Effect of Stepwise Sugar Reduction on the Satisfaction of Sucrose-sweetened Drink

Background: High sugar intake increases risk of dental caries, obesity, and other non-communicable diseases. The amount of daily sugar intake per person among Thai population was much higher than of which the WHO recommends for health benefit. Decreasing added sugar is always recommended. A methodologically protocol would be useful and help altering sweet preference successfully. Objective: To determine 1) the amount of sugar in test drink that can be reduced and still remains individual’s satisfaction, and 2) the time used to reach the lowest satisfactory sugar concentration (LSSC). Materials and Methods: Thirty-five volunteers (20-25 year-old, male=14) were asked to taste and have a series of test drinks (containing sucrose, red coloring, sala flavor) which had been gradually decreased sucrose concentration daily. The initial satisfactory sugar concentration (ISSC) was set for each volunteer individually depending on his/her sweet preference. Each volunteer was allowed to take some days to get use to the new test drink with lower sugar concentration, before further sugar reduction. The stepwise sugar reduction protocol continued until the volunteer unsatisfied with the new test drink. The LSSC which the volunteer satisfied with and total number of days spent during the stepwise sugar reduction protocol were recorded. Results: The ISSC ranged from 6% to 15% w/v (mean=10.26±2.29%). The LSSC ranged from 1.5% to 9.0% w/v (mean=5.17±1.85%). In average, the sugar concentration could be decreased by 49.96±14.00% compared to the ISSC. The average time taken in stepwise sugar reduction protocol was 10 days. Conclusion: This stepwise sugar reduction protocol is effective in reducing individual’s sweet preference within a reasonably short period of time. Keywords: sucrose, sugar-sweetened, drink, SSBs