Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/3414
Date of Award
8-2026
Degree Name
MS in Agriculture - Food Science and Nutrition
Department/Program
Food Science and Nutrition
College
College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences
Advisor
Amy Lammert
Advisor Department
Food Science and Nutrition
Advisor College
College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences
Abstract
Upcycled carrot pomace can be incorporated into beef patties that consumers accept, and consumer acceptance of upcycled foods is governed more by the carrier product than by the upcycled ingredient itself. In a two-session central location test, 122 consumers evaluated five beef patty formulations served without a bun, and 100 returned to evaluate the same formulations served with a bun; three formulations contained upcycled carrot pomace in wet or freeze-dried form at two fat levels. All formulations were generally well liked, and when served without a bun the formulations showed no significant differences in firmness or texture (p > 0.05). Penalty analysis conducted on each sample identified insufficient beef flavor, rather than texture, appearance, or juiciness, as the primary driver of reduced acceptance for every pomace formulation (total penalties 0.79–1.10 versus 0.14–0.20 for the controls). Serving the patties on a bun did not significantly change overall liking for any formulation but significantly changed nine individual attribute means (p < 0.05), improving the texture, sweetness, and firmness of the conventional control while reducing the beef flavor, juiciness, and aftertaste of the wet-pomace patty. In a second study, a nationwide online survey, 634 consumers evaluated seven concept products containing carrot pomace, sunflower meal, or a combination of the two. Acceptance of the upcycled concepts was influenced primarily by product category (p < 0.05), with cake and pasta concepts most accepted and fruit leather least, while the assigned ingredient produced only small differences. When participants were asked directly, 59–67% of respondents preferred the combination of both ingredients across the concepts. In both the taste test and the survey, attitudinal clusters assigned with the cluster calculator of Chu et al. (2025) differed in overall enthusiasm but not in which products they preferred, indicating that stated attitudes alone cannot identify the consumers who most prefer upcycled products. Finally, a gamified swipe-based preference task reproduced the product ordering of a conventional ranking task (r = 0.85, p = 0.015) in roughly half the completion time, supporting its use as a rapid screening method, although its three response levels compressed differences among the least-preferred products.