Sensory Evaluation of Food

Introduction

Food Choices
What influences food
choices????

Culture and Heritage

Preferences and Tastes are passed down
Influenced by climate, geography and
contact with other cultures

Emotions
Preferences often based on emotional
associations

good/bad memories
Comfort foods

Food choices make personal statements

Advertisers take advantage of this

Using specific, words, images and music

to advertise their products

Religious Beliefs
Personal beliefs
Dont believe in the slaughtering of animals

Many religions have dietary laws

No meat on Fridays
Only Kosher foods
No beef
Fasting

Health Concerns

Nutritional Value
Certain physical conditions
Lactose intolerant
Diabetic
Allergies
Age
Changes in health can alter eating
patterns

Food Costs/Technology
Budget may influence what you buy, cook
and eat
People who have to rely on government
programs are limited in their food choices
Adding new foods
Increased access to foods

The Scientific Approach

Sensory Evaluation
Scientifically testing food, using human
senses of sight, smell, taste, touch and
hearing

Sensory Characteristics
The qualities of food identified by the eating
How a food, looks, smells and feels when
eating it

The Flavor Factor

Flavor: distinctive quality that comes from a
foods unique blend of appearance, taste, feel,
odor and sound
Involves all senses
Appearance
Can be a sign of quality, ripeness
Sometimes appealing appearance is based on
custom

Green ketchup
Green eggs and ham

Flavor Factor Cont

Combinations of
colors are important
too!
Catches your eye
Garnish: decorative
arrangement added to
food or drink

Taste and Odor

Think Fish??? Cookies??
Taste Blind: unable to distinguish
between flavors in some foods
May be caused by diseases, medication
and medical treatments
Colds, allergies, smoking

Taste and Odor Cont

Taste Buds: sensory organs located on
your tongue
Monosodium glutamate (MSG): salt that
interacts with other ingredients to enhance
salty and sour taste
Olfactory: related to the sense of smell
Responds to smells

Temperature
Volatile: substances that are easily
changed into vapor
Food may taste differently depending on
temperature
Some types of food are more sensitive to
heat than others
Heat increases the sweet taste of some
sugars

Texture
Mouth feel: how food feels in the mouth
SOUND
Crunch

Example soggy cereal is less appealing

than crispy cereal
Do you ever hear food cooking and get
hungry???

Sensory Evaluation

Sensory Evaluation Panels: groups of people

who evaluate food samples

3 main groups:

Highly Trained Experts: judge the quality based

on standards set by the food industry. Work
individually

Laboratory Panels: Small groups that work at a

company's lab. Help develop new products and
determone how to change existing products

Consumer Panels: Used to test foods outside

the laboratory (grocery stores, malls, market
research forms) Using scientific terms to tell how
much they like or dislike the product

Uniform Evaluations

Used to get the most reliable information

Must make testing Experiences as
uniform as possible
1. Minimize Distractions
2. Minimize Bias
3. Help evaluators use their senses to
the fullest