Sensory characteristics of human milk : Association between mothers' diet and milk for bitter taste

It is unknown how consumption of bitter foods and beverages in the maternal diet influences sensory properties of fresh human milk. The aims of this study were (1) to determine the sensory characteristics of fresh human fore and hind milk, (2) to establish relationships between sensory properties and composition of fresh human milk, and (3) to assess the relationship between bitterness of the maternal diet and human milk. Twenty-two lactating mothers generated sensory terms to describe perception of their milk and received training on sensory attribute intensity rating. Mothers kept a 24-h food diary followed by a sensory self-assessment of their fore and hind milks. The odor of human fresh milk was described as neutral, creamy, and sweet, taste as sweet and bitter, and mouthfeel as thin, watery, smooth, and fatty. Sweetness was equivalent to 1.53 g of sucrose/100 mL and was not significantly different between fore and hind milk. Fore milk was significantly less creamy, less fatty, thinner, more watery, and lower in vanilla flavor intensity than hind milk. Carbohydrate content of human milk was positively correlated with sweetness and glutamic acid content with umami. The bitterness of the diet consumed 24 h before lactation was moderately positively correlated with bitterness of fore milk, but not hind milk. We conclude that the consumption of bitter foods may influence the bitterness of human fore milk, which may be another way for breastfed children to learn to accept bitter vegetables and, hence, develop healthier food preferences.</p

Complementary feeding: comparison and evaluation of national and international guidelines

International audienc

Complementary feeding: comparison and evaluation of national and international guidelines

Complementary feeding: comparison and evaluation of national and international guidelines. Nutrition and nurture in infancy and childhood: Bio-cultural perspective

Development of healthy eating habits early in life. Review of recent evidence and selected guidelines

Encouraging healthy eating habit development early in life is a way to prevent the onset of diet-related diseases. This review focuses on the period ranging from the beginning of complementary feeding until the age of 3 years. Its first objective was to review relevant themes in the most recent literature on the development of healthy eating habits in this period. Its second objective was to evaluate to what extent international and national feeding guidelines cover these themes. Analysed guidelines included WHO, European Network for Public Health Nutrition, US and two European national guidelines (UK and France). They were evaluated using a 4-pt scale and compared. Well-covered themes in current literature include the influence of exposure on later acceptance, the role of variety and parental styles. Themes that occur more rarely include the role of texture, the development of autonomy, the optimization of variety, acceptable consumption levels of sweet and salty foods, and the way to cope with food refusal. Guidelines in general cover most of the themes, but some of the national guidelines are incomplete. Finally, guidelines should give more practical tips to parents, especially to help them establish a responsive feeding behaviour

Food texture acceptance during infancy: a longitudinal study

International audienceTexture is an important dimension of food acceptance in infancy but few works investigated its role. The present objectives were to describe the evolution of food texture acceptance and feeding skills in 6 to 18-mo-old. Two groups of healthy children participated in this study conducted at the laboratory at 6, 8, 10mo (n=24) and at 12, 15 and 18mo (n=25). They were offered foods with different textures (smooth and rough purees, cooked and sticky pieces, raw and hard foods) at an earlier age than current practices in France. Infants' acceptance (the ability to process and swallow a food) and feeding skills (sucking and chewing) were expressed as probabilities (P). At 6mo, pureed textures were well accepted (P>0.9) and sucking was dominant (P>0.9).The acceptance of some textures increased sharply with age, consecutive to the emergence of chewing: from 0.55 at 6mo to 0.9 at 10mo for a sticky food, from 0.15 at 6mo to 0.4 at 10mo and from 0.7 at 12mo to 0.98 at 18mo for a hard food. Chewing became important at 10mo, depending on foods eaten (p0.8) but the raw pieces and pasta were not (P<0.35). These foods were better accepted as infants grew up to 18 mo .At this age, foods were processed by chewing and sucking was anecdotal (P<0.1). This study showed that, at a given age, children accepted textures which are usually introduced later in France and that the development of feeding skills was concomitant to texture acceptance

Complementary feeding and "donner les bases du goût" (providing the foundation of taste). A qualitative approach to understand weaning practices, attitudes and experiences by French mothers

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666313003814International audienceComplementary feeding (CF) practices vary within and across cultures but have been investigated only to a very limited extent. It is however important to understand CF practices and how they differ, as CF sets the foundation for children's later food choices. The present study was set out to examine practices, attitudes and experiences of CF including the introduction of vegetables amongst French mothers (n = 18, 25-39 years). Thematic analysis of transcribed focus groups and interviews revealed the perceived importance of the weaning period, as a critical milestone for infants' development but with a sense of "now or never" for introducing new tastes including vegetables. Flavour exposure and taste discovery during weaning were identified as the beginning of a "taste journey", in which educating the palate with a variety of different foods was considered important for children's later eating habits. Weaning was described as emotional and complex, a transition period in which the baby makes progress away from milk towards the family diet and which goes beyond mere nutrition. Advice was sought from official sources, but adapted to the needs of infants. In agreement with earlier observations of French adults, pleasure and taste development were considered of primary importance. In particular, French mothers believed complementary feeding lay the foundations of taste early in life