Sensory specific satiety or appetite? Investigating effects of retronasally-introduced aroma and taste cues on subsequent real-life snack intake

Abstract

Exposure to sensory cues has been shown to profoundly affect sensory-specific appetite and satiety in empirical settings. The present study aims to understand whether taste and aroma, presented in a real food matrix, can elicit sensory-specific effects on subsequent snack consumption in real life. A total of 61 male participants (final N = 40; 21–39 years; 19.7–41.5 kg·m−2) undertook five breakfast sessions. In each session, participants were served oat puddings of customised, pre-determined portions, which was either plain (used as the control), or with added low or high intensity of vanilla aroma or non-caloric sweetness. Participants were asked to report pre- and post-meal satiety and meal pleasantness using a Satiety Labelled Intensity Magnitude (SLIM) and a hedonic Visual Analogue scale (VAS), respectively. Participants then recorded all-day food intake using standard Food Records, which enabled estimates of individual total, sweet, and non-sweet snack intake. Our results showed that breakfasts with high-intensity aroma or taste led to more significant reductions in hedonic VAS post-breakfast, as opposed to the control or low-intensity conditions (p < 0.05). The total snack intake was maintained at a similar level across the conditions (p > 0.05). Compared to the control or low-intensity conditions, breakfasts with high-intensity vanilla aroma or sweet taste were associated with increased sensory-incongruent (i.e., non-sweet) and decreased sensory-congruent (i.e., sweet) snack intake (non-sweet intake: aroma (F(2, 108) = 59.65, p < 0.001), taste (F(2, 108) = 43.74, p < 0.001); sweet intake: aroma (F(2, 108) = 6.93, p = 0.001), taste (F(2, 108) = 13.94, p < 0.001)). Overall, this study is the first to compare sensory-specific effects of retronasally-introduced aroma and taste on snack intake throughout the day, highlighting the important functional roles of sensory exposures in orientating food choices.