Effect of background noise on food perception

User perception of fluoride mouthwashes for daily use: A randomized clinical trial

AIM

To assess user perceptions of different commercially available fluoride mouthwashes (FL-MWs).

METHODS

A single-blind, randomized clinical trial was conducted. Participants were randomly assigned to a sequence of six different FL-MWs, one of which contained alcohol. For each visit, participants rinsed with one specific mouthwash (15 mL) for 30 s. After rinsing, participants completed a questionnaire with a visual analogue scale. Questions focused on overall taste, mild/pungent feeling, taste duration, foaming effect, burning sensation, sensitivity, numbness, dryness, rinsing time, smell, and colour of the mouthwashes. Descriptive analyses and statistical tests regarding differences among and between the mouthwashes were performed.

RESULTS

Overall, 53 participants completed the study protocol, including nine who did, however, not rinse with the alcohol-containing mouthwash due to religious reasons. Among the mouthwashes, significant differences were found for foaming effect, sensitivity, rinsing time, smell, and colour (p < 0.05). Pairwise comparison for smell did not reveal a difference, and foaming was within the acceptance range (low to medium foaming). Coloured mouthwashes were more appreciated than transparent solutions (p = 0.00). The mouthwash containing essential oils and alcohol produced significantly more sensitivity (p = 0.00) and, in general, participants experienced the rinsing time significantly longer (p < 0.05) compared to the non-alcohol-containing mouthwashes.

CONCLUSION

There is heterogeneity in user perceptions and preferences for FL-MWs, with a significant difference in foaming effect, sensitivity, rinsing time, smell, and colour. Coloured mouthwashes are preferred. The mouthwash containing essential oils and alcohol was less acceptable in relation to sensitivity and rinsing time.

Progress in Multisensory Synergistic Salt Reduction

Excessive salt intake, primarily from sodium chloride prevalent in modern food processing, poses a significant public health risk associated with hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Researchers worldwide are exploring approaches to reduce salt consumption without compromising food flavor. One promising method is to enhance salty taste perception using multisensory synergies, leveraging gustatory, olfactory, auditory, visual, tactile and trigeminal senses to decrease salt intake while preserving food taste. This review provides a comprehensive overview of salt usage in foods, mechanisms of salty taste perception and evaluation methods for saltiness. Various strategies for reducing salt consumption while maintaining food flavor are examined, with existing salt reduction methods' advantages and limitations being critically analyzed. A particular emphasis is placed on exploring the mechanisms and potential of multisensory synergy in salt reduction. Taste interactions, olfactory cues, auditory stimulation, visual appearance and tactile sensations in enhancing saltiness perception are discussed, offering insights into developing nutritious, appealing low-sodium foods. Furthermore, challenges in current research are highlighted, and future directions for effective salt reduction strategies to promote public health are proposed. This review aims to establish a scientific foundation for creating healthier, flavorful low-sodium food options that meet consumer preferences and wellness needs.

Effects of Simulated Airplane Cabin Noise on In-Flight Meal Perception in the Brain Using Electroencephalography

Auditory distractions can impair the sensory evaluation of food; however, the specific impact of airplane cabin noise on the sensory perception of in-flight meals remains poorly studied. Here, we investigated the effects of airplane cabin noise on the visual processing of in-flight meal stimuli using electroencephalography (EEG) in twenty healthy male subjects. Resting-state EEG and event-related potential (ERP) responses to in-flight meal images were acquired during quiet and simulated cabin noise conditions. Participants reported mild discomfort and some loss of appetite when exposed to airplane cabin noise. The analysis of resting-state EEG showed an increase in the absolute power of theta and beta frequency bands in the left superior parietal and left frontal/right central regions under simulated cabin noise conditions, compared to quiet conditions. The ERP results showed that the amplitude of responses evoked by visual meal images in the superior parietal area was reduced in the noise condition compared to the quiet condition. Our findings suggest that airplane cabin noise disrupts the visual perception and attentional processing of in-flight food stimuli. These neural changes imply an impact on integrating sensory information, resulting in altered sensory evaluations of food during in-flight dining experiences.

Reducing sweetness expectation in milk tea by crossmodal visuo-auditory interaction

In the realm of healthy dietary choices about reducing sweetness perception, the exploration of crossmodal effects stands as a frequently employed approach. Both music and color can independently influence flavor evaluation and gustatory experience by eliciting emotions. However, less research has been done on the effects of audio-visual crossmodal interactions on sweetness expectations and perceptions. The present study conducted two experiments delving into the crossmodal effect on sweetness expectation and perception of milk tea by manipulating the emotional valence of music and packaging color. The results showed that positive (vs. negative) music led to higher sweetness expectations and perceptions for milk teas with neutral packaging color. Irrespective of music, participants had higher sweetness expectations for milk tea with positive or neutral (vs. negative) packaging colors. The congruence of valence between music and packaging color influenced sweetness perception. Positive (vs. negative) music correlated with a sweeter perception when the packaging color was positive. Exposed to negative music, subjects showed a higher sweetness perception with negative (vs. positive) packaging colors. In conclusion, the results suggest that the valence of music and packaging color crossmodally influence consumers' evaluation of milk tea, and it differs depending on whether it was tasted. Thus, this study has demonstrated the crossmodal influence of music and packaging color, providing valuable implications for healthy eating and marketing applications.

