Kansas State University

Pork consumers needed for research study

Submitted by Lauren Prill

Kansas State University's meat science program is conducting pork visual appraisal panels. The panels are an opportunity for groups in the community — churches, 4-H clubs, youth sports clubs, schools, etc. — to gather interested members to fundraise. Participants will be paid for their involvement. The panels are related to graduate student research projects.

Participating groups are asked to recruit and provide groups of eight individual consumers for sessions. Sessions last approximately one hour and take place in Weber Hall at K-State's Manhattan campus. Each participant will answer questions about pork chops within the session. Participants also will be asked to voluntarily answer a few questions along with evaluating the meat. Participants must be 18-65 — prefer no college age participants — and consume meat at least once per week.

Upon completion of the tasting session, each participant will receive $20 cash paid directly to the individual. Interested groups may sign up for as many sessions as they wish, provided each participant only participates one time per semester. All session groups must be a complete group of eight before the panel can start, as this is dictated by the design of the study.

The panels are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. To facilitate scheduling, interested groups are asked to sign up for panels on the earliest available date as possible.

All information collected is confidential and your participation is completely voluntary. You can quit at any time without any penalty. You can skip any questions on the sensory ballot that you don't feel comfortable answering. Your name will not be collected or associated with any of your answers.

Please feel free to pass this information along to any groups in the community that may be interested. The current study is set to involve more than 600 participants, so help is needed in recruiting interested groups.

To schedule a time or for any questions please contact Lauren Prill at meatscience@k-state.edu.