title: Salt reduction in vegetable soup does not affect saltiness intensity and liking in the elderly and children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Reduction of added salt levels in soups is recommended. We evaluated the impact of a 30% reduction of usual added salt in vegetable soups on elderly and children's saltiness and liking evaluation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were elderly and recruited from two public nursing homes (29 older adults, 79.7±8.9 years), and preschool children recruited from a public preschool (49 children, 4.5±1.3 years). This study took place in institutional lunchrooms. Through randomization and crossover, the subjects participated in two sensory evaluation sessions, on consecutive days, to assess perceived saltiness intensity (elderly sample) and liking (elderly and children samples) of a vegetable soup with baseline salt content and with a 30% salt reduction. Elderly rated perceived liking through a 10 cm visual analogue scale ['like extremely' (1) to 'dislike extremely' (10)] and children through a five-point facial scale ['dislike very much' (1) to 'like very much' (5)].
  
  
  RESULTS
  After 30% added salt reduction in vegetable soup, there were no significant differences in saltiness noted by the elderly (p=0.150), and in perceived liking by children (p=0.160) and elderly (p=0.860).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A 30% salt reduction in vegetable soup may be achieved without compromising perceived saltiness and liking in children and the elderly.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sérgio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monteiro
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal ; EPIUnit - Institute of Public Health, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Patrícia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Padrão
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal ; REQUIMTE, Laboratory of Bromatology and Hydrology, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ada
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.affiliation: Research Centre in Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abreu
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal ; REQUIMTE, Laboratory of Bromatology and Hydrology, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Olívia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pinho
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal ; Research Centre in Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moreira
keywords: elderly; hedonic evaluation; preschool children; salt; soup