Wellington, March 12 NZPA - People more sensitive to tasting fat in their food are less likely to be overweight, a group of scientists, including a New Zealander, has discovered.

The team from Deakin University in Australia, has found the tongue can detect a fat taste as well as the sweet, salty, sour, bitter and savoury, The Dominion Post reported.

Massey University Associate Professor Matt Golding, who was part of the research team, said there were variations around how sensitive people were at tasting the fat element in food.

Those with a high sensitivity tended to eat less fatty food and be slimmer, he said.

The research involved testing 33 people with a range of fatty acids by inserting small doses into milk and then custard.

"There was no difference in texture between the samples and yet we found a number of people were able to quite clearly detect the presence of `something else' within the samples."

The research could lead to the development of solutions for tackling obesity by promoting the taste of fat in foods, he said.

The results are published in the British Journal of Nutrition.

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