Food properties, eating behaviour and food intake of composite foods

Eating behaviour and thereby food intake can be modified by changing the properties of the food consumed. When targeting the elderly population with decreased eating capabilities, one might look for opportunities to increase food intake. On the other hand, when targeting the general population, one might look for effective strategies to slow down food consumption to lower food intake and consequently the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. It is well-known that texture properties of foods influence the eating behaviour and the amount of food eaten, with liquids being consumed faster and in higher amounts than (semi)-solids. Most studies investigated this effect of food texture in model foods (e.g. gels) or single foods (e.g. soups). However, many foods are frequently consumed in combination with additional foods (i.e. composite foods) such as bread/cracker with cheese, salad with dressing or yogurt with cereals. It is not known whether such texture effects are sufficient to influence eating behaviour and food intake of composite foods. In addition, although an effect of food texture is often observed, it is not known whether variation in product shape can also influence eating behaviour and food intake. We hypothesize that single products (e.g. cracker or condiment) can be optimized for their shape or texture properties to develop composite foods that assist in food intake regulation. Thererefore, the aim of this study is to study the influence of cracker shape and cheese viscosity on eating behaviour and ad libitum food intake of cracker-cheese combinations

We expect that the shape of the cracker influences the amount of cheese consumers will add to their cracker (increase / decrease cheese intake). In addition, we expect that increased cheese viscosity increases oro-sensory exposure time (increased satiation / decreased intake).

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Participants will eat crackers with a cheese dip until they are satisfied (while being video recorded). The four conditions of this study are 1) flat cracker with high viscous cheese dip, 2) flat cracker with low viscous cheese dip, 3) cracker stick with high viscous cheese dip, and 4) cracker stick with low viscous cheese dip.