5 myths about taste in medical nutrition—and why it's time to rethink innovation

• In medical nutrition product development, taste may often treated as an afterthought or a final consideration. But what if there is a better way to think about it? 
• dsm-firmenich is challenging the industry to rethink taste by integrating sensory science into the development process from the start.
• Explore five common myths about taste in medical nutrition and discover how a new approach can help manufacturers create products patients and consumers are more likely to accept and enjoy consistently, without compromising key health outcomes.

Medical nutrition has transformed the way we support people living with health conditions, recovering from illness, or navigating age-related decline. But even the most scientifically advanced formulation can only deliver benefits if people are willing, and able, to consume it as required.

Palatability—the taste, smell, and overall sensory experience of a product—is a major factor influencing whether consumers and patients accept medical nutrition and follow the dietary regimen. For those who rely on oral nutritional supplements or specialized nutrition products every day, this is far more than a matter of preference. Bitterness, lingering aftertaste, unpleasant aromas, and poor mouthfeel can all reduce willingness to continue using a product over weeks or months. And when adherence suffers, so do clinical outcomes.

Meanwhile for manufacturers who do view the sensory experience—and acceptance—of their products as important, it is often treated as the final consideration in product development. Product recipes are first designed to deliver a certain set of key nutrients at levels that meet scientific recommendations and regulatory requirements. Once these nutritional targets have been met, developers then address the sensory experience, having to solve taste challenges within an already fixed formulation. At this point, opportunities to optimize palatability are more limited, often leading to additional reformulation, increased complexity, or compromises that could have been avoided earlier in development.

At dsm-firmenich, we believe it's time to rethink the approach to taste in medical nutrition innovation. Rather than asking how to improve palatability once formulation is complete, we believe sensory performance can be designed into medical nutrition from the very beginning with the right partner. 

So, what's holding the industry back from making this shift? Here’s five common myths that continue to shape the way medical nutrition solutions are developed.

Myth 1: patients only care about nutritional value
 

When someone depends on medical nutrition, it's easy to assume efficacy is all that matters. However, nutritional benefits can only be realized if products are consumed as intended. Those requiring nutritional support may need to take oral nutritional supplements or specialized nutrition products—most commonly in drink form, as ready-to-drink, or powder mixes—every single day or even multiple times a day, sometimes for weeks or months. If the experience is unpleasant, adherence can quickly decline.

In fact, 50% of people who discontinue medical nutrition regimens cite taste as a key reason for stopping.¹ At the same time, 47% of users believe these products could simply taste better, while 42% would like a wider variety of flavor options.²

These findings reinforce that consumer experience is not separate from product performance, but fundamental to it. In medical nutrition, better acceptance leads to better adherence, giving products the best chance of delivering meaningful health outcomes.

Myth 2: Taste is something you solve at the end
 

One of the biggest misconceptions in product development is that flavor can simply be added once the nutritional formulation is complete. In reality, sensory performance is shaped by every aspect of the formulation.

Proteins, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, lipids, and botanical extracts can introduce bitterness, metallic notes, sulphureous aromas, or lingering aftertastes. The way ingredients interact during processing can further influence the final sensory profile. Understanding these effects early gives formulators more options to design sensory performance into the product from the start. Rather than adding flavors later to cover bitterness, metallic notes, chalkiness, or a lingering aftertaste, they can select ingredients with milder sensory profiles, combine nutrients more favorably, choose flavor tonalities that complement the formulation, and optimize the overall recipe. By treating taste as a formulation consideration - not a finishing touch - developers can reduce unnecessary reformulation and create products with a stronger sensory foundation.

Myth 3: better sensory experiences mean compromising nutrition
 

Historically, formulators have faced difficult trade-offs, where improving taste often meant making compromises elsewhere: reducing functional ingredients, adjusting nutrient levels, or layering additional masking systems to improve palatability. 

Today, advances in formulation science, premix design, and sensory technologies mean those sacrifices are no longer inevitable. Rather than viewing taste as something that competes with nutrition, manufacturers can increasingly design products where both work together; creating products that deliver clinically meaningful benefits, without compromising on enjoyment. 

Myth 4: flavor tonalities alone solve sensory problems
 

Flavors are an important part of creating enjoyable medical nutrition products, but they are only one element of the overall sensory experience. Bitterness, metallic notes, off-notes, mouthfeel, and aftertastes often originate from the functional ingredients themselves, making them more complex than a flavor challenge alone.

Instead, these hurdles require a more sophisticated approach. Advances in receptor-based sensory science have led to taste modulation technologies that can reduce undesirable taste perceptions while enhancing positive sensory attributes. For example, our ModulaSENSE® portfolio uses receptor-based science to help mask bitterness, suppress off-notes, and improve overall flavor perception, addressing sensory challenges at their source rather than simply covering them up. The range includes our breakthrough ModulaSENSE® Marine solution, proven to mask the fishy taste and smell associated with omega-3 ingredients, enabling medical nutrition products that taste equivalent to omega-3-free formulations.³ Together with carefully designed flavor systems, these technologies help create products that taste better because they address the sensory challenge at its source—not just disguise it.

Another key challenge that is often underrecognized is flavor fatigue, the taste-based loss of desire to consume a particular product from prolonged, repeated exposure.⁴ Flavor fatigue can have a major impact on adherence, with one study reporting that 19% of participants discontinued their medical nutrition trial for this reason.⁵ Furthermore, research shows that offering a variety of flavors and empowering patients to choose is associated with better compliance.^6,7,8 We have taken this a step further with our revolutionary Mix-in protein granules powered by SIT™ (Sprinkle It Technology™), a compact and neutral-tasting format that allows people to easily enrich the foods and snacks they already enjoy, without impacting the final food taste.

Myth 5: taste and formulation should be developed separately
 

Perhaps the biggest misunderstanding is that nutrition, formulation, and sensory performance are independent challenges. But they are deeply interconnected.

Too often, nutritional composition is finalized first, with sensory optimization beginning only once formulation decisions have already been made. By this stage, developers may have fewer options to resolve taste challenges without adding complexity or revisiting the formulation. A more effective approach is to consider taste and sensory science alongside nutritional and technical requirements from the outset. Bringing together premix expertise, ingredient selection, flavor development, and taste modulation early into the design process helps simplify formulation, reduce reformulation cycles, and create products that deliver meaningful benefits in real-world use.

Rethink medical nutrition innovation with dsm-firmenich
 

Rather than asking how taste can be improved once a formulation is complete, manufacturers should consider how sensory experience can be engineered into products from the very beginning.

At dsm-firmenich, we combine deep medical nutrition expertise with patient and consumer insights, a science-backed ingredients portfolio, integrated premix solutions, world-leading taste expertise, proprietary technologies and innovative formats, and solutions for age-related decline to help overcome sensory barriers without compromising nutritional or clinical performance. Because medical nutrition only delivers its full potential when patients embrace it.