Abstract
Reformulation strategies to reduce the energy density of commonly consumed foods and beverages are intended to support weight management, but expectations generated by labelling these as ‘healthier’ alternatives can have unintended effects on the product’s sensory evaluations and consumption behaviours. We compared the impact of four different strategies for presenting a lower-calorie beverage to consumers on product perceptions, short-term appetite and energy intake. Participants (N = 112) consumed higher- (211 kcal/portion) and lower-calorie (98 kcal/portion) fixed-portion soymilks in the morning across two test days, with the lower-calorie version presented in one of four contexts varying in label information and sensory quality: (1) sensory-matched/unlabelled, (2) sensory-matched/labelled, (3) sensory-reduced (less sweet and creamy)/labelled, and (4) sensory-enhanced (sweeter and creamier)/labelled. The label was Singapore’s Healthier Choice Symbol, which also highlighted that the soymilk was lower calorie. Changes in reported appetite, ad libitum lunch intake, and self-reported intake for the rest of the text day were recorded. Results indicated that total energy intake was consistently lower on the days the lower calorie beverages were consumed, regardless of how they were presented. However, the ‘healthier choice’ label increased hunger prior to lunch and reduced the soymilks’ perceived thickness and sweetness compared to the same unlabelled version. Increasing the product’s sensory intensity successfully maintained liking, experienced sensory quality and appetite. Results suggest that food companies wanting to explicitly label product reformulations could combine messages of ‘lower calorie’ and ‘healthier choice’ with appropriate taste and texture enhancements to maintain acceptance and avoid negative effects on appetite.
Highlights
The increasing global prevalence of overweight, obesity and related cardio-metabolic diseases requires changes to the current food environment
The success of reduced calorie products for weight management relies on consumers (i) accepting and using these products and (ii) not compensating for reductions in energy intake by eating more at a later time [7]
We recently showed that applying the symbol to popular food and beverage products increased their perceived healthiness and monetary value, and lead to underestimations of the calories in a serving [19], underscoring the importance of understanding how such labelling systems are likely to impact the acceptance of reformulations, as well as potential changes to appetite and energy intake
Summary
The increasing global prevalence of overweight, obesity and related cardio-metabolic diseases requires changes to the current food environment. The success of reduced calorie products for weight management relies on consumers (i) accepting and using these products and (ii) not compensating for reductions in energy intake by eating more at a later time [7]. Reformulation strategies often aim to generate products that look and taste like the ‘original’ versions but contain fewer calories, so consumers can reduce their energy intake with minimal changes to their usual eating habits [8] or product sales [9]. A common example is the use of low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) to replace some of the calories from sugar in soft drinks and sweetened dairy products [10] These products have been shown to reliably reduce energy intake and body weight when consumed in place of higher-calorie sugar-sweetened versions across periods of 10 weeks to 40 months [11]. Reduced energy intake occurs because variations to the energy content of one meal or snack are rarely fully compensated for at later eating occasions [12], when consumers are unaware of the caloric differences between products [13,14,15]
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