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

SummaryBackground & aimsAcceptability 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.MethodsOne 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.ResultsOverall 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.ConclusionsOral nutritional supplements are globally well-accepted and tolerated, but with variations according to categories and flavours that must be considered to improve compliance.