The Impact of Modifiable Preoral Factors on Swallowing and Nutritional Outcomes in Healthy Adults: A Scoping Review

PURPOSE

Swallowing has previously been characterized as consisting of four phases; however, it has become apparent that these four phases are not truly discrete and may be influenced by factors occurring prior to bolus entrance into the oral cavity (i.e., preoral factors). Still, the relationship between these factors and swallowing remains poorly understood. The aim of this review was to synthesize and characterize the literature pertaining to the influence of preoral factors on swallowing and nutritional outcomes in healthy individuals.

METHOD

We performed a scoping review, searching the databases of PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane, and Scopus. Search terms included those related to swallowing, experience of preoral factors, and exclusionary terminology to reduce animal and pediatric literature. Our initial search revealed 5,560 unique articles, of which 153 met our inclusionary criteria and were accepted into the review.

RESULTS

Of the accepted articles, 78% were focused exclusively on nutritional outcomes, 17% were focused on both swallowing and nutritional outcomes, and 5% were focused on solely swallowing outcomes. Of the preoral factors examined, 99% were exteroceptive in nature (17% olfactory, 44% visual, 21% auditory, 7% tactile, 11% other), while 1% were proprioceptive in nature.

CONCLUSIONS

This review supports the influence of preoral factors on swallowing and nutritional outcomes. However, there is a large emphasis on the visual modality and on nutritional outcomes. Nearly none of the literature found in this review directly measured swallowing safety, efficiency, or physiology. Future work will benefit from a larger focus on proprioceptive preoral factors as they relate to swallowing outcomes.

Enhancement effect of odor and multi-sensory superposition on sweetness

The impact of sugary foods on public health has contributed to the development of low-sugar and sugar-substituted products, and sugar reduction has become a major challenge for the food industry. There is growing empirical evidence that odor can enhance the perception of sweetness without increasing the caloric load. This current review summarizes the researches on odor-induced sweetness enhancement published in recent years and discusses the mechanisms and influencing factors of odor-sweetness interactions. In addition, by combing existing studies, this paper also summarizes the research methods and strategies to investigate odor-induced sweetness enhancement. Finally, the feasibility of synergistic enhancement of sweetness through the superposition of odor with other senses (texture, visual, etc.) is also discussed and analyzed. In conclusion, odor-induced sweetness enhancement may present an alternative or complementary approach for developing foods with less sugar.

The effects of anxiety on taste perception: The role of awareness

Prior research indicate that emotional states can alter taste perception, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study explores whether taste perception changes due to the mere evocation of emotions or the cognitive awareness of emotions. The first experiment investigated how anxiety affects taste perception when individuals are aware of their anxiety. Participants watched videos inducing relaxation or anxiety, then were divided into groups focusing on their emotions and those who did not, and the taste perception was measure. The second experiment investigated the influence of awareness directed toward emotions on taste evaluation, without manipulating emotional states. This focused on cognitive processing of taste through evaluations of visual stimuli. Results showed that sweetness perception is suppressed by the evocation of anxiety, whereas bitterness perception is enhanced only by anxiety with awareness. These findings indicate that the mechanisms by which emotional states affect taste perception may differ depending on taste quality.

Improved Spatial Knowledge Acquisition through Sensory Augmentation

Sensory augmentation provides novel opportunities to broaden our knowledge of human perception through external sensors that record and transmit information beyond natural perception. To assess whether such augmented senses affect the acquisition of spatial knowledge during navigation, we trained a group of 27 participants for six weeks with an augmented sense for cardinal directions called the feelSpace belt. Then, we recruited a control group that did not receive the augmented sense and the corresponding training. All 53 participants first explored the Westbrook virtual reality environment for two and a half hours spread over five sessions before assessing their spatial knowledge in four immersive virtual reality tasks measuring cardinal, route, and survey knowledge. We found that the belt group acquired significantly more accurate cardinal and survey knowledge, which was measured in pointing accuracy, distance, and rotation estimates. Interestingly, the augmented sense also positively affected route knowledge, although to a lesser degree. Finally, the belt group reported a significant increase in the use of spatial strategies after training, while the groups' ratings were comparable at baseline. The results suggest that six weeks of training with the feelSpace belt led to improved survey and route knowledge acquisition. Moreover, the findings of our study could inform the development of assistive technologies for individuals with visual or navigational impairments, which may lead to enhanced navigation skills and quality of life.

The taste & affect music database: Subjective rating norms for a new set of musical stimuli

Music is a ubiquitous stimulus known to influence human affect, cognition, and behavior. In the context of eating behavior, music has been associated with food choice, intake and, more recently, taste perception. In the latter case, the literature has reported consistent patterns of association between auditory and gustatory attributes, suggesting that individuals reliably recognize taste attributes in musical stimuli. This study presents subjective norms for a new set of 100 instrumental music stimuli, including basic taste correspondences (sweetness, bitterness, saltiness, sourness), emotions (joy, anger, sadness, fear, surprise), familiarity, valence, and arousal. This stimulus set was evaluated by 329 individuals (83.3% women; Mage = 28.12, SD = 12.14), online (n = 246) and in the lab (n = 83). Each participant evaluated a random subsample of 25 soundtracks and responded to self-report measures of mood and taste preferences, as well as the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI). Each soundtrack was evaluated by 68 to 97 participants (Mdn = 83), and descriptive results (means, standard deviations, and confidence intervals) are available as supplemental material at osf.io/2cqa5 . Significant correlations between taste correspondences and emotional/affective dimensions were observed (e.g., between sweetness ratings and pleasant emotions). Sex, age, musical sophistication, and basic taste preferences presented few, small to medium associations with the evaluations of the stimuli. Overall, these results suggest that the new Taste & Affect Music Database is a relevant resource for research and intervention with musical stimuli in the context of crossmodal taste perception and other affective, cognitive, and behavioral