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The JRC’s report also found that the consumer’s behaviour when confronted with differentiation of goods would also depend on the scale of the difference. The average consumers’ transactional decision is more likely to be affected if they knew that one or a number of key ingredient(s) or their content in, for example, food differs substantially (181). Larger compositional differences are more likely to lead to different sensory characteristics, which are one of the important determinants of food quality for consumers. However, this being said, it is also important to stress that the sensory perception of foods is only one of the elements that may affect consumers’ choices. For example, consumers may also want to avoid certain types of ingredients for various reasons other than those linked to their health (e.g. allergens). In particular, consumers increasingly attach importance to the environmental impact of certain good or their ingredients, their geographical origin, mode of manufacturing, chemical composition, etc. (182)
Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.