Taste intensity in the Beaver Dam Offspring Study

Objectives/Hypothesis To determine the distribution of the perceived intensity of salt, sweet, sour, and bitter in a large population and to investigate factors associated with perceived taste intensity. Study Design Cross‐sectional population. Methods Subjects (n = 2,374; mean age, 48.8 years) were participants in the Beaver Dam Offspring Study examined during 2005 to 2008. Perceived taste intensity was measured using paper disks and a general labeled magnitude scale. Multiple linear regression was performed. Results Mean intensity ratings were: salt = 27.2 (standard deviation SD = 18.5), sweet = 20.4 (SD = 15.0), sour = 35.7 (SD = 21.4), and bitter = 49.6 (SD = 23.3). Females and those with less than a college degree education rated tastes stronger. With adjustment for age, sex, and education, stronger perceived sour and bitter intensities were related to current smoking (sour: B = 2.8, 95% confidence interval CI, 0.4 to 5.2; bitter: B = 2.8, 95% CI, 0.3 to 5.4) and lipid‐lowering medications (sour: B = 5.1, 95% CI, 2.5 to 7.6; bitter: B = 3.2, 95% CI, 0.6 to 5.8). Alcohol consumption in the past year was related to weaker salt ( B = −2.8, 95% CI, −5.3 to −0.3) and sweet intensity ratings ( B = −2.3, 95% CI, −4.3 to −0.3), whereas olfactory impairment was associated with higher sweet ratings ( B = 4.7, 95% CI, 1.4 to 7.9). Conclusions Perceived intensities were strongest for bitter and weakest for sweet. Sex and education were associated with each taste, whereas age did not demonstrate a consistent relationship. Associations with other factors differed by tastants, with current smoking and alcohol consumption being related to some tastes. Level of Evidence 2b.