A Study of Visual Evaluation of Food Freshness Under Different Light Sources

This study aims to explore the visual evaluation patterns of food freshness by observers under different light source conditions. A scoring system based on the positional deviation equation was designed to evaluate the accuracy of visual sorting for pork, fish, and vegetable samples with different freshness levels. At the same time, under DAY, A, CWF, TL84, and FLS (Freshness Lamp Source)—including MFLS (Meat Freshness Lamp Source), SFLS (Seafood Freshness Lamp Source), and VFLS (Vegetable Freshness Lamp Source), the overall color description and purchase intention of the samples were statistically analyzed. The results showed that under cold light conditions, the visual evaluation of freshness and purchase intention of different types of food was generally high, especially under fresh light conditions (P < 0.01). For the three observed foods, when freshness is used as a visual evaluation factor, the evaluation of glossy foods is mainly based on brightness, while the evaluation of non-glossy foods is mainly based on the brightness of their colors. In addition to differences in sample color, the impact of individual factors on susceptibility to sample misidentification was also analyzed. The results showed that gender, color discrimination level, and food preference had significant effects (P < 0.05).