Sweetness and Food Preference

In the paper

“The most striking effect was that young children liked more intensely sweet solutions than did adults, with the more adult-like pattern emerging only during adolescence (29, 30).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [29] Desor, 1987, Longitudinal changes in sweet preferences in humans., Physiol Behav. source
• Partly supported

  The introduction says infants prefer sweeter solutions up to an optimal concentration, and the Discussion reports that sweet-taste preference declined between ages 11–15 and 19–25 in a longitudinal study. The paper does not establish that young children prefer more intensely sweet solutions than adults, or that an adult-like pattern emerges only during adolescence. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)

  cites [30] Schwartz, 2009, Developmental changes in the acceptance of the five basic tastes in the first year of life., Br J Nutr. sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“However, sucrose was not an effective analgesic for children exhibiting depressive symptoms (40) or for overweight children (39) despite the finding that children who were depressed reported a greater liking for sweet-tasting foods and candies (40).”

What the sources say

• Supported

  This source is citation (39), attached to the overweight-children finding; the depressive-symptoms and sweet-food-liking findings are attached to citation (40). The Discussion reports that sucrose was not an effective analgesic for overweight or at-risk-of-overweight children who preferred higher sucrose levels, and the Results (section 3.2) report no significant increase in their pain thresholds. (LLM, conf=0.91)

  cites [39] Pepino, 2005, Sucrose-induced analgesia is related to sweet preferences in children but not adults., Pain. source
• Supported

  The Results (Sucrose-induced analgesia) report that sucrose was ineffective as an analgesic for children with depressive symptoms, and the Discussion reports their greater liking for sweet-tasting foods and candies. The overweight-children finding is attached to citation (39), not this source's citation (40). (LLM, conf=0.93)

  cites [40] Mennella, 2010, Sweet preferences and analgesia during childhood: effects of family history of alcoholism and depression., Addiction. source

In the paper

“Because children are more sensitive to bitter tastes than are adults (45, 57), some children may be more sensitive to the unpleasant aftertastes of these LCS.”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [45] Mennella, 2005, Genetic and environmental determinants of bitter perception and sweet preferences., Pediatrics. source
• Partly supported

  The Background says younger people are more sensitive than older people to the bitterness of PROP or PTC. The Results narrow the observed child–adult difference to AVI/PAV heterozygotes; it was not observed in the other genotypes studied. Thus the cited paper supports an age-related difference in some bitter-taste responses, but not the unqualified statement that children are more sensitive to bitter tastes generally. The suggestion about low-calorie-sweetener aftertastes is the citing authors’ inference, not a finding attributed to this source. (LLM, conf=0.86)

  cites [57] Mennella, 2010, Age modifies the genotype-phenotype relationship for the bitter receptor TAS2R38., BMC Genet. sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“The preferred intensity of sweetness in foods and beverages is lower in adults than in children and adolescents (46, 72); studies suggest that men prefer higher intensities than women (72, 73).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Introduction (p. 1) describes sweet preference as heightened through childhood and adolescence before declining, and the Results (p. 1) find that children preferred higher sucrose concentrations than their mothers. The paper does not report a men–women comparison; its measured preference was for sucrose solutions, not foods and beverages. (LLM, conf=0.88)

  cites [46] Pepino, 2005, Factors contributing to individual differences in sucrose preference., Chem Senses. sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [72] Monneuse, 1991, Impact of sex and age on sensory evaluation of sugar and fat in dairy products., Physiol Behav. source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [73] Hayes, 2008, Oral sensory phenotype identifies level of sugar and fat required for maximal liking., Physiol Behav. source

In the paper

“The introduction of several low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) into the food supply, following approval by the U.S. FDA, has led to the creation of beverages and foods that taste sweet but provide less or no energy [see (5,6) for reviews].”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [5] Bellisle, 2007, Intense sweeteners, energy intake and the control of body weight., Eur J Clin Nutr. source
• Supported

  The Introduction says that five nonnutritive sweeteners were FDA-approved and that the food industry sought approval for their inclusion in the diet. It also describes substituting them in products for nutritive sweeteners to preserve sweetness without their energy value; the NNS and Energy Intake section gives a non-caloric sweetened beverage as an example. Page numbers are not provided in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.91)

  cites [6] Mattes, 2009, Nonnutritive sweetener consumption in humans: effects on appetite and food intake and their putative mechanisms., Am J Clin Nutr. source

In the paper

“Rats fed a yogurt-based diet mixed with saccharin gained more weight and had impaired energy compensation relative to rats given yogurt mixed with glucose.”

