Taste of Modern Diets: The Impact of Food Processing on Nutrient Sensing and Dietary Energy Intake.

<bold>Background: </bold>Both fresh and processed foods are available in the modern food environment where taste can signal presence of nutrients. However, whether these taste-nutrient relationships are maintained across different degrees of food processing is not well understood, and less is known about the relative contribution of different taste qualities to population energy intakes.<bold>Objectives: </bold>To investigate the association between perceived intensity of 6 taste modalities and a food's nutrient content in the context of food processing and to further examine the relative contribution of different taste clusters to total energy intakes, stratified by weight status.<bold>Methods: </bold>Diet and lifestyle data from the Singapore Multi-Ethnic Cohort Phase 2 (N = 7011; aged 21-75 y) were collected through interviewer-administrated questionnaires. Taste and nutrient profiles for each of the 269 Singaporean foods were derived using a published taste database and food composition table. Each food was then categorized into the NOVA food-processing classification (unprocessed, processed, ultra-processed) to compare the strength of taste-nutrient relationships. Multivariable-adjusted models were used to examine associations between relative consumption of foods from different taste clusters and processing categories, energy intake, and BMI (in kg/m2) within a population cohort.<bold>Results: </bold>Sweet taste and mono- and disaccharide content of foods were significantly associated across all processing categories, although this association was weaker among ultra-processed foods (UPFs) (r = 0.42) than among unprocessed foods (r = 0.72). In contrast, associations between fat sensation and fat content (r = 0.74), as well as salt taste and sodium content (r = 0.84), were stronger for UPFs. Individuals who had higher energy intakes or were overweight (BMI >23) derived significantly greater percentage of energy from processed foods rather than UPFs, and this energy was higher from "savory-fatty" and lower from "neutral" tasting foods than those with lower energy intakes and normal weight (all P < 0.001). Eighty percent of individuals' dietary energy was from both "savory-fatty" and "neutral" foods, independent of differences in total energy intake and weight status.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>Taste-nutrient relationships are maintained across different degrees of food processing. Greater consumption of foods that have a high "savory-fatty" taste was associated with increased energy intakes and overweight in the Asian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]