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The objective of this study was to develop a methodology to optimize mixtures of natural, noncaloric sweeteners-with the highest sweetness and the lowest bitterness-for carbonated soft drinks. To this end, and with the aid of a trained sensory panel, we first determined the most suitable mixtures of tagatose, sucrose, and stevia in a soft drink matrix, using a three-component simplex lattice mixture design. Then, we developed a multi-objective thermodynamically-based decision model to this purpose. Results indicate that both, sucrose and tagatose, were able to reduce stevia´s bitterness. However, an increase of bitterness intensity was found above 0.23 g/L of stevia (sucrose equivalency or SE >5). Both, sensory analysis and multi-objective decision modeling identified similar optimal mixtures, corresponding to 23-39 g/L sucrose, 0.19-0.34 g/L stevia, and 34-42 g/L tagatose, depending on the desired sweetness/bitterness balance. Within this constrained area, a reduction of almost 60% of sucrose can be achieved in both approaches, keeping bitterness intensity low. Practical applicationsCurrent demand of low-calorie beverages has significantly raised as a result of consumer concerns on the negative effects of refined sugars present in carbonated soft drinks. Consequently, natural sweeteners, and their mixtures, are being increasingly used for these product developments. This study provides a methodology to optimize mixtures of natural, noncaloric sweeteners for preparing carbonated soft drinks with the lowest possible caloric content, while maintaining the tastiness-high sweetness and low bitterness-of full caloric ones, containing the bulk sweetener tagatose and the high-intensity sweetener stevia.

This study examined how similar vegetable liking by children is to their peers', siblings', and mothers'. Three hundred and eighty‐four children (ages 5–12) and their mothers, from three countries—Chile, China, and the United States, tasted and rated 14 different vegetables for liking. To evaluate how children's vegetable liking varies with their social environment, we developed the degree of liking difference index, which is the sum of absolute differences between the likings of the child with the likings of a second person. Results suggest that country, child's age, and sensory modalities (appearance, aroma, taste and texture) are important factors that influence how much a child's vegetable liking resembles their mothers', peers', and siblings'. Children's vegetable liking resemblance with their family and peers was greatest in China, followed by the United States, and finally Chile. Children's vegetable liking was most similar to that of their siblings, followed by mothers, and finally peers, with similarity to all three groups tending to increase as children's ages increased. Practical applications It is a key to understand how children's social environments influence their vegetable liking in order to develop successful strategies to increase vegetable consumption in childhood. This study analyzes the similarity of children vegetable liking with their mothers, siblings and peers. The results of this study suggest that future behavioral/intervention research should focus on using family to encourage children to eat vegetables.