The CBA/Ca mouse strain, known to present with late-onset of hearing loss (18-months onward; Li and Borg, 1991; Zheng et al., 1999), was chosen to evaluate the impact of a FD diet during a long-term study carried out for 8 months. No statistical differences in the daily food intake were found between NF and FD groups during the experiment. However, animals in the FD group gained less weight than those on the NF diet, this difference becoming significant at 9–10 months of age (Figure 1A). Nevertheless, both daily ingestion and weight gain remained above normal values for this strain1.