Abstract
Repeated consumption of high-energy nutrient poor foods can lead to undesirable health outcomes such as obesity. Taste plays an important role in food choice, and a better understanding of the links between the taste of foods, individual taste preferences, food choices, and intakes will aid in our understanding of why some people might select and consume unhealthy foods. The present review focuses on three main questions: (1) do nutrient poor and nutrient rich foods significantly differ in taste profile? (2) are humans predisposed toward developing a liking or preference for certain taste profiles? (3) how are individual variations in liking of the basic taste qualities related to long term food intake and adverse health outcomes such as obesity? Results indicated that nutrient poor foods were likely to be sweet, salty and fatty mouthfeel, while the taste profiles of nutrient rich foods were diverse. Although humans are born with a universal liking for sweet and aversion for bitter taste, large individual differences exist in liking of all the basic taste qualities. These individual differences partly explain differences in short term intakes of foods varying in taste profiles. However they fail to sufficiently explain long term food choices and negative health outcomes such as obesity. Future studies should focus on how the full sensory profile of food which includes taste, smell and texture interacts with individual characteristics (e.g., taste or health motivations, taste preferences) to affect consumption of nutrient rich and nutrient poor foods.
Highlights
Overweight and obesity continue to be a major public health challenge in economically developed nations
In order to understand the high levels of consumption of nutrient rich foods and lower levels of consumption of nutrient poor foods, we will address the following questions [1] do nutrient poor and nutrient rich foods significantly differ in taste profile? [2] are humans predisposed toward developing a liking or preference for certain taste profiles? [3] how is individual variation in liking of the basic taste qualities related to long term food intake and adverse health outcomes such as obesity?
The taste profile of energy poor foods are naturally attractive for consumers
Summary
Overweight and obesity continue to be a major public health challenge in economically developed nations. These databases contain foods and dishes which are commonly consumed in the country of interest and are assessed on their macro-nutrient profile By systematically assessing these foods on the presence and intensity of basic taste qualities (e.g., sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami) and certain texture properties such as fatty mouthfeel, a food taste database can be established. This methodology to establish a taste database has been repeated with more heavily trained adults [35], inhome panels [41], a higher variety of foods [e.g., 377 food items [35], 237 food items [44], 590 food items [41]], and additional attributes including texture attributes (e.g., hardness, moistness, cohesiveness of mass and fatty mouth feel) [35, 41] These databases provide the means to examine whether nutrient poor and nutrient rich foods can be characterized by particular taste profiles
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
