Engaging Older Adults in Technological Food Innovation: An Italian Case Study on Fortified Foods

Population ageing has renewed interest in fortified foods as a strategy to support healthy ageing. Yet, their integration into older adults’ everyday diets remains limited. This study explores (1) how older adults perceive food technological innovation in fortified foods and how these perceptions shape openness to adoption and (2) whether participatory research can translate older adults’ experiential knowledge into the development and refinement of fortified foods that are nutritionally functional and meaningful in everyday life.

Methods

A mixed‐methods participatory design was implemented across three sequential phases. Focus groups with community‐dwelling older adults ( n  = 27; ≥ 75 years) explored perceptions of technological fortification, legitimacy and compatibility with everyday food practices. These findings were translated into consumer‐derived design criteria that informed the development of eight fortified prototypes by the academic team and four food‐processing companies. Fourteen participants from Phase 1 were subsequently re‐engaged in Phase 3 for sensory evaluation and participatory discussion.

Results

Older adults evaluated fortified foods not only in relation to nutritional benefits but also according to whether technological modification was compatible with familiar food identities and everyday practices. Perceived technological processing, distrust in industrial production and a reactive orientation towards health limited legitimacy, whereas practical usefulness, routine compatibility and familiarity supported it. Sensory evaluation showed higher appreciation for the milk bread roll, soluble‐enriched tea and torrone‐flavoured pudding, while products with unfamiliar sensory cues or problematic sensory characteristics received lower scores. Across phases, participatory research enabled older adults’ experiential knowledge to be carried forward into product‐development criteria and subsequently re‐evaluated through sensory evaluation and discussion.

Conclusion

Openness to fortified foods among older adults was closely related to perceived legitimacy, including familiarity, sensory coherence, trust and compatibility with established eating practices. Participatory research provided a structured pathway for incorporating older adults’ experiential knowledge into the development and refinement of fortified foods.