Study Finds No Link Found Between Sweetness Intensity and Overall Caloric Intake

Although taste has an important impact on dietary choice, perceived sweetness intensity alone did not have a significant influence on food behavior and dietary intake in young adults.

Jan 13 2012 --- A new study in the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists found that although taste has an important impact on dietary choice, perceived sweetness intensity alone did not have a significant influence on food behavior and dietary intake in young adults.

Students enrolled in a food and nutrition course at Deakin University, Australia and completed a food and diet questionnaire, two 24-hour food records, a food variety survey, and a perceived sweetness intensity measurement test which consisted of the subjects being given a sucrose solution to taste and they had to rate how sweet they felt the solution was. Out of the 130 students that participated, no correlation was observed between perceived sweetness and total caloric intake.

This was the first study of its kind to investigate the correlation between sweetness intensity and specific food behaviors and nutrient intake and no associations were found between the two. It must be acknowledged that the study was done on a small scale and therefore caution should be taken when generalizing current findings to the broader population.

Source: Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)