Food-pics-PT: Portuguese validation of food images in 10 subjective evaluative dimensions

This work presents subjective ratings for a sub-set of 210 food images selected from food-pics (Blechert, Meule, Busch, & Ohla, 2014). Our main goals were to provide further validation to this database, using a sample from a different nationality (N = 307 Portuguese volunteers, M = 34.67 years old, SD = 13.49) and to extend the number of subjective dimensions used to evaluate each image. In an online survey, each stimulus was evaluated by a minimum of 30 participants regarding arousal, familiarity, valence, liking, frequency of consumption, caloric content, healthiness, tastiness, desire to eat and perceived level of transformation. Ratings in these dimensions were compared according to caloric density (low vs. high caloric density), degree of processing (whole vs. processed food), and gustatory quality (sweet vs. savory), as well as food category (beverages, cereals, fruits, proteins, sweets, vegetables and meals). Overall, our results were consistent with those reported in the original database, although some cross-cultural differences were observed. Descriptive data for each stimulus across evaluative dimensions (means, standard deviations, and confidence intervals) is available as Supplementary material at https://osf.io/av6he/. The validation of standardized food images is useful for several research domains (e.g., food perception; eating behavior) and interventions with normative and clinical populations.