What the sources say

• Supported

  The Results and Discussion report greater weight gain in rats given saccharin-sweetened yogurt than in those given glucose-sweetened yogurt. Caloric-compensation tests also found more complete compensation in the glucose-yogurt group, although that result depended on the order in which diets were given. (LLM, conf=0.90)

  cites [65] Swithers, 2009, General and persistent effects of high-intensity sweeteners on body weight gain and caloric compensation in rats., Behav Neurosci. source

In the paper

“For example, in a recent study of 930 participants, children most preferred a 0.54-mol/L sucrose concentration (32) that was equivalent to 11 tsp (~44 g) of sugar in an 8-oz (240 mL) glass of water, nearly twice the sugar concentration of a typical cola.”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The age-related differences in task completion and reliability section reports an analysis of 930 participants, and the age-related differences in sweet preferences section reports that children preferred more concentrated sucrose solutions than adults. The retrieved passages do not give 0.54 mol/L as the children's preferred concentration or compare it with sugar in cola; the teaspoons-and-cola comparison appears after the citation in the citing sentence. (LLM, conf=0.78)

  cites [32] Mennella, 2011, Evaluation of the Monell forced-choice, paired-comparison tracking procedure for determining sweet taste preferences across the lifespan., Chem Senses. sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“A sweet-tasting solution placed in an infant’s mouth can reduce responses to painful stimuli; sweet taste perception mediates both endogenous opioid and nonopioid systems to block pain afferents (34).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  The Antinociception section reports reduced pain responses when sucrose was placed on the tongues of rat pups, and the paper's rat experiments suggest endogenous opioids may contribute to sucrose-induced analgesia. It does not establish this effect in human infants or show that sweet taste activates both opioid and nonopioid systems to block pain afferents; the same section says the connection between taste and pain mechanisms is unknown. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

  cites [34] Segato, 1997, Sucrose ingestion causes opioid analgesia., Braz J Med Biol Res. sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“However, easily accessible, highly palatable foods (among which many are sweet) are wanted by adults as well as children and can trigger intake even in satiated persons.”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  Section XI (page unavailable) describes college students wanting and drinking more of a sweet beverage, and Section IX describes babies’ positive liking reactions to sweet tastes. Section X says reward cues can remain wanted after satiety, but it does not establish that palatable foods trigger eating in satiated people. The copy also does not support the claim about these foods being easily accessible or wanted by children. (LLM, conf=0.86)

  cites [81] Berridge, 2009, Wanting and liking: observations from the Neuroscience and Psychology Laboratory., Inquiry. sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“Wanting of sweet-tasting products is strongly influenced by liking of sweetness, but it is also dependent on other factors such as the current nutritional status (before vs. after meals), social norms, or behavior of others who share the meal (81).”

What the sources say

• Partly supported

  Section IX says liking and wanting are closely associated, while also showing that wanting can increase without a matching increase in liking. Section XI describes a sweet beverage becoming more attractive after exposure to subliminal happy faces. The cited paper does not establish the claimed effects of before-versus-after-meal nutritional status, social norms, or dining companions; page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)

  cites [81] Berridge, 2009, Wanting and liking: observations from the Neuroscience and Psychology Laboratory., Inquiry. sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured

In the paper

“The evidence suggests that “obesogenic environments” may be created not only in the surrounding community but also in the home (64).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [64] Anzman, 2010, Parental influence on children's early eating environments and obesity risk: implications for prevention., Int J Obes (Lond). source

In the paper

“Current U.S. estimates have shown that the consumption of added sugars accounted for 15.9% (60 g/d) of energy in the diets of children aged 2–5 y and 18.6% (90 g/d) of energy in the diets of children aged 6–11 y.”

In the paper

“The liking for sweet taste is both innate and universal.”

• Also stated in: § Abstract · plain

  “Human desire for sweet taste spans all ages, races, and cultures.”

In the paper

“Newborns can differentiate varying degrees of sweetness and will consume a greater volume of a solution that tastes sweeter (23).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites [23] Maller, 1973, Effect of taste on ingestion by human newborns., Symp Oral Sens Percept.

