Food Preferences and Acceptability of Molded Pureed Foods in Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Singapore

Background/Objectives: Texture-modified diets (TMDs) are prescribed for older adults with chewing or swallowing difficulty, but conventional pureeing dilutes nutrient density and yields visually indistinguishable meals that discourage intake. This study aimed to compare food preferences and sensory priorities by self-reported chewing/swallowing difficulty status and to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the sensory acceptability of molded pureed meal prototypes. Methods: An interviewer-administered survey of 100 community-dwelling older adults in Singapore characterized chewing and swallowing symptoms, TMD status, sensory-attribute importance, meal satisfaction, and food and snack preferences. In a separate exploratory pilot, 16 older adults without self-reported swallowing difficulty evaluated four enzymatically modified, molded pureed prototypes on a 7-point hedonic scale. Results: Fifty-six participants (56.0%) reported chewing and/or swallowing difficulty. No statistically significant differences were observed between groups in age, BMI, sex, marital status, sensory-attribute importance, meal satisfaction, or food/snack category preferences (all p ≥ 0.05). Among those with difficulty, only 19 (33.9%) had been recommended a TMD and 15 (26.8%) were currently consuming one, while 37 (66.1%) had neither. All four molded pureed prototypes had mean hedonic scores for individual attributes ranging from 4.7 to 6.6 on the seven-point scale. Overall acceptability was high (8.1 ± 1.4 of 10) and most participants were willing to prepare (93.8%), purchase (81.3%), or incorporate (68.8%) the meals. Conclusions: Chewing and swallowing difficulty was common and was not associated with differences in food preferences. Texture-modified meals may be developed from familiardishes, informed by earlier community screening.