Children's acceptance of milk with xylitol or sorbitol for dental caries prevention

Three different types of milk (Ultra High Temperature (UHT), powder and evaporated) were tested for acceptability by 75 Peruvian children (25 per milk group, ages 4 to 7 years). Each group evaluated xylitol and sorbitol in one type of milk. In the first phase, each child was presented with a tray of four plastic cups containing 50 ml of milk with 0.021 g/ml xylitol, 0.042 g/ml xylitol, 0.042 g/ml sorbitol or no sugar. Each child was asked to taste the samples in a self-selected order. After tasting each sample, the child placed the milk cup in front of one of three cartoon faces (smile, frown or neutral) representing the child's response to the taste of each sample. In the second phase, the child was asked to rank order the milk samples within each category (smile, frown or neutral). Ranks within categories were then combined to obtain a rank ordering for all the test samples.The ranking from best to worst for the samples across categories (UHT, powder, evaporated) was xylitol (0.0.042 g/ml), sorbitol (0.042 g/ml), xylitol (0.021 g/ml) and milk alone (Friedman's ANOVA). Xylitol and sorbitol were preferred over milk alone, and xylitol (0.042 g/ml) was preferred to sorbitol (0.042 g/ml)(p < .05 sign test).Milk sweetened with xylitol is well accepted by Peruvian children ages 4–7 years.Xylitol is a non-nutritive sweetener that has demonstrated effectiveness for preventing dental caries [1]. It has been introduced in different foods for children including gum, candies, gelatin, sorbets, syrups and other products including multivitamins, lozenges, toothpaste, and oral rinses. Studies have demonstrated that the daily ingestion of 5 to 10 g of xylitol in different vehicles can reduce the levels of dental caries up to 82% [2-6]. This reduction can be explained by the effect of xylitol on cariogenic bacteria [7].Xylitol has the same sweetness and bulk of sucrose but with one third fewer calories, approximately 2.4 cal/g [8]. Snacks made with xylitol are generally well accept