In the paper

“That is, the sensation of sweetness is context dependent and can acquire meaning through associative learning [see (49,50) for reviews].”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [49] Beauchamp, 1985, Congenital and experiential factors in the development of human flavor preferences., Appetite. source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [50] Sclafani, 2004, Oral and postoral determinants of food reward., Physiol Behav. source

In the paper

“Both sugar-sweetened and aspartame-sweetened milk were consumed to a larger extent by preschool-aged children than was plain milk (59).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [59] Wilson, 1994, Does type of milk beverage affect lunchtime eating patterns and food choice by preschool children?, Appetite. source

In the paper

“Infants and young children in particular base many of their food choices on familiarity and sweet taste.”

In the paper

“Additional research revealed that early exposure to sugar-sweetened items led to both an increased preference for sweetened items and a preference for higher levels of sugar in foods (26–28).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [26] Beauchamp, 1982, Dietary experience and sweet taste preference in human infants., Appetite. source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [27] Beauchamp, 1984, Acceptance of sweet and salty tastes in 2-year-old children., Appetite. source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [28] Liem, 2004, Sweet and sour preferences in young children and adults: role of repeated exposure., Physiol Behav. source

In the paper

“Throughout evolution, sweetness has had a role in human nutrition, helping to orient feeding behavior toward foods providing both energy and essential nutrients.”

In the paper

“Research on the developmental trajectory of sweet taste preferences suggests that such preferences are innate and expressed even before birth (21).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [21] Mennella, 1998, Early flavor experiences: research update., Nutr Rev. source

In the paper

“Children (aged 6–18 y) and adult Choctaws (aged 20–90 y) accepted the product well and preferred the low-sugar watermelon with sucralose to the conventional, higher-sugar watermelon.”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [62] Collins, 2006, Consumer acceptability of low-sugar watermelon sweetened with non-calorie sweetener by a Native American community., Int J Food Sci Nutr. source

In the paper

“After repeated consumption, children came to prefer the flavor that was associated with energy, suggesting that sweet taste alone was not sufficient to predict food preference.”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [54] Birch, 1990, Conditioned flavor preferences in young children., Physiol Behav. source

In the paper

“Dissociating sweetness from energy may affect expectations for sweetness in foods and, potentially, food-seeking behavior.”

In the paper

“Ingestion of sweet-tasting products induces “sensory-specific satiety,” a general decrease in the attractiveness of all sweet products (79).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [79] Hetherington, 1989, The time course of sensory-specific satiety., Appetite. source

In the paper

“The phenotype “sweet tooth” has been addressed in scientific works (69). It is characterized by preferences for high sweetness intensity in a large number of foods and drinks and a preference for sweet-tasting, rather than savory, products (74).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [74] Conner, 1988, Sweet tooth demonstrated: individual differences in preference for both sweet foods and foods highly sweetened., J Appl Psychol. source

In the paper

“Persons who frequently consume sweet-tasting products show a preference for sweeter beverages when tested in the laboratory; this effect is the same for frequent consumers of nonnutritive and nutritive sweeteners (77).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [77] Mahar, 2007, The effect of frequency of consumption of artificial sweeteners on sweetness liking by women., J Food Sci. source

In the paper

“In many countries, dietary surveys have reported that the diets of overweight or obese persons are not particularly rich in sugar or sweet products (but they are rather high in fat) (84). Consumers (children, adolescents, and adults) of large amounts of sugar and sweet products are often lean (3, 85).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [84] van Baak, 2009, Consumption of sugars and body weight., Obes Rev. source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [3] Drewnowski, 2007, The real contribution of added sugars and fats to obesity., Epidemiol Rev. source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [85] Macdiarmid, 1998, The sugar-fat relationship revisited: differences in consumption between men and women of varying BMI., Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. source

In the paper

“However, the biologic response to sweetness is only one aspect of food preference and food selection.”

In the paper

“Disordered and/or excessive eating are undisputed etiological factors in the development of overweight and obesity (90). There is no evidence that they can be triggered by sugar itself in human adults.”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [90] Striegel-Moore, 2007, Risk factors for eating disorders., Am Psychol. source

In the paper

“Body size or adiposity is not a predictor of liking sweet stimuli (75), but overweight and obese individuals often prefer high-fat, sweet, or nonsweet stimuli (76).”

What the sources say

• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [75] Salbe, 2004, Taste preferences and body weight changes in an obesity-prone population., Am J Clin Nutr. source
• ?Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites [76] Drewnowski, 1985, Sweet tooth reconsidered: taste responsiveness in human obesity., Physiol Behav. source

In the paper

“By contrast, preferences for sweetness in specific foods are context dependent and can be influenced by prior exposure to those foods.”