Saccharin preference of hamsters, gerbils and rats in the "two-food" situation

Hamsters, gerbils and rats were randomly assigned to a diet that was either dry, moist or wet. Within each diet the animals were given access to either one that was saccharin-flavoured (varying from 0.1% to, 1.2%) or a plain one. The Williams Square design was used to assess the effects of different levels of saccharin on the relative intake of sweetened and plain diets. The results indicate that hamsters and gerbils were indifferent (show about 50% preference) to the presence of various Saccharin concentrations in both mash and powdered diets. When tested with a liquid diet, these animals were indifferent to low levels of the sweetener, but showed increasing preference for the plain diet when increasing levels of saccharin were placed in the sweetened diet. In contrast, rats showed a high preference for low levels of saccharin in a liquid diet and decreased preference at higher levels. When tested with mash and powdered diets, the rats were indifferent to low levels of saccharin but showed a preference for the plain diet as the saccharin level of the sweetened diet increased. In general, these results reveal that rats differ from hamsters and gerbils in their pattern of choice of sweetened and plain diets in the "two-food" situation.