BACKGROUND Knowledge on food neophobia among African consumers is scarce. Yet a good understanding in this area is essential to support the acceptance of new foods, for instance, when fortifying familiar foods to improve the health and nutritional status of the populace. In this paper, food neophobia among Nigerian consumers was assessed by their attitudes towards unfamiliar beverages, namely turmeric-fortified drinks. Turmeric was chosen as the Nigerian government is stimulating its production for income generation, but the spice is not commonly used in Nigerian foods and drinks. RESULTS Familiar street-vended drinks, i.e. soymilk and the hibiscus-based drink zobo, were fortified with turmeric. Respondents (483) were allowed to try both the familiar and unfamiliar (turmeric-fortified) drinks. Subjects also filled in a 20-items questionnaire concerning attitudes toward food and eating. Food neophobia was measured by the Food Attitude Survey (FAS) instrument ratings. Using the FAS, people who reported liking the fortified drinks ("likers") were compared to those who disliked the drinks ("dislikers") and those who were unwilling to try the drinks ("won't tryers"). Males were found to be more food neophobic than females. Middle-class income earners, the age group of 26-35 years and respondents with the highest education levels also showed a more food neophobic attitude towards turmeric-fortified drinks. CONCLUSION Practical insights are given regarding the introduction of novel foods to Nigerian consumers by paying attention to attitudes from respondents with different demographic characteristics. The use of influencers seems to be a promising approach to address food neophobia in Nigeria. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

中文翻译：

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尼日利亚消费者对食物的新恐惧症：对新型姜黄强化饮料态度的研究

背景 非洲消费者对食物新恐惧症的知识很少。然而，对这一领域的良好理解对于支持接受新食物至关重要，例如，在强化熟悉的食物以改善民众的健康和营养状况时。在本文中，尼日利亚消费者的食物新恐症通过他们对不熟悉的饮料（即姜黄强化饮料）的态度来评估。选择姜黄是因为尼日利亚政府正在刺激其生产以创收，但这种香料在尼日利亚的食品和饮料中并不常用。结果 熟悉的街头售卖饮料，即豆浆和基于芙蓉的饮料 zobo，都添加了姜黄。受访者 (483) 被允许尝试熟悉和不熟悉的（姜黄强化）饮料。受试者还填写了一份关于对食物和饮食态度的 20 项问卷。食物新恐惧症是通过食物态度调查 (FAS) 仪器评级来衡量的。使用 FAS，将报告喜欢强化饮料的人（“喜欢者”）与不喜欢饮料的人（“不喜欢者”）和不愿意尝试这些饮料的人（“不会尝试者”）进行比较。发现男性比女性更怕食物。中产阶级收入者、26-35 岁年龄段和受教育程度最高的受访者也对姜黄强化饮料表现出更多的食物新恐惧症态度。结论 通过关注具有不同人口特征的受访者的态度，给出了关于向尼日利亚消费者介绍新食品的实用见解。使用影响者似乎是解决尼日利亚食物新恐惧症的一种很有前途的方法。本文受版权保护。版权所有。