Correlates of bitter, sweet, salty and umami taste sensitivity in European children: Role of sex, age and weight status - The IDEFICS study.

We aimed to describe differences in taste sensitivity in children according to age across 7- to 11-year-old children from eight European countries. We further compared taste sensitivity between boys vs. girls and under-/normal weight vs. overweight/obese children. Within the European multicentre IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of dietary and lifestyle-induced health effects in children and infants) study, 1938 school children participated in sweet, bitter, salty and umami detection threshold tests between 2007 and 2010, using the paired comparison staircase method. The lowest concentration at which the child was able to detect a difference to water was determined as taste detection threshold as a proxy of taste sensitivity. Mean taste thresholds were calculated stratified for sex, age groups, weight groups and country. BMI was calculated using measured height and weight; socio-demographic information was collected using questionnaires. Ordinal logistic regressions were conducted to investigate the association between sex, weight status (as categorical exposure variable) and age (as continuous exposure variable) and the taste sensitivity for the four taste modalities (as outcome), separately. Older children were more taste sensitive for sweet and salty and less taste sensitive for umami and bitter than younger children. Girls were more sensitive to sweet taste than boys. Overweight or obese children were less sensitive to sweet and salty taste compared to normal weight children This was the first study comparing taste sensitivity by measuring taste thresholds in children across different European countries. We conclude that taste thresholds are associated with weight status, children become more sensitive to sweet and salty tastes with increasing age, and girls might be more sensitive to sweet than boys.

Association between variants of neuromedin U gene and taste thresholds and food preferences in European children: Results from the IDEFICS study.

AIM: The neuropeptide neuromedin U (NMU) known for its role in appetite, feeding and energy balance could be involved in the control of food choice and taste sensitivity. We examined the association between NMU polymorphisms/haplotypes and taste thresholds and food preferences in a population of European children. METHODS: A total of 578 subjects from the IDEFICS study (mean age 7.5 ±â€¯0.8 SD, boys 53.6%) with NMU genotype data and food preference (salty, fatty, sweet, flavour and umami food) and taste threshold (salt, fat, sweet, umami) tests available were analysed. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; rs6827359, T:C; rs12500837, T:C; rs9999653, C:T) of NMU gene were analyzed and five major haplotypes were inferred. The associations between genotypes and food preferences or taste thresholds were investigated (odds ratios -OR, adjusted for age, sex and country). A p < 0.05 after false discovery rate adjustment (pFDR) was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The association between NMU genotypes and food preference showed two NMU SNPs associated with preference for food containing sodium glutamate (umami taste; rs6827359C, OR = 1.61, 95% confidence interval (CI):1.20-2.17; rs9999653T, OR = 1.59, 95%CI:1.18-2.13). In the haplotype analysis, the CTT haplotype showed an OR of 1.70 (95%CI:1.16-2.5) for the umami food preference, while CCT haplotype showed an OR of 1.63 (95%CI:1.11-2.40), compared to the most frequent haplotype (TTC). Carriers of CCT/CCT vs subjects with no CCT haplotype showed an OR of 4.78 (95%CI:1.86-12.30). Umami food preference was associated with low values of BMI z-score, arm circumferences, skinfolds and fat mass (pFDR<0.05). No association between NMU genetic variants and taste thresholds was found. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows for the first time in children an association between preference for umami food and a NMU haplotype, previously found associated with low BMI values.

Television habits in relation to overweight, diet and taste preferences in European children: the IDEFICS study.

Early television exposure has been associated with various health outcomes including childhood obesity. This paper describes associations between patterns of television viewing, on one hand, and diet, taste preference and weight status, on the other, in European preschoolers and schoolchildren. The IDEFICS baseline survey was conducted at examination centers in Italy, Estonia, Cyprus, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Hungary, and Spain. 15,144 children aged 2-9 completed the basic protocol, including anthropometry and parental questionnaires on their diets and television habits. A subsample of 1,696 schoolchildren underwent further sensory testing for fat and sweet taste preferences. Three dichotomous indicators described: children's habitual television exposure time; television viewing during meals; and having televisions in their bedrooms. Based on these variables we investigated television habits in relation to overweight (IOTF) and usual consumption of foods high in fat and sugar. A possible role of taste preference in the latter association was tested in the sensory subgroup. All television indicators were significantly associated with increased risk of overweight, with odds ratios ranging from 1.21 to 1.30, in fully adjusted models. Children's propensities to consume high-fat and high-sugar foods were positively and, in most analyses, monotonically associated with high-risk television behaviors. The associations between television and diet propensities were not explained by preference for added fat or sugar in test foods. To summarize, in addition to being more overweight, children with high-risk television behaviors may, independent of objectively measured taste preferences for fat and sugar, passively overconsume higher-fat and particularly higher-sugar diets.

First steps in the development of a psychological test on the effects of food on mental well-being.

How do you feel after drinking milk or soy milk? The aim of this preliminary study was to find out if it is possible to measure the psychological effects of staple food items using a consumer test (according to DIN 10974), assessing the mental state of the participants. Results of two tests with dairy products and non-dairy milk substitutes, two vegetable tests, and two tests with bakery products are presented and discussed in the context of the further development of a standardized and validated test to measure the effects of food on the human mental state.

Organic and conventional nonflavored yogurts from the Italian market: study on sensory profiles and consumer acceptability.

