identify consumers' acceptability for the commercial and reformulated dry soups (RDS) on a 9-point hedonic scale. he RDS were simulated to commercial soup ingredients but with adding more herbs, ibre, salt replacer, no hydrogenated fats or lavour enhancers were added. Results showed that the CDS have higher fat, sodium (>0.2 g/100g) and total trans fatty acids (TFA) (>0.2 g/100g) than RDS. However, the RDS indicated to zero total TFA, reduction of total fat and sodium and increased protein, complex carbohydrates and ibres compared to CDS. Sensory evaluation results indicate that the RDS increased the liking attributes in males signiicantly (F = 38.34, P < 0.0001) for appearance, colour, lavour and total acceptability. Key words: acceptance test, commercial dry soup, reformulated dry soups, total trans fatty acid, sodium INTRODUCTION here has been much attention on the role of the food industry in helping consumers to eat healthy and sustainable food products (Lund, 1989). Reformulation would provide a solution that can contribute to individuals' healthy choices (Rowe et al. 2011). Soups are consumed for nutritive beneits and also by patients whose intake of solids is considerably reduced due to several pathological reasons. Dehydrated soup mix is a convenient product due to its less volume and long storage life at ambient temperatures (Rekha et al. 2010). One of the challenges the food industry faces is balancing the provision of what consumers want to buy (the industry exists to make a proit) with what is important from a public health perspective, recognising that there is oten a tension between consumers’ desire for choice and choice editing by manufacturers, retailers and the food service sector (Judith 2013). Selection of new food products may be related to attitudinal behaviours ater gaining product information. Creating awareness about health beneits of healthy natural soups may change attitudes toward reformulated soup consumption (Manickavasagan et al. 2013). he importance of soups/liquids in a meal to decrease weight was studied by (Rolls et al. 1999) as they used water into a meal as a soup and found a decrease of energy intake among lean women, but the mechanisms and impact on gastric emptying were not clearly deined. Speciically, dry soup mixes could be as a protection from enzymatic and oxidative spoilage and lavour stability at room temperature over long periods of time (6-12 months). Also, they do not *Correspondence to: E-mail: dralymoemin@yahoo.co.uk need refrigerator and had quite nutritive value, particularly as a source of protein (Luh and Woodroof 1975). Reformulation of food and drink products would be of prime nutrition policy importance. It justiies ‘public-private partnerships’ at which agreements concerning product formulation are made. Reformulation that reduces the amount of fat, sugar and salt, or that increases the amount of dietary ibre, vitamins, minerals or other bioactive compounds, will improve the nutrient proile of processed products. herefore, it would result in healthier food supplies and dietary patterns, and help to control and prevent obesity and chronic non-communicable diseases, as speciied at the General Assembly of the United Nations (Monteiro and Cannon 2014). he "pro-team for reformulation" have published striking approximation of reductions in morbidity and mortality from diferent diseases that could result from reductions in trans fats, saturated fats, sugar or salt, in processed products and thus in food supplies (Aburto et al. 2013; He et al. 2013). Reformulation of commercial dried soups, to include healthy ingredients is a novel approach to reducing salt, fat and trans fatty acid and increasing marketing of these product category. Selection and acceptance of a reformulated, traditional product depends on many factors, including consistency and sensory evaluation (Shepherd and Sparks 1989). he aim of this study was to reformulate 6 commercial dry soups available in the Egyptian market into healthy option ingredients to improve nutritional proile and sensory properties to meet mid and higher income consumers. Agricultura 11: No 1-2: 27-34 (2014) Copyright 2014 by University of Maribor