Oral nutritional supplements and taste preferences: 545 days of clinical testing in malnourished in-patients

Background & aims: Acceptability and intake of oral nutritional supplements are often suboptimal, partly because patients dislike flavour, texture or smell. We assessed the taste preferences about milk-based and fruit-juice typed supplements in malnourished in-patients. Methods: One hundred and nine in-patients requiring oral nutritional support were assigned to consume four given supplements on four consecutive days, to answer a questionnaire based on a 10-point visual analogue scale (VAS) on acceptance/tolerance, and to choose their preferred product for the fifth day. Results: Overall pleasantness was significantly better for milk-based supplements than for sweet and salty fruit-juice typed products (on VAS: 6.2 +/- 3.1 versus 4.4 +/- 3.9, p < 0.01 and 3.5 +/- 3.4, p < 0.0001, respectively, when 1 meant "not at all" and 10 "very much"), whereas digestive tolerance was comparable. When offered together on day 5, milk-based products were more frequently preferred (81.6%) than fruit-juice typed supplements (18.4%, p < 0.001). Among milk-based products, vanilla, coffee and strawberry had comparable good results, whereas chocolate was less chosen and neutral never. For fruit-juice typed products, tomato obtained better results than orange or apple. Conclusions: Oral nutritional supplements are globally well-accepted and tolerated, but with variations according to categories and flavours that must be considered to improve compliance. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.