Mouth Bacteria Boost Flavors

Bacteria that are naturally present in the mouth may delay the flavor response for some fruit, vegetables, and wines, according to a food research study from Swiss company, Firmenich.

They studied the effects of oral microflora on a series of sulfur-containing compounds found commonly in foods such as wine and fruit. They found that the compounds are transformed by the bacteria in the mouth, releasing a sulfuric odor that adds a second dimension to the flavor perception of food products.

Dr Starkenmann told FoodNavigator.com, “This is the first time we were able to prove that the mouth act[s] like a reactor and therefore we can modulate the odor perception. We are now able to make more authentic flavor systems, like in nature.”

The study also shows how critical saliva is, along with the enzymes, proteins, and bacteria it contains, and how important it is in taste and flavor perception.

“Saliva is produced in the mouth by three major glands, the parotid, sublingual, and submandibular, and by other minor glands,” explained the researchers. “Minor lingual saliva glands are crucial in taste perception because they irrigate taste buds. The role of saliva is to provide a coating on the mouth epithelium as a buffering system.”

The food research also has implications for halitosis, said Dr Starkenmann, a condition mainly due to the degradation of cysteine and methionine [both amino acids] coming from food proteins which stick between your teeth. He explained certain bacteria may produce bad odors, but now they know that these same bacteria also produce pleasant aromas.

How consumers sense food is crucial knowledge for a food industry constantly re-organizing the building blocks of food formulations.

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Low Fat and Low Salt May Mean Low Taste

Sensory research on cheese from France suggests that when you reduce sodium (salt) content of low-fat cheese it has a greater impact on the flavor than similar reductions from high fat cheese. Cheese is often cited as one of the main sources of salt sodium in the diet, and is a major part of a French diet as well as many Western diets, which is what made researchers in food research want to understand how best to reduce salt content in food without altering flavor perception.

Five cheeses were formulated with different dry matter, fat content, and salt content. Testing showed that fat played a major role in the release of aroma and the olfactory perception, while the perception of saltiness was not affected by the texture of the cheeses.

Writing in the journal Food Chemistry, scientists from the National Institute of Agronomical Research (INRA) reported, "Variations in salt content and sensory interactions therefore seem to have a greater impact on products with low fat content than on those with high-fat content."

Salt is of course a vital nutrient in the nutrition panel and is necessary for the body to function, but campaigners for salt reduction, like the Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) consider the average daily salt consumption in the western world, between 10 and 12g, far too high and reference studies that connect high salt intake with blood pressure (hypertension), and cardiovascular disease (CVD) .

The pressure has been mounting on food manufacturers to reduce the salt content of their foods. In the UK, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) recommends six grams of salt per day as a more realistic target.

Food sensory research continues to seek the balance between healthy and tasty food formulations.

Sweetness By Any Other Name

The New York Times recently ran an article about Stevia, the latest competition in the $1.2-billion-a-year low-cal sweetener industry. An extract from the leaves of the stevia plant, it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as a food supplement in 1995, and then in December was given the green light to be added to food and beverage management.

Because it comes from a plant, marketers can call it a natural sweetener and package it in green, allowing companies to tap into two powerful markets through the nutrition panel at once: natural ingredients and low-calorie products.

Almost half of all American households use some kind of no-calorie sweetener, according to 2007 figures compiled by Packaged Facts, a market research firm. And the challenge is built around customer loyalty to their pink Sweet’N Low saccharin, blue Equal aspartame or yellow Splenda sucralose.

“The question is, do people feel strongly enough about a natural sweetener versus the sweeteners they have been using for however many years and have a strong affinity to, based on certain flavor profiles,” said Gary Karp, executive vice president of Technomic, a market research firm. It’s anybody’s guess, he said.

Their loyalty probably also comes from health claims of the various products, but researchers are now studying through foods research whether artificial sweeteners trigger a negative metabolic response that actually causes people to gain weight. In addition, saccharin was linked with cancer (until 2000), health advocates say sucralose can’t be easily processed by the body, and holistic health practitioners link aspartame to a host of conditions including neurological damage. In contrast, stevia extracts just haven’t been studied enough.

Now in an attempt to come closer to the taste of sugar, without the calories, manufacturers are blending sweeteners, sometimes with real sugar. Only proper food sensory research will be able to say if that will work for the consumer.

Adding Health Without Changing Flavor

Food Researchers at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne have found that an extract from seaweed could be used to increase the fiber content of foods normally thought of as “junk food”, such as cakes, burgers or any other type of food containing large amounts of fat and not many health benefits. And best of all, the flavor and mouthfeel would remain the same.

