Effect of ideal–relative sweetness on yogurt consumption

The objectives of this study were to determine how hedonically different sweetness levels in yogurt, determined by the ideal–relative rating method, affected taste test liking ratings and consumption in a naturalistic setting. Nineteen subjects attended a preliminary session, a taste test and three lunch tests. During the taste test, they rated yogurt with three levels of sweetness (high, optimum, and low) for six attributes. During each lunch test, they were offered a tray of nine food items, including yogurt at one of the three sweetness levels. Subjects liked the optimally sweet yogurt best in the taste test and consumed the most of it at lunch. Taste test liking ratings did not predict the amount of yogurt consumed during lunch. The lower-than-optimum sweetness level was more detrimental to taste test ratings than was the oversweetened yogurt whereas the higher-than-optimum sweetness level was more detrimental to consumption during lunch than was the undersweetened yogurt.