Home placement testing of lamb conducted in six countries

Consumer placement tests, which are used to assess products in an appropria te context, were performed in 36 households comprising 2 to 8 persons in En gland, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy and Spain using leg joints from 2 typ es of lamb raised in each of those countries. Ratings of odor, tenderness, juiciness, flavor and overall liking were different among lamb types and ov erall, the least render was the least liked. Variations in ratings of cooki ng odor given by the cook only, which were most marked by rite Greek and Sp anish panels, were correlated with assessments of the other qualities given by the whole household. Variations in liking were less among individuals w ithin a household than between households and reduced as the number of indi viduals in a household increased. The structure of a panel is important and should be taken into account when analyzing and concluding from consumer p lacement tests.