Sensory responses to fat are not affected by varying dietary energy intake from fat and saturated fat over ranges common in the American diet

Objective: To examine the effects of manipulating dietary fat in foods on sensitivity and hedonic response to fat in selected foods. Design: Twenty subjects were randomly assigned to a sequence of three 8-week experimental diets (average American diet, step 1 diet, low-saturated-fat diet) that varied in energy from fat (37%, 30%, and 26%, respectively) and saturated fat (17%, 10%, and 6%, respectively). Subjects participated in sensory tests designed to assess their sensitivity to and liking for fat in several foods before the study (baseline), after consumption of each diet, and after the study (washout). Subjects/setting: Subjects were participants in the Dietary Effects on Lipoprotein and Thrombogenic Activity (DELTA) study. Results: No significant differences were found among diets for difference thresholds (ie, just noticeable differences) for fat in milk and pudding, ad libitum mixing of low- and high-fat samples of milk and soup, and hedonic scaling of fat concentrations in milk and muffins and of cheese, mayonnaise, hot dog, and pastry samples. Applications/conclusions: Within the dietary fat ranges and for the fat stimuli tested in this study, dietary fat as percentage of energy from fat and saturated fat was not a significant determinant of sensitivity to and/or liking for fat. Sensory factors should not be a barrier to the implementation of low-fat diets such as the step 1 and low-saturated-fat diets.