Ad libitum feeding provides the opportunity for animal scientists to explore the genetic and environmental factors which determine voluntary feed intake, a greater knowledge of which could help increase potential appetite thereby raising the level at which the latter may limit productivity. A Braude Travel Scholarship was used to finance a visit to a number of research establishments based in the Netherlands, Denmark and France to observe the extent to which diet and related factors are examined through experimentation, the results of which may contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms of feed intake control. Major differences in the production systems encountered in these countries when compared with the UK include the greater emphasis given to current environmental issues, expression of dietary energy as NE, production of castrated males, heavier slaughter weights and associated export demands. Such factors substantially influence the direction taken by nutrition research programmes. Although the primary purpose of the study tour was the appraisal of dietary factors in relation to food consumption, such effects could not be considered in isolation from associated genetic, physiological and environmental aspects, hence their inclusion in this report.