Consumers have a crucial role in the process of product development and innovation. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the adequacy of Free Jar Profiling (FJP)in the assessment of conventional and functional dulce de leche (DL) samples according to consumers’ own vocabulary but with a constraint based on the JAR scale.Six DL formulations were manufacturedas follows: (W) whole milk; (W-I) whole milk + inulin; (W-X) whole milk + xyloligoosaccharide - XOS; (S) skimmed milk; (S-I) skimmed milk + inulin; and (S-X) skimmed milk + XOS. The concentration of prebiotics (2.5 g/100g) was based on the Brazilian legislation. Consumers (n=70, 60% men, aged 18-62) evaluated samples, classifying the products into 3 hedonic categories: “I don’t like it”, “I like it a bit” and “I like it a lot” anddescribing them according to a JAR syntax (I don’t like it: the product is not enough…The product is too; I like it a bit: I´d like these products to be less… and I like it a lot: This product is perfectly…but could be more…). Data were submitted to word classification to highlight usefulwords in a product development context (sensory attributes and hedonic assessments) andto determine the sentiment score. Drivers of (dis)liking were obtained usinghypergeometrictest and sentiment mapping was obtained using sentiment score values. Consumers sorted the products according to two semantic fields: sensory descriptors and emotions. W-I and W-X samples presented the most prevalence of “I like it a lot” while for Low-fat DL (with or without prebiotic) presented increased citations of “I don´t like it”, demonstrating the crucial role of fat in DL formulation. Sentiment mapping shared the sample in two groups: I (full-fat samples) and II (low-fat samples), regardless the presence of prebiotic ingredient For the sample S and S-II, “not very consistent” was considered a driver of disliking while for W-I and W was bitter taste and very sweet. For samples W-I and W-X, creaminess, typical color and brightness were considered drivers of liking. Overall, from the perspective of consumers, FJP generated useful and important results for the development of functional DL.