Characterization and Comparison of Dietary Taste Patterns in Five Countries With Differing Obesity Prevalence

Considering associations between taste, food intake, and overconsumption, this work aimed to characterize and compare dietary taste patterns across five countries with differing rates of obesity prevalence: France (10% of the population), the Netherlands (15%), the United Kingdom (UK) (27%), Australia (32%), and the United States (US) (44%). Taste intensity values for all five basic tastes and fatty mouthfeel were assigned to all foods in national dietary intake records. Dietary taste patterns were then characterized and compared using taste clusters and taste exposure. In cluster analyses, all five diets included "neutral", "bitter" and "sweet" taste clusters, with differences in the other taste clusters present. For taste exposure, sweet taste exposure was highest in all diets and contributed most to total exposure, salt taste and fatty mouthfeel exposure were also high. Salt taste and umami taste contributed most to the US diet, while bitter taste was highest in the Dutch diet, and sour taste was highest in the French diet. Similarities across countries point to the dominance of sweet taste in consumption. Differences between countries provide some suggestions that salt and umami tastes contribute more in countries with higher obesity prevalence, and that bitter and sour tastes contribute more where obesity prevalence is lower.