| Abstract
| - The extent to which the sensory properties of foods influence dietary practices remains poorly characterized. Hedonic attributes appear to exert the predominant role among sensory factors. Therefore a parametric study to ascertain the relationships between measures of sweet-taste preferences and selected relevant dietary measures was undertaken. Twenty-five healthy, normal weight adults kept 7-day diet records and provided hedonic responses to (i) lists of foods on questionnaires, (ii) prepared coffee and oatmeal samples on category and visual analog scales, and (iii) water and coffee via an adjustment task. Ratings were obtained under conditions where samples were swallowed versus expectorated and viewed as ‘normal foods’ versus ‘test samples’. Correlations were then sought between dietary variables and both individual and aggregate profiles of preference measures. Either analytic approach revealed significant associations with estimates of preferred tastes of the diet, but only taste profiles comprised of several taste preference measures together were significantly related to nutrient intake (i.e. carbohydrate and alcohol calories). This observation, as well as findings obtained from the different testing procedures and contexts, are considered from a methodologic perspective (i.e. what are the optimal conditions for examining diet-taste relationships).
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