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To further explore the question of the association between taste or flavor preferences and food preferences, we further explored data from the OPALINE cohort. This was evaluated separately for taste and flavor.

Concerning taste, we characterized the taste intensities of all foods introduced at the beginning of the complementary feeding period. In parallel, mothers were asked to report their infant’s acceptance of these first foods. We applied classification methods to the taste profiles of the foods, which showed that 15 groups of foods with similar taste profiles had been given to children (e.g., salty foods, sour foods, and sour and sweet fruits) [29]. Then, we compared the average acceptance of all food groups and showed that the acceptance of new foods varied according to their taste profiles. More specifically, we showed that the acceptance of salty vegetables was higher than the acceptance of bitter vegetables, or of sweet and bitter vegetables [29]. Furthermore, we showed that a higher preference for sweet, sour, and umami tastes was associated to a higher acceptance of some sweet-, sour- and umami-tasting foods, respectively [29]. This supports the hypothesis that the preference for some foods was partly related to the specific preference for their taste properties. Finally, an exploration of the factors related to vegetable acceptance along the first 2 years showed that a higher bitterness acceptance was associated with a higher acceptance of vegetables at the age of 1 year [30].

Concerning flavors, we similarly explored the acceptance of foods bearing specific odors and evaluated whether their acceptance was related to the acceptance of the corresponding odors (presented alone in scented bottles). We found that at 12 months rejection of the odor of trimethylamine and dimethyl disulfide was related to the rejection of fish and sulfurous cheeses between 12 and 15 months, respectively [31]. Therefore, in the case of olfaction, the flavor-food acceptance associations concerned foods with strong, unpleasant flavors at 12 months only, suggesting that the olfactory system acts as an “alarm” system during this period of food transition.

Eating behavior in children is characterized by its evolution as far as food neophobia is concerned. By the end of the second year, neophobic reactions start happening and can also be designated as picky eating behavior. This developmental phase concerns most children, but we were interested in evaluating whether neophobic reactions could be related to differences in taste and smell acceptance. To evaluate this aspect, we considered taste differential reactivity by computing within-subject variability across tastes as well as flavor differential reactivity by computing within-subject variability across flavors. We found that at 20 months, food neophobia was associated to flavor differential reactivity but not to taste differential reactivity [32], stressing the importance of olfaction in the development of neophobic reactions.

Finally, we have developed a working model of chemosensory, experiential, and environmental factors likely to influence food likes at the age of 2 years (Fig. 2). In this model, we included parental feeding practices and feeding style in the environmental and experiential factors likely to influence likes. The evaluation of this model showed that most of the factors hypothesized to influence liking for vegetables at the age of 2 years had a significant influence, but not the variety of early flavor exposure (in utero and in mother’s milk), when all factors are taken into account in the same model [30].

Fig. 2. Working model of the various early factors which are likely to influence the development of food likes at the age of 2 years. Among the putative factors, it was previously shown that exposure to food-related flavors (in utero or in breast milk) may impact acceptance of new foods at the time of onset of complementary feeding (CF), because the amniotic fluid or breast milk may be flavored by the flavors from the mother’s diet. The reactivity of the infant to sensory stimuli, in particular food-related tastes and odors, is also likely to modulate his/her acceptance of new foods. At the onset of CF, repeated exposure to a given food was shown to strongly impact its acceptance; moreover, exposure to a variety of foods within a given category impacts the acceptance of other new foods from this category. Tracking of eating habits was previously shown but did not necessarily cover well the very early period. Finally, beyond the impact of the family feeding practices, it was previously shown that parental feeding style is also likely to impact food likes in young children.