The highly-fibrous seaweed extract, alginate, is thought to be a valuable weapon in the international battle against obesity, diabetes and heart disease and diseases such as bowel cancer. Alginate is high in fiber and has already been proven to be palatable and safe, which is why it is already in widespread use by the food industry as a gelling agent, to reconstitute powdered foods.

One of the research team, Professor Jeff Pearson of Newcastle University’s Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, said: “We’re just not eating enough fiber, yet we need this to keep us healthy.” He adds that in order to consume the recommended daily amount of fiber people need, they have to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, which aren’t always on the top of people’s lists.

“We believe the most practical solution is to improve the food they do eat. With a burger, for example, you would simply remove some of the fat and replace it with the seaweed extract, which is an entirely natural product from a sustainable resource. You’d have a healthier burger and it’s unlikely to taste any different.” Of course, food sensory research would help to determine if there is any difference in taste perception.

“This compound can also be added to any number of foods. Bread is probably the best vehicle to reach the general population because most people eat it. Adding the seaweed extract could quadruple the amount of fiber in white bread.”

Food Temperature and Taste Perception

According to food sensory research done by Belgium's Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, microscopic channels in our taste buds (which they’ve called TRPM5) are responsible for different taste perception at different temperatures. They’ve found that the reaction in our taste buds is much more intense when the temperature of food or fluid is increased, sending a stronger electrical signal to the brain and resulting in an enhanced taste.

This explains why warm beer tastes more bitter and melted ice cream tastes sweeter, as well as why people who enjoy the bitter taste of coffee and tea drink ingredients like it better when hot.

"Interestingly, because ice cream is consumed cold, ice cream makers need to add considerable amounts of sugars or sweeteners in order to endow the product with the much rewarding sweet taste, in detriment of our health," the researchers in the sensory research explained.

But according to lead author Dr Karel Talavera and his colleagues, their findings could allow for the modification of the taste channel in order to achieve required tastes that could improve foods impact on our health.

"Taste perception could be modulated by adding something to the food that could enhance or inhibit the work of the TRPM5 channel … or by changing the temperature of food," said Dr Talavera. "Bitter taste inhibitors could also help fulfill the nutritional requirements of sensitive sectors of the population, such as children…[f]or example, many children do not like salads because of their bitter taste.”

Whether this would involve the use of new chemical formulations or just the development of new warm salads, for example, is left up to food business professionals and consultants, but this research helps point to exciting new possibilities for your company.

Serving Containers Can Affect Coffee Flavor

Scientist Live asked the question, “Does coffee in a flimsy cup taste worse than coffee in a more substantial cup?” Firms in Food Retailers like McDonalds and Starbucks spend millions of dollars every year on disposable packaging. The April issue of the Journal of Consumer Research may have the answer-- that trying to skimp in this area could negatively impact consumers' perceptions of taste and quality.

In a series of four sensory research experiments, researchers from the University of Michigan and Rutgers University found that many people do indeed judge a drink by its container before its drink ingredients. Specifically, the firmness of a cup seems to have an impact on consumer evaluations of the beverage contained inside.

Not everyone has the same sensitivity to touch, though, the researchers explain. So their first test in sensory research was to determine which participants were strong autotelics - the sort of people who like to touch things before they buy them - and which participants were not particularly inclined to touch products (low autotelics).

Participants then evaluated the feel of the cups--some while blindfolded, and some in a situation where they could both feel and see. The largest difference in ratings for firm vs. flimsy cups was among those most sensitive to touch while they were blindfolded and had nothing else to rely upon. But when asked about the taste, those who like to touch were less influenced by touch than those that don’t. Even when they just read about the containers, low autotelics expressed a willingness to pay more for a firm bottle of water, while high autotelics did not.

We’ve discussed how important touch is in packaging and that it often leads to buying. So it seems that whether you’re a touchy-feely type of person or not, you are likely to be influenced by the sense of touch.

Food Scent Can Boost Sense of Saltiness

Enhancing food products with certain aromas could compensate for the impact on taste from reducing their salt content, according to a new study. This could give manufacturers another tool towards healthier product formulation.

The excess consumption of salt (salt sodium chloride) has been linked to an increased risk of high blood pressure, which can lead to cardiovascular problems like strokes. The majority of salt consumed has been found not in home-cooking, but ‘hidden’ in manufactured food products by Food Retailers. So the food industry is under considerable pressure to reduce sodium chloride (salt) content of its offerings, while still delivering products that have an acceptable taste to consumers.

Researchers in foods research from INRA in Dijon, France, working in cooperation with Unilever Food and Health Research Institute, set out to investigate the interaction between odor and saltiness. Their results indicate that when a consumer expects a certain flavor, the perception of saltiness is enhanced. The change in taste perception is thought to come about through odor.

After two experiments, the research team observed that the effect of odors on enhancing saltiness was especially pronounced in simple water solutions that contained just a small amount of salt. This sounds much healthier in the long run, and most likely inexpensive to accomplish.