BACKGROUND: The sensory properties of food products are an important success factor, especially in the organic market, where many producers and distributors of organic food claim superior taste for their products compared to the conventional alternative. For this reason consumer expectations and preferences, as well as the sensory properties of conventional and organic yogurt, have to be investigated in depth. In this work, the sensory profiling and consumer data of six nonflavored organic and conventional Italian yogurts were elaborated. Some results on the data segmentation (heavy and light users of organic food) and on the effect of information on liking (blind and labeled test) were obtained. Multivariate analysis was carried out to study how the sensory characteristics of 'natural yogurts' drive consumer liking. RESULTS: Consumers' preferences were oriented towards a creamy mouthfeel and smooth visual appearance and for a less acid and fresh taste. In particular, a conventional yogurt was the least accepted, because it was not creamy enough. This paper shows there is room to improve unflavored yogurt to better meet consumer expectations. CONCLUSION: Sensory profiling did not allow a distinction in odor/taste/texture between organic and conventional samples. However, three of four organic samples were in the region of highest consumer acceptability, fitting well consumers' preference. There was no clear tendency that heavy or light users scored differently in the blind and labeled tests regarding overall liking but, for all, the most liked conventional yogurt scored higher when labeled as organic.

Association between parental consumer attitudes with their children's sensory taste preferences as well as their food choice.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the association between the consumer attitudes of European parents and their children's taste preferences and food choice. Furthermore, we studied whether the parental consumer attitudes were related to education level. METHODS: This analysis included 1,407 IDEFICS study children aged 6.0 to 11.8 years and from 7 European countries, who participated in the sensory taste perception module between 2007 and 2010. Parental consumer attitude was operationalized as 'trusting in foods known from advertisements' (trusting advertisements) and as 'not avoiding additives in food' (not avoiding additives). Parents reported their educational attainment and completed a food frequency questionnaire for their children. Consumption frequencies of sweet, fatty and processed foods as well as a healthy diet adherence score were calculated. Children performed fat, sweet and umami taste preference tests. Multivariable logistic models were used to analyse the association between parental consumer attitudes and their children's taste preference frequencies as well as parental education. Linear regression models were used to analyse the association between parental consumer attitudes and their children's food consumption. RESULTS: Parental consumer attitudes were not associated with children's fat, sweet and umami taste preferences. Children of parents trusting advertisements consumed more frequently processed foods (ß = 1.21, 95% CI: 0.49; 1.93). Children of parents not avoiding additives consumed more often sweet, fatty and processed foods and had a lower healthy diet adherence score (ß = 2.37, 95% CI: 1.03; 3.70; ß = 2.27, 95% CI: 1.12; 3.43; ß = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.22; 1.59; ß = -2.87, 95% CI: -3.89; -1.85, respectively). Unfavourable parental consumer attitudes were associated with a lower parental education level across Europe (Compared to high education: Odds Ratio (OR) of trusting advertisements with medium education: 1.04, 95% CI: 0.77; 1.40; OR with low education: 2.01, 95% CI: 1.15; 3.54; OR of not avoiding additives with medium education: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.44; 2.54; OR with low education: 1.76, 95% CI: 0.96; 3.24). CONCLUSIONS: Across Europe, unfavourable parental consumer attitudes are associated with a lower diet quality of their children. Parental consumer attitudes in turn were associated with their own level of education. This has implications for policy makers, interventions and health promotion programmes that aim to promote healthy eating.

Association between the number of fungiform papillae on the tip of the tongue and sensory taste perception in children.

Background: To measure sensory taste perception in children with an accurate and reproducible method is challenging and objective measurement methods are scarce. Objective: Aim was to characterize sensory taste perception, by measuring the number of fungiform papillae (FP) and to investigate whether the number of FP is associated with sensitivity for bitter taste and with taste preferences for sweet, salty, fatty or umami in children between 8 and 11 years of age. Design: Number of FP was measured with a digital camera in 83 children in a German subsample of the IDEFICS study. Among those 56 children performed a taste threshold test for bitter and taste preference tests for sweet, salty, fatty and umami. The association between the number of FP and sensory taste perception was analysed. Results: There is a tendency towards a lower number of FP in children with a higher fat preference (30 vs. 25 papillae, p=0.06). Results show no association between the number of FP and neither the bitter taste thresholds nor taste preferences for sweet, salty and umami. Conclusion: Bitter taste threshold might be independent of the number of FP, while the perception of fat was associated with the number of FP.

Development and Application of a Test for Food-Induced Emotions.

This study aimed to develop a test to measure food-induced emotions suitable for stable food and beverages. All of the experiments were conducted under the conditions of a consumer sensory evaluation according to German standard DIN 10974. Test development included descriptors' derivation and factor analysis as well as a comparison between the new test (empathic food test, EFT) and a hedonic sensory test and an unspecific psychological test, known as a multidimensional mood questionnaire (MDMQ). Nineteen sensory experts derived twelve items using free-choice profiling. After an exploratory factor analyses, ten of the intended twelve items were integrated into two scales. To compare the new questionnaire (EFT) to the MDMQ and a hedonic test, panels of 59 (EFT), 64 (MDMQ) and 63 (hedonic sensory test) untrained individuals described their perceptions after consuming sensorially similar pairs of milk, water, bread and sugar. The benchmark of comparison was the power to discriminate between the food pairs. Test-retest replicability was demonstrated. All three tests presented slight differences in sample preference and effect size depending on the offered products. These findings underscore the need to test new methods with a wide range of products. Further research is needed to investigate the relationship between sensorial perception and emotional response.