Taste preferences for bitter or sweet beverages are not based on variations in our taste genes, but rather genes related to the psychoactive properties of these drinks, according to new research by Northwestern Medicine. Scientist Marilyn Cornelis explains that variations in taste genes may unlock new knowledge surrounding the reasons why people prefer certain beverages and understanding those preferences may indicate ways to intervene in people’s diets.

“The genetics underlying our preferences are related to the psychoactive components of these drinks,” says Cornelis, an Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “People like the way coffee and alcohol make them feel. That’s why they drink it. Its not the taste.”

The paper, published on May 2 in Human Molecular Genetics, highlights important behavior-reward components related to beverage choices, which are influenced by a person’s genetics. 

“To our knowledge, this is the first genome-wide association study of beverage consumption based on taste perspective,” says Victor Zhong, the studys first author and postdoctoral fellow in preventive medicine at Northwestern. “It’s also the most comprehensive genome-wide association study of beverage consumption to date.”

Cornelis did find one variant in a gene, called FTO, linked to sugar-sweetened drinks. People who had a variant in the FTO gene – the same variant previously related to lower risk of obesity – surprisingly preferred sugar-sweetened beverages.

“It’s counterintuitive,” Cornelis says. “FTO has been something of a mystery gene and we don’t know exactly how its linked to obesity. It likely plays a role in behavior, which would be linked to weight management.”

FoodIngredientsFirst has reached out to the research team.

Genome-wide association study of 336,000 UK individuals
In the study, beverages were categorized into a bitter-tasting group and a sweet-tasting group. The “bitter” category included coffee, tea, grapefruit juice, beer, red wine and liquor. The “sweet” category comprised sugar-sweetened beverages, artificially sweetened beverages and non-grapefruit juices.

Beverage intake was collected using 24-hour dietary recalls or questionnaires. The researchers counted the number of servings of these bitter and sweet beverages consumed by about 336,000 individuals in the UK Biobank. Then they did a genome-wide association study of bitter beverage consumption and of sweet beverage consumption. Last, they looked to replicate their key findings in three US cohorts.

Consumer conscience drives NPD in health market
Understanding wher preferences for food and beverage originate from, may help facilitate new ways of curbing unhealthy consumption habits. Reduced or moderate consumption of sugar and alcoholic beverages are a sustained trend in the health space. As such, innovation around NPD in the market for reduced sugar and non- or low-alcoholic products continue to see launches of novel products catering to this need. 

In this space, Chr. Hansen recently announced its launch of Sweety Y-1, claimed to be the first culture in the world that allows dairy manufacturers to create naturally sweeter products while reducing added sugar. Sweety Y-1 is an innovative culture solution allowing the natural creation of sweetness by unlocking milk’s own resource – lactose. 

Last March, Innova Market Insights research shed light on the growing popularity of “mindful drinking,” wher binge drinking has become less common among certain consumer groups. Alcohol reduction has become a key platform in the “balancing act” trend that the food and beverage industry has been addressing for several years – and this is becoming increasingly common among younger drinkers. Big brands such as Heineken and Guinness have even adapted their marketing of lighter-alcohol drinks towards the more mainstream consumer. By targeting millennials and young professionals, there has been a substantial increase in the uptake of low-alcoholic beverages.

By Benjamin Ferrer