Al Dente or Well Done? The Eating Rate of a Pasta Meal Modified by Texture

Plain-language summary

Rationale: The world-wide rising obesity rates are a major health problem. Therefore, people should moderate food intake. A lower eating rate will decrease the energy intake. The eating rate of foods can be modified by changing the texture without affecting their acceptability. Harder, chunkier, more viscous, and more voluminous foods will decrease the eating rate and thus energy intake. However, the impact of texture on oral processing has mostly been studied as a model or single food system, whereas a diet consists of many different food products often consumed in combination. Little has been researched on the effect of food texture on eating rate within the context of realistic meals. It is not known if the eating rate of a meal is determined by the eating rate component with the lowest eating rate or if there is an additive effect of the eating rates of all components of the meal. Objective: The aim of the ESPA study is to determine how the eating rate of a pasta meal can be changed by manipulating the hardness of the ingredients and to investigate if the eating rate of a meal is determined by the eating rate of the component with the lowest eating rate or if there is an additive effect of the eating rates of all components of the meal. Study design: The study is a randomized crossover trial. All participants receive all pasta samples. Study population: Healthy adults (n=50) between 18-55 years old with European nationality, and a BMI between 18.5-30 kg/m2. Intervention: Participants will attend three test sessions during lunch in which in total twelve pasta samples will be consumed. The pasta samples will consists of individual or combined pasta noodles, vegetables, and sauce differing in hardness. The order of the samples will be randomized. After the consumption of the test samples, the participants will rate their appetite and the sensory characteristics of the samples. During the test sessions, participants will be video recorded to determine their eating behavior. Main study parameters/endpoints: The main study outcome is the eating rate (g/min). Secondary outcomes are the oral processing characteristics assessed with the video recordings (meal duration \[min\], bite duration \[min\], number of bites, number of chews, average bite size \[g\], average amount of chews per bite, and oral sensory exposure time \[min\]) and sensory characteristics rated on a visual analogue scale (liking \[flavor, texture, and overall\], flavor intensity, sweetness, saltiness, sourness, hardness, and chewiness).

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