Kids' Willingness to Eat Algae Foods Hinges on Fear of Novel Tastes

<p>Sustainable diets are essential to securing long-term food and nutrition security, with algae emerging as a promising food ingredient due to their nutritional value and low environmental impact. Yet, studies evaluating perception and acceptance of young consumers for algae is scanty. This study investigates how food neophobia influences children's sensory and emotional responses to algae-enriched crackers in a cross-national context. A total of 301 children aged 8–12 from Germany, Italy, and Sweden evaluated six cracker samples (five algae-enriched, one control) in a school setting. Overall acceptance, sensory properties (via CATA questionnaire), emotional responses (via emoji-based CATA questionaire), and food neophobia were assessed using validated, child-friendly tools.</p><p>The results showed that neophilic children expressed significantly higher liking (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.001), for samples containing <em>Lithothamnium calcareum</em> and fractionated protein from <em>Arthrospira platensis</em>. The sensory attributes selected and the emotions expressed by children varied significantly with their food neophobia level and across countries. Overall, neophilic children used emoji more frequently to express positive emotions, such as “Cuddled-In Love”, compared to neophobic children.</p><p>In conclusion, this study demonstrates that children's food neophobia strongly shapes their acceptance of algae-enriched crackers, with neophilic children showing higher liking and more positive emotional responses than neophobic peers. Cross-national differences further indicate that cultural context influences both sensory evaluations and emotional reactions to algae-based foods. These insights underline the need for neophobia-sensitive and nationally tailored strategies when introducing sustainable, algae-enriched products to young consumers.</p>