Instrumental assessments and sensory tests were performed to evaluate the effects of diet and postmortem ageing time (1, 7 and 21 days) on beef quality. A total of 48 Friesian calves were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments: control, whole linseed (10% linseed), conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) (2% protected CLA), and whole linseed+CLA (10% linseed and 2% protected CLA). Animals were slaughtered at 458±16.6 kg live weight and 11 months of age. Ageing was more significant than diet on most instrumental parameters. Meat from linseed enriched diets had greater drip loss (P⩽0.001) and intramuscular fat (P⩽0.01) than meat from animals fed CLA. Beef aged for 7 and 21 days had lower cooking losses (P⩽0.01) and shear force (P⩽0.001) than beef aged for 1 day. Lightness was affected only by display time. The addition of CLA in the diet increased hue and yellowness, whereas the inclusion of linseed decreased these values, as well as increased redness. Linseed in the diet decreased fat odour (P⩽0.05), but increased beef (P⩽0.01) and liver (P⩽0.05) flavours. Meat aged for 21 days was significantly more rancid (P⩽0.001), even under vacuum storage. Several organoleptic properties were improved with the inclusion of linseed in the diet, whereas they remained unaffected by the inclusion of CLA.

We investigated whether repeated consumption of a low-energy-dense (LED; 208 kJ/100 g) or high-energy-dense (HED; 645 kJ/100 g) soup modifies expectations relating to the satiating capacity of the food, and its subsequent intake. In study 1, participants consumed either a novel-flavoured LED (n 32; 21 (sd 1·6) years, BMI 21·4 (sd 1·6) kg/m2) or HED soup (n 32; 21 (sd 1·6) years, BMI 21·3 (sd 1·7) kg/m2). Soup was served in a fixed amount on days 1–4 and ad libitum on day 5. ‘Expected satiation’ was measured on days 1, 2 and 5. Expected satiation did not change after repeated consumption of the LED or HED soup. Ad libitum intake did not differ between the LED (461 (sd 213) g) and HED soup (391 (sd 164) g). Only on day 1, expected satiation was higher for the HED soup than for the LED soup (P = 0·03), suggesting a role for sensory attributes in expected satiation. In study 2, thirty participants (21 (sd 1·6) years, BMI 21·3 (sd 1·7) kg/m2) performed a single measurement of expected satiation of the LED and HED soup, and four commercially available types of soup. Ratings on sensory attributes were associated with expected satiation. Results on expected satiation coincided with those of study 1. Thickness and intensity of taste were independently associated with expected satiation. Expectations may initially rely on sensory attributes and previous experiences, and are not easily changed.