Dietary intake of sweet foods and of dairy fats and resultant gustatory responses to sugar in lemonade and to fat in milk.

Degree of liking and perceived intensity of sweetness of lemonade containing 4, 6, 8, 10, 14, 20, and 30% added sucrose were obtained from a group of 51 young adults, who then completed a dietary questionnaire from which intake of sweet foods was determined. Corresponding information was collected from 53 different subjects who judged degree of liking and perceived intensity of 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16% fat in skim milk, and completed questionnaires relative to dietary intake of dairy products, fluid milk, and dairy fat. In general, perceived intensity of taste was an increasing linear function of concentration of the additive, whereas hedonic responses were more parabolic. Subjects varied extensively in their hedonic response patterns, with the majority liking intermediate levels, and the remainder showing marked liking for either high or low levels (ascending or descending with concentration). Significant correlations were obtained between intake of sweet foods and preferences for sweet food alternatives from the questionnaires. The latter, but not the former, correlated with the subjects' hedonic responses to sweetness in the test medium. For fat, significant correlations were obtained among the three intake measures from the questionnaire, which, in turn, did not correlate with the subjects' hedonic responses to fat in the experimental milk. Therefore, the hypothesis was not confirmed that laboratory preferences for high concentrations of sugar or fat were influenced by dietary intake of these substances. Several possible reasons for this finding are considered.