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Background Noise Affects Taste of Foods
gollum123 writes "The level of background noise affects both the intensity of flavour and the perceived crunchiness of foods, researchers have found. Blindfolded diners assessed the sweetness, saltiness, and crunchiness, as well as overall flavour, of foods as they were played white noise. While louder noise reduced the reported sweetness or saltiness, it increased the measure of crunch. It may go some way to explaining why airline food is notoriously bland — a phenomenon that drives airline catering companies to season their foods heavily. In a comparatively small study, 48 participants were fed sweet foods such as biscuits or salty ones such as crisps, while listening to silence or noise through headphones. Also in the group's findings there is the suggestion that the overall satisfaction with the food aligned with the degree to which diners liked what they were hearing — a finding the researchers are pursuing in further experiments."
I think they meant cookies and chips.
If my enjoyment of my surroundings enhances my enjoyment of food, why do I find the idea of eating lunch in a strip bar so offputting?
If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
People always complain that food at weddings is really bland. Of course, you don't want to start with a high baseline of seasoning when cooking for a crowd. And then again, maybe most catering halls just really suck.
I wonder if there are similar effects to adult beverage enjoyment. I always enjoy my homebrew as well as local and national Craft beers, but this article makes me wonder if there are certain flavor profiles or characteristics I prefer based on my environment or the noise level related to it. When I think about it, I tend to prefer darker, deeper, more complex beers, maybe with a stronger emphasis on the malt character in a quieter setting, but then prefer a crisper, hoppier bite from, say, a classic pilsner or pale ale or IPA even in louder, more enthusiastic environments. Definitely something I'll be paying attention to in the future....
This sounds like a specific case of Synesthesia, with sound and taste interacting, rather than the more often cited case of sound and colour perception.
"I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
Airline food is bland because it is pre-packaged long life shit and instant tv dinners produced in a tiny galley on a budget. Blaming the background noise is ridiculous. It's a "dog ate my homework" excuse.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
This article comes in right on the heels of this one. At least they weren't both accepted by the same "editor." Sigh.
biscuits = cookies ~ crisps = chips ~ Good deed done! What a week!
Biscuits and crisps?! I hear the food in England is bad, but the English airplane food must be rotten!
Did they also do the experiment with people who weren't wearing blindfolds???
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
My thoughts exactly. :)
Captcha: A group of anonymous latin american meatpacking gliterati
enjoy our crispy couch potato potato chips
turn down the TV so that you can hear our chips!
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Silicon chips are crispier
Huh?
That's a succinct statement of what's wrong with GP's comment.
More generally, I think it's fair to say that people, especially folks who are scientifically educated but not psychologists, are much too prone to seeing human perception according to the following flawed model: human perception consists of five separate, independent sensory systems that feed their input into some sort of central processing unit that integrates them all together. It's because so many people are inclined to assume that that the sort of result obtained in this article is newsworthy for the broad public. I mean, psychologists have known about stuff like this for ages...
Are you adequate?
I still hate it when someone brings their loud kid to a restaurant and just lets the bastard scream while I am trying to eat.
I am sorry that raising a kid is hard, and I am sorry that you basically can't go anywhere without taking that kid with you, but those are your problems which you accepted when you produced that kid.
Take him to McDonalds and let ME eat in peace.
"participants were fed sweet foods such as biscuits or salty ones such as crisps"
You couldn't come up with something sweeter than a biscuit and wtf is a crisp?
...that people who listen to loud rock, rap, and hiphop have absolutely no taste.
This article can very easily bring up much deeper ideas based on the findings. For example, how many other things do we tend to dislike (or enjoy less) because of a particular circumstance? This is especially true of first impressions. If you think back to your first impressions of various people, you may find a pattern arise based on your surroundings. Personally, I found a large bias against people I met in less than favorable conditions. After meeting with these people a few times after, I found I enjoyed their company. Similarly, there were people I favored during positive conditions that seemed less than favorable during normal conditions.
These findings may also alter restaurants as we know them (if restaurant owners actually pay attention/care). If a restaurant wants to increase the flavor of their food (and thus the number of customers that enjoy it), they may opt to use a bit more space for quieting the various booths. I know I would enjoy my weekly excursions for curry much more if I had a quiet booth in which I wasn't bothered. I, for one, would be willing to pay an extra dollar or two per meal to have booth dividers extend to the ceiling. I may even be willing to shell out a few more if I know I would get my own "personal" enclosed area to enjoy my food with a friend or two.
*Process is Irrelevant, Progress is Paramount*
... this study was brought to you by Bose QuietComfort Noise Cancelling Headphones: Less Noise, More Music, and now, More Taste?
So dose that mean that people who have lost their hearing, etc, appreciate dessert more...