Multi-component food items and intake: a bogus taste test study

Multi-component food items (MCFI) are single food products with sensorially distinguishable components that are brought together via processing (e.g., chocolate chip cookies). Despite a considerable food science literature on the formulation of such products, there is a paucity of research on how multi-component food items impact eating behaviour (1) . This may be due to methodological challenges, including difficulty identifying test foods alongside suitable control foods (1) . We have previously developed isocaloric sweet and savoury test food sets (ice cream and crustless quiche) to enable comparisons between MCFI, single component (control with no components) and blended (control with components blended to no longer be sensorially distinguishable) versions of the same food. We hypothesised that ad libitum intake of MCFI would be greater than intake of control food items. Here, we conducted a between-subjects (N = 162; 64 male and 98 female) study with participants randomised to one of six conditions (MCFI, single component and blended for both quiche and ice cream). In line with our previous validation study, our MCFI test foods had significantly higher ratings of perceived variety than the control foods (manipulation check). Within a bogus taste test procedure, participants rated the food and were able to consume as much or as little as they wanted during the task. Amount consumed was covertly measured. A between subjects 2x3 factorial ANCOVA (with hunger and gender as covariates) was performed. No significant difference in the amount of food consumed was found between plain (M = 97.76g, SD = 59.08); blended (M = 109.55, SD = 66.88); or MCFI (M = 113.13g, SD = 65.75) conditions (p =.752, ηp2 <.01). There was also no significant interaction between MCFI condition and food type (p =.871, ηp2<.01). Therefore, our hypothesis was not supported. One possibility is that the form of MCFI used within the current study was not potent enough to elicit differences. On the one hand the ability for participants to taste all components within a single mouthful aided a well-controlled experimental design with intake as an outcome. On the other hand, we may have failed to capture a key property of MCFI as they exist in the food environment, that each spoonful may be different to the last. A future study may consider an alternative methodology to consider different forms of MCFI and how they may be perceived and consumed.