Stefanie Kremer: Food perception and food liking with age

The elderly population is rapidly growing worldwide. In sensory and nutrition research, age-associated losses in sensory function are believed to change the perception of food, to decrease food liking and consequently to decrease food intake of the elderly, although data in support of this line of assumptions are currently scarce. Consequently, there is a growing need to understand more about age related changes both in food perception and food liking. Therefore, the present thesis describes research on food perception, food liking and sensory acuity with increasing age. The results demonstrate that the elderly indeed perceive foods differently compared to the young, mainly as less intense in flavour and in creaminess/fattiness. However, their food liking is not reduced, despite these age-related changes in perception. It is concluded that decreased sensory acuity, although causing losses in perception of the elderly, is obviously not causing a reduced food liking and thus may not be the predominant reason for a diminished food intake.