A new study from the Monell Chemical Senses Center may shed light on why some people like salt more than others. The results suggest that a person’s liking for salty taste may be related to how much they weighed when they were born. In a paper published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the Monell researchers report that individual differences in salty taste acceptance by two-month old infants are inversely related to birth weight: lighter birth weight infants show greater acceptance of salt-water solutions than do babies who were heavier at birth. According to lead author Leslie Stein, Ph.D., “The early appearance of this relationship suggests that developmental events occurring in utero may have a lasting influence on an individual’s preference for salty taste.” A similar relationship was found in a subset of the same children at preschool age, suggesting that the relationship between salty taste preference and birth weight persists at least through early childhood, a critical time for the formation of flavor and food preferences. By studying individual differences in liking for salty taste, scientists hope to obtain needed insights into the underlying factors driving salt preference and intake. Such information could potentially be used in programs designed to reduce salt intake, which is believed by many to contribute to the development and maintenance of high blood pressure. Although salty taste is intrinsically appealing to humans, the basic mechanisms underlying detection and acceptance of salty taste are not well understood. According to Monell Director Gary Beauchamp, Ph.D., a co-author on the study, “The development of practical and successful methods to reduce salt intake likely will not be possible without a more thorough understanding of exactly how humans detect salty taste and the factors that modify salty taste acceptance.”
