Calories vs. Sweet Taste: How Beverage Branding Shapes Your Habits
Official title: Parsing the Impact of Calories versus Sweet Taste on Beverage Brand Conditioning: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Funded at Monell Chemical Senses Center · NIH-11432601 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A randomized study examines how calories and sweet taste affect how adults respond to a beverage brand and whether daily consumption changes craving for that brand.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Monell Chemical Senses Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Philadelphia, United States) |
| Project start | August 1, 2026 |
| Project end | May 31, 2031 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $828,937 |
| NIH project number | 1R01DK149422-01 |
| Project ID | NIH-11432601 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with or at risk for Adult-Onset Diabetes Mellitus who are willing to participate in a beverage consumption and brain-imaging study.
✕Less likely to help
Individuals who are unable to participate in MRI scanning or who are not willing to consume the study beverages may not benefit.
What this research studies
This project explores how non-nutritive sweeteners and sugar-sweetened beverages influence real-world eating behavior, focusing on brand- and advertisement-related cues. It uses a randomized controlled design to see if repeated exposure to a specific beverage brand changes people’s motivation to seek that brand, and whether brain signals in the ventral striatum reflect this change. Participants will consume beverages over several weeks and undergo brain imaging and behavioral assessments to separate the effects of taste, calories, and branding. The findings could help explain how marketing and taste shape cravings and intake in adults with obesity risk factors.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could inform strategies to reduce unhealthy beverage choices and support weight-management efforts.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies have shown brand- and cue-driven approach behaviors; this work directly tests brand sensitization mechanisms with neural correlates.
Where this research is happening
-
Monell Chemical Senses Center
Philadelphia, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Burger, Kyle S. — Monell Chemical Senses Center
- Study coordinator: Burger, Kyle S.
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.