reduced salt foods are generally di

reduced salt foods are generally disliked. Thus, maintenance of liking will
remain one of the most important difficulties likely to be encoun-
tered with any sizeable salt reduction in foods at the industry level.
Additional research is required to understand potential consumer
response to a reduced salt food supply, particularly in terms of
whether consumers can ‘learn’ to like low sodium foods that might
otherwise be deemed unpalatable.
Salt preference is in large part dictated by overall dietary salt
intake—individuals who consume a high sodium diet generally
prefer saltier foods (Bertino, Beauchamp, & Engelman, 1986) and
individuals who consume a low sodium diet generally prefer less
salty foods (Bertino, Beauchamp, & Engelman, 1982; Blais et al.,
1986; Elmer, 1988). Whether preference for a low sodium food
can increase without a low sodium diet has been studied only min-
imally. Methven, Langreney, and Prescott (2012) compared liking
ratings of a no salt added soup and a high salt soup between pre-
and post-study taste tests, separated by eight exposures to the
no salt added soup. Liking for the no salt added soup increased
after three exposures, and generally continued to increase over
the duration of the eight day study. In addition, liking for the no
salt added soup was significantly higher at the post-study taste test
than at the pre-test. Methven et al. (2012) hypothesized that
because salt preference is developed within the context of the salt
level most often consumed in a food, repeatedly consuming the
same food with a reduced salt content was enough to significantly
increase liking for the new, lower salt level. The increase in liking
for the no salt added soup did not translate into a decrease in liking
for the high salt soup, however, which remained preferred overall
at both taste tests. These results illustrate two concerns regarding
population dietary salt reduction: (1) whether consumers can shift
salt preference while continually exposed to salty tasting foods,
and (2) whether a coordinated approach in which salt reductions
are made across the food supply is necessary to achieve this
preference shift (Institute of Medicine, 2010).
The main objective of this research was to determine whether
liking for reduced sodium and low sodium tomato juice could
increase following repeated exposure over an extended period. In
order to address this objective, subjects’ liking of four tomato
juices ranging in salt content were compared between an initial
and a final taste test, separated by a 16-week period during which
subjects consumed juice either abruptly reduced in salt to a low
sodium target at week four, or juice gradually reduced in salt to
reach the same target at week 14.