Understanding variety: Tasting different foods delays satiation Marion M. Hetherington a, * , Rebecca Foster a , Tammy Newman a , Annie S. Anderson b , Geraldine Norton a a School of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZA, UK b Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research, School of Medicine, University of Dundee, DD1 9SY, UK Received 17 June 2005; received in revised form 31 August 2005; accepted 19 October 2005 Abstract Variety stimulates intake by as much as 40% following both simultaneous and sequential presentations. Varying sensory and other characteristics of foods could sustain interest in eating and delay the development of satiation. Two experiments set out to explore this by investigating the effect of introducing different foods to taste and rate during intake of a snack. In Experiment 1, 33 participants (23 female) attended the lab on four occasions, to eat sweet or salted popcorn (depending on preference). In a counterbalanced order participants ate ad libitum (control), or were interrupted during eating to taste and rate either the food they were eating (same condition: SC), another food with shared taste characteristics (congruent condition: CC) or a food with a different taste (incongruent condition: IC). Overall participants consumed significantly more in CC and IC than in SC [ F(3, 90) = 2.74, p < 0.05], and pleasantness ratings of the eaten food during CC and IC remained high relative to SC, demonstrating a delay in the normal decline in pleasantness associated with satiation. In Experiment 2, 47 participants (31 female) were allocated to either a food focus (FF) or food distraction (FD) condition, in which intake of chocolate was interrupted during eating to taste and rate chocolate only (FF) or this food and a cheese cracker (FD). FD (94 T 9.3 g) participants ate significantly more than FF (68 T 9.5 g) and in support of findings from Experiment 1 pleasantness ratings during eating declined more rapidly during FF than FD. Variety may stimulate food intake, in part, by delaying the development of satiation which extends eating and therefore amount consumed. Encouraging consumers to focus on eating should facilitate the normal decline in pleasantness of the food and serve to limit intake. D 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Food intake; Satiation; Sensory specific satiety; Variety; Distraction Introducing variety into a meal enhances food intake [1], with effect sizes ranging from 15% enhancement by altering only the flavour and texture of the same food up to 40% when offering four different foods over successive courses [2]. Clearly varying sensory and nutritional attributes of the foods offered maximises the stimulation effect of variety, and could lead to overeating. Sensory-specific satiety is defined as the change in pleasantness of an eaten food relative to the pleasantness of other, uneaten foods during a meal. Sensory-specific satiety (SSS) promotes intake of a variety of foods, since during a meal interest in and pleasure from the eaten food declines relative to other foods [3]. Foods which share sensory properties with the eaten food such as a similar taste profile or texture decline in rated pleasantness along with the eaten food, although to a lesser extent [4]. Therefore, consumers tend to select foods which differ from the food just eaten, and when offered highly varied foods, meal size increases [1]. It is not clear how variety stimulates food intake, but introducing a variety of different foods, flavours and textures into a meal may serve to maintain interest in the foods offered thereby delaying satiation and extending both the duration and size of the meal. SSS is associated with decreased liking for a food as determined by rated pleasantness, and tends to limit intake of that food whilst directing intake towards foods which differ in sensory characteristics. Consumers who identify the change in pleasantness of the taste of a food as a primary reason for terminating intake, tend to eat less than those who rely upon gastric fill [5]. This suggests that attending to changes in pleasantness during a meal enhances the development of satiation and limits intake. Attention to what is eaten and memory for recent eating 0031-9384/$ - see front matter D 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2005.10.012 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 151 794 1480; fax: +44 151 794 6937. E-mail address: Marion.Hetherington@gcal.ac.uk (M.M. Hetherington). Physiology & Behavior 87 (2006) 263 – 271