Project-based learning (PBL) has been thoroughly integrated in university sustainable development curricula, but has not been well-established in curricula used at pre-university educational levels. Integrating real-world settings into the teaching of secondary school students can help to promote problem-solving skills and competencies at younger ages, which is a crucial task in sustainability education. Therefore, in this article we describe the results of a case study on the development of sustainable food products that involved a university and two secondary schools in Austria. The methods used in this case study were drawn from the transdisciplinary case study (TCS) and the PBL literature. Data were collected by carrying out participatory research methods such as photovoice, focus group discussions, food diaries, student evaluations, and surveys. We divided the study design into three phases: (1) exploration, (2) product ideation, and (3) product prototyping and optimisation. The case study illustrates that the use of PBL research approaches by students at different levels of education provides promising results, if the research process is clearly structured and managed. When a demand for learning is encountered by students, secondary school teachers and university researchers must provide the students with additional sources of information. The establishment and management of a transinstitutional research setting is a promising, yet time-consuming endeavour.

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Sugar-sweetened beverages are known promotors of adverse health outcomes. This study aimed to find a relation between taste perception, preferences for beverages, anthropometric parameters, and frequency of beverage consumption. Taste perception of sweetness was tested using an adopted sensitivity test with sucrose and different concentrations of sugar-sweetened apple juice. Furthermore, bitter-compound 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) and salty perception were tested and accompanied by a questionnaire on beverage intake. We did not find a clear relationship between taste perception, anthropometrics, and beverage intake. Nevertheless, in males, the bitter intensity perception of PROP was positively correlated with the BMI percentiles (CDC, r = 0.306, p ≤ 0.043) and the waist circumference (r = 0.326, p = 0.031). Furthermore, the liking of sweet taste (p < 0.05) and sweet intensity rating (p < 0.05) of apple juice increased with intensity, and adolescents with overweight or obesity had a higher intake of free sugars from beverages (p < 0.001). The role of taste perception on anthropometric measures and beverage intake remains unclear and requires further investigation.