Innovating Food or Preserving Nature? Cross-Cultural Validation of the Food Naturalness Scale in Italy, France, and The Netherlands

Context: Rapid technological advances in the food sector have increased the perceived importance of naturalness infood products, shaping consumer preferences toward minimally processed foods. Naturalness functions as a heuristic thatsimplifies decision-making processes, whereby foods perceived as natural are readily considered healthier, safer, and moreauthentic. Although several instruments have been proposed, the New Naturalness Scale developed by Michel and Siegrist (2019)represents a promising measure; however, evidence of its psychometric robustness and cross-cultural validity remains limited.Objectives: The present study aimed to adapt and validate the New Naturalness Scale in three European countries – Italy, France,and The Netherlands – and to examine its psychometric properties with complementary psychometric approaches. Materialsand Methods: Representative samples of 500 participants per country completed an online survey including the New Natu-ralness Scale, Environmental Concern, and Food Technology Neophobia. Scale validity was assessed using confirmatory factoranalysis, measurement invariance testing, and item response theory. Results: Findings confirmed the unidimensional structure ofthe scale and demonstrated satisfactory measurement invariance across nationality, age, gender, education, and diet type. Itemresponse theory analyses supported appropriate item functioning, ordered response categories, and adequate discriminationacross the latent trait, although reduced sensitivity emerged at higher levels of naturalness preference. Convergent validity wassupported by positive associations with environmental concern and food technology neophobia. Discussion and Conclusions: Theresults support the cross-cultural validity and reliability of the New Naturalness Scale and indicate its suitability for comparativeresearch on food perception and innovation, while also highlighting directions for future scale refinement.