Eight easy pieces: Challenges for the science of food perception and behaviour

Food consumption is a daily essential habit, that can have a major negative impact on the environment and general population health. Bettering these are obvious goals that should shape the future of food production and consumption. The necessary adaptations will have many repercussions, not in the least for consumer acceptance of innovations in food production and in food products. Consumers will not automatically accept innovations, as consumers are always critical, if not wary, where their food is concerned. Here we present eight areas in the general area of Food Perception and Behaviour that we think are in direct need of additional research. This may be due to lack of knowledge, e.g. concerning food related behaviour and choice, lack of appreciation of an area as problematic, e.g. different ways food innovations may be perceived, or areas thus far researched merely descriptively leading to ad hoc solutions without a longer-term outlook. We conclude that the problems in the eight areas are behavioural in nature, and that the lack of practical, effective solutions may be mitigated by more attention to the psychology underlying them. One way of attaining this is by setting up special academic curricula bridging food science, nutrition, psychology, and marketing, with the aim of creating new courses, new methods, new insights, new theories. We expect that such a new field will have no shortage of students and will support sustainable and health outcomes and directly or indirectly equip population, authorities and companies with the relevant and urgently needed knowledge. • Problems in health and sustainability, as a result of food consumption, are behavioural in nature. • We list eight areas in food related behaviour in need of further research of their psychological bases. • Problems can be mitigated by setting up novel education in the psychology of food behaviour.