Final seminar: "Food neophobia, a key barrier to consumer acceptance of seafood in Sweden"

Focus for Elena's PhD-project has been  to understand the main barriers to increase and diversify seafood consumption in Sweden, see more below. Most of the work has  been carried out together with RISE and her main supervisor is Elizabeth Collier, RISE with Henrik Sundh (BioEnv), Jun Niimi (RISE), John Armbrecht (Department of Business Administration) and  Anders Högberg as co-supervisors. Examiner is Snuttan Sundell, BioEnv.

Short abstract

Food neophobia, the reluctance to eat novel foods, serves as a protective mechanism against the consumption of potentially harmful substances. Although modern food safety standards have reduced such risks, food neophobia continues to limit food acceptance. Food neophobia limits dietary variety and has been identified as a major obstacle in the adoption of more sustainable food sources (e.g., meat substitutes, insects, and cultured meat). Seafood, however, has been relatively overlooked despite its potential to contribute to more nutritious and sustainable diets. The aim of this PhD thesis is to address this gap and gain a deeper understanding of food neophobia as a barrier to increasing and diversifying seafood acceptance in Sweden.