Liking and sensory determinants of perceived naturalness and healthiness. A study on pizzas with young adults in a natural eating environment

• Consumption and perception of pizza were studied in real-life settings. • Liking largely drives naturalness and healthiness perception but varies between consumers. • External Preference mapping gives insights into trade-offs between perceived food qualities. • Crunchier pizzas are perceived as healthier but less liked, potentially affecting trade-offs. • Frozen pizzas are perceived as highly processed but well liked in blind conditions. This study aims to determine the sensory drivers of liking, perceived naturalness, and healthiness of pizzas in an ecological setting. The approach consisted in evaluating beliefs, perceptions, and liking by consumers of a large range of 16 pizzas representative of the French commercial market and selected on environmental and nutritional criteria. Sixty-four pizza consumers were invited to take 16 different meals in real-setting conditions of consumption at a university restaurant with pizza as the main course. Pizzas were also characterized by a trained sensory panel. This study confirms a positive link between liking and healthiness and naturalness, even though individual differences were evident, with some consumers prioritizing naturalness while others favored healthiness. Frozen pizzas are perceived as highly processed but were well liked when evaluated in the dining condition. Overall, preferences were mainly driven by the presence of multiple pieces of vegetables, sauce, and color. Drivers of dislike were mostly related to texture ( stickiness and difficulty to cut ). Although preference, naturalness, and healthiness mappings are relatively similar, our models show a discrepancy in the way texture drives preferences and perceived healthiness. This suggests that texture may play a critical role in the trade-offs between liking and healthiness, and that there may be a fine line between what is considered a desirable texture and a healthy texture. Individual regressions provided insights into consumer diversity, while combining sensory profiling with consumer-based methods offered a comprehensive understanding of product perception.