The researchers indicated that odor-induced taste enhancement might also be used to compensate for the taste of fat and sugar content in foods formulated along healthier lines. For instance, butter or cream odor could enhance the perception of creaminess. But they add a caveat: “Sugar and fat are known to highly influence texture and mouthfeel of food products. Therefore, all sensory aspects of food products reduced in salt, sugar and fat need to be addressed, to reformulate food products that would be acceptable to consumers.”

Taste for Survival

In a recent issue of Current Biology, authors Paul Breslin and Alan Spector (of Monell Chemical Senses Center and Florida State University respectively) offer an overview of recent advances in the field of taste perception.

They tell us there are five generally accepted taste qualities that are associated with different classes of compounds (although some animals may possess more or less) shown by taste test. These are:
• Sweet - associated with simple carbohydrates (sugar)
• Umami (savory) - generated by amino acids and small peptides
• Salty - associated with sodium and other ions
• Sour - generated by acids
• Bitter - stimulated by potential toxins, like plant alkaloids

food research and development show that taste is so critical that humans who lose their sense of taste, such as after radiotherapy, often will not eat.

"Thus, while we may tend to take the sense of taste for granted relative to our other sensory modalities, its significance for health and quality of life should not be trivialized," wrote Breslin and Spector.

They explain that compounds are first organized into perceptual classes by the taste receptor cells. Once the cells are activated, they stimulate taste bud cells and the neural fibers connected to them. These are then channeled through the brain in to be sifted through perceptual and behavioral filters.

The identification of chemical stimuli might serve as clues for the consequences of digestion. In nature, what an animal digests both in the short-term and over a lifetime has consequences for their very survival.

For humans, it may not be far from the case as well. Today with product reformulations to reduce salt or fat content to protect our long-term health, it’s important to know how nutrients impact taste, and how to get the consumer to enjoy what’s good for them. Learn more about Taste Perception in sensory food!

Mouthfeel - Sensations of Coolness Enhance Flavor

Scientists in food research have found that adding an ingredient that creates a sensation of cooling in the mouth could boost the perception of fruit flavors.

How consumers sense food is crucial knowledge for the food industry. This new sensory research looked at how flavor perception and acceptance was affected by chemesthesis, the chemical stimulation of free nerve endings which results in sensations such as cooling (like from menthol) or hot (like from pepper).

Trained panelists through food research and developement evaluated flavor, aroma, color and cooling intensity of two drinks containing an odorless, tasteless cooling compound. One drink was colored green and given a melon aroma and the other colored purple and given a pineapple aroma with drink ingredients.

The researchers report that color was in no way related to how the panelists perceived flavor or cooling intensity, while the aromas were found to enhance the cooling intensity, and the presence of the coolant found to enhance the flavor (of the tasteless compound).

It was interesting to the researchers that cooling seemed to enhance flavor perception, while the sensation of “hotness” had been reported to reduce flavor perception.

"One reason for this phenomenon could be that cooling is perceived as a positive sensation," they said. "If perceived as positive then perhaps this is why cooling enhances flavor to encourage consumption."

This study may indicate that color has a more marked impact on pre-consumption where there may be an indication of flavor identity and expectation.

"Furthermore, understanding how the brain learns to associate sensation from different stimuli may help to develop strategies to encourage the population to learn to like reduced salt, sugar or fat products."

Taste is a key driver in the $4.2 trillion dollar global food industry and a greater understanding of the physiology of consumers, could lead to strong market advantages—especially for those with the right food business consultant!

Take the Time to Smell the ... Food?

Researchers in food research have investigated how quickly odors are evaluated—if a quick sniff has a different response than something that is smelled repeatedly, or over a longer period of time. Their sensory research experiments revealed that more time led to a more in-depth evaluation.

"I would say that people may be making decisions about the identity and perhaps even the hedonic quality of food flavors and aromas more quickly than previously thought," study leader Alan Gelperin explained.

Gelperin and his colleagues used trained mice to discover whether longer exposure to an odor would result in more accurate identification of that odor. The results indicated that the mice needed extra time to accurately identify more complex odors.

"The well-trained mouse needs almost half a second to solve a difficult olfactory discrimination task," said lead author Dmitry Rinberg.

"The development of colour television was based on extensive studies of visual sensory processing. Modern MP3 players are built based on a deep knowledge about properties of our hearing capabilities," said Rinberg. "Similarly, increased knowledge of olfactory processing has the obvious potential to open many doors, perhaps including development of electronic olfactory systems."

Electronic noses are used commercially to detect odor molecules, saving costs through their ability to detect the quality of products such as detecting the flavors of different kinds of cheese, sniffing the quality of wine and coffee, and detecting fishy seafood before it gets to the consumer.
Of course, researchers admit that previous experience and the motivational state of the participant have an effect on how the aroma information is processed.

But the decision about how to encourage consumers to take the time to get an adequate sample of an aroma is up to marketing departments or a creative and experienced food business consultant, who can help develop a strategy that works for your company.

Please Squeeze the Charmin

In an earlier post, we mentioned once a consumer touches a product, it increases the likelihood of its sale. Now researchers are saying that touching a product also increases the amount of money customers are willing to pay for the item, and that even imagining how it feels can have a positive affect on sales.

A recent article from Time Magazine explains why "Don't Squeeze the Charmin" might have been the worst marketing message of all-time:

“According to a new study to be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of
Consumer Research, consumers who touch products in the aisles will pay more
money for them than those who keep their hands off the merchandise. So in the 21
years Procter & Gamble ran the iconic television advertisements for its
Charmin toilet paper brand, Mr. Whipple, the uptight grocer with a secret
squeezing fetish, should have encouraged his bubbly shoppers to fondle
away.”

Behavioral economists have labeled this phenomenon the "endowment effect" which posits that consumers value a product more once they own it. "When you touch something, [it] stirs up an emotional reaction - 'yeah, I like the feel of it, this can be mine',” says Suzanne Shu, a marketing professor at UCLA's Anderson School of Management, and co-author of the study. “And that emotion can cause you to buy something you never would have bought if you hadn't touched it." Joann Peck, a marketing professor at the University of Wisconsin's business school and the study's other co-author, describes herself as an expert in haptics, the science of touch. "Touching something gives you that little sense of control," she says, "and that alone can increase your feeling of ownership."

Just another way in which Sensory Research can help you gain an edge over the competition.

Taste Tests 101: Remember the Pepsi Challenge?

For most people in America, the mention of a taste test probably brings to mind one of the most publicized taste-test/marketing hybrids ever: “The Pepsi Challenge”—a campaign from 1975 that was so popular it has since become part of American pop culture.

Here’s how the taste test worked: a Pepsi representative would set up a table at a mall, shopping center, Food Retailers, or other public location, with two blank cups: one containing Pepsi and one with Coca-Cola. Passersby were encouraged to taste both colas, and then select which drink they preferred. Then the representative would reveal the two bottles so the taster could see which they had chosen and discover, often with surprise and laughter, whether they preferred Coke or Pepsi. The results of the test leaned toward a consensus that Pepsi was preferred by more Americans.

There are two types of blind taste tests. The Pepsi Challenge is an example of a single blind test, meaning that any information that could introduce bias or otherwise skew the results are hidden from the participants, but the experimenter will be in full possession of the facts.

The other type is a double-blind test, which is more controlled in an attempt to eliminate any bias by not letting anyone -- researchers or subjects --know who is part of the control group and who is part of the experimental group . Only after all the data have been recorded (and in some cases, analyzed) do the researchers of the sensory research learn which individuals are which. Performing an experiment in double-blind fashion is a way to lessen the influence of the prejudices or unintentional physical cues on the results, including the placebo effect, observer bias, and experimenter's bias.

But this is just a small part of what Sensory Research can offer to you and your company today.

Sensual Eating Creates Exquisite Dining Experiences

When patrons dine in a restaurant or Food Retailers they carefully choose what they want to eat and eagerly await for its arrival to the table. It is to wise to make sure that all of the human senses are stimulated in order to provide the best overall dining experience through food and beverage management. Food must taste delicious, be great smelling, and presented in such a way that it is pleasing to the eye.

Excitement and satisfaction while dining can be stimulated when chefs prepare food attractively on the plate. Bold and bright colors help patrons pay attention to food creations and allow for a more pleasurable eating experience. It has been found that the colors of drinks from the drink ingredients are not exempt from the senses of the eye. According to the Journal of Consumer Research, "Two items that tasted the same but were different colors were perceived as more distinct in taste than two items that actually tasted different but were the same color. We found no difference in how much taste difference people expected, which suggests that the color influence is perceptual.”

Tasting foods is just one of the payoffs in sensual eating. Flavor is the most powerful sense that you can experience while eating. Food taste variations are seemingly endless. Tasting food interacts together with the sense of smell and can bring great pleasure to the eating experience. Because the sense of smell is tied directly to the sense of taste, people begin their enjoyment of food flavors even before any food is consumed.

Some of our senses are wildly ignored during the food creation process. Senses can further be stimulated by the sounds that you experience while eating. A crisp sound of a carrot being eaten will sound differently than the sounds created by eating something soft or creamy. The sense of touch can be stimulated by the different textures that are created as well.

An experienced food consultant will help you see how mindful and sensual eating experiences will stimulate the eyes, nose, mouth and ears of your customers.