Vanilla and starch in reduced-sugar milk desserts for children
What it found
In 112 children aged 8 to 12, milk desserts with less sugar were liked about the same as the regular version.
Raising vanilla and starch increased liking for over 80% of the children.
What they found
Studies in people
Liking with less sugar
The desserts with 7% added sugar did not significantly differ from the 12% sugar version in average overall liking scores.
Children differed
Children did not all react the same way. Three groups with distinctive liking patterns were identified.
More vanilla and starch
Increasing vanilla and starch concentration led to an increase in overall liking for over 80% of the children.
Sensory profiles
The dynamic sensory profiles showed significant but subtle differences among the samples.
What the authors conclude
“Results from the present work suggest that cross-modal interactions could contribute to minimizing the sensory changes caused by sugar reduction, which could enable to achieve larger reductions if implemented in the context of gradual sugar reduction programs.”
Also in their conclusions
- They suggest that cross-modal interactions could contribute to minimizing the sensory changes caused by sugar reduction.
- They say this could enable larger reductions if implemented in the context of gradual sugar reduction programs.
How it was done
Products high in sugar, especially those aimed at children, are seen as one factor in the childhood obesity epidemic. The authors wanted to see if changing taste, smell and texture could let them cut sugar in children's foods.
They made 5 vanilla milk desserts: one with 12% added sugar and four with 7% added sugar, varying vanilla (0.4% or 0.6%) and starch (4.3% or 4.7%). A total of 112 children aged 8 to 12 tasted the desserts, described how the sensations changed over time, and rated how much they liked each one.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This was a single tasting session, so it cannot show whether children would keep liking these desserts over time.
- The study only looked at vanilla milk desserts, so the results may not apply to other foods.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
- Authors work at
- Instituto Polo Tecnológico de Pando, Uruguay
The paper
- Title
- Cross-modal interactions as a strategy for sugar reduction in products targeted at children: Case study with vanilla milk desserts
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Velázquez AL, Vidal L, Varela P, Ares G (2020). Cross-modal interactions as a strategy for sugar reduction in products targeted at children: Case study with vanilla milk desserts. Food research international (Ottawa, Ont.). doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2019.108920PubMed 32156373DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error