Differences between Age Groups in the Use of the Temporal Dominance of Sensations Technique across a Range of Food Textures

Understanding the use of temporal dominance of sensations methodology (TDS) with older adults is important for food manufacturers targeting products to older consumers. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in the use of TDS with food texture between a young (21–29) and an older (55–70) age group across a range of different foods (cheese, chocolate, gelatin gel and shortbread). Total duration of the TDS sequence and the number of attributes used and selected were similar between age groups for all food products. The time to first attribute selection and average time per selection differed between age groups only for some products. Selection rates of each attribute were similar between age groups, with the most notable exception of sticky, which was selected at a greater rate by the younger group. Results show that TDS is an appropriate technique to measure the perception of food texture in older adults. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: In Western society, a growing aging population presents an opportunity for food manufacturers to design new food products of specific textures. Developing novel textures for this generation requires an understanding of their perception of the texture of any product under development. This study investigates the validity of the relatively new temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) technique with older and younger subjects using a wide range of food textures, and concludes that TDS can be used effectively with older subjects for the assessment of texture perception.