Project
Call for Partners | SNACKSENSE: Innovative design of food structures for enhanced sensory reward from healthy snacking
Sensory factors are primary drivers for food choice. The combination of either sweetness or saltiness/savouriness with fat is very appealing and has been shown to synergistically enhance food palatability, making these combinations prone to caloric overconsumption. In SNACKSENSE innovative food structures for healthy snacks will be designed that moderate consumption rate and prolong the pleasant sensory exposure. This will lead to similar or more sensory satisfaction from less calories.
In the SNACKSENSE project, innovative methods in the design of food structures will be used in model foods (e.g. cereal/protein snacks/multi-textured food) to vary in morphology (e.g. porosity, beam thickness, etc.), microstructure, and mechanical properties, to design structures for optimal sensory experience. Variations in food structure and texture will be assessed on oral processing behaviour (i.e. eating rate), dynamic flavour release and perception, hedonic response and food intake (satiation/satiety). By taking this approach, the project ultimately aims to develop design rules to reduce calory intake without compromising on consumer' acceptance and reward.
Partners
We are looking for partners in the food industry interested in reformulations for healthier food designs. We aim to apply for the TKI-A&F PPS Agri & Food grant call (deadline 1 Sept 2024), which means a financial contribution of 50% from the industrial partners (25% cash, 25% in kind) and 50% governmental contribution. This call is open to Dutch and internationalpartners. The project will be governed by a committee including one representativeper partner (one voting member from WUR).
Why SNACKSENSE?
It has been widely publicized in documentaries and popular media books that the food industry has well-established food formulas based on combinations of fat, sugar, sodium, and carbohydrates that are designed to maximize palatability and consumption. However, there is no scientific evidence and a lack of consensus in the scientific community. Highly palatable and energy-dense foods consumed at a fast eating rate are a risk factor for overconsumption. In recent years, the importance of food textures in diet quality and modulating energy intake has gained more attention, partly due to burning issues such as the protein transitions and food ultra-processing. To prevent overconsumption, textures that moderate eating rate should be incorporated in healthy food designs. Maintaining the sensory appeal of food textures that require more extensive oral processing and thus slow down eating rate is challenging. The balance and complexity between different flavours, taste, and texture perceptions seem to be key in the hedonic experience, although the interplay of these factors is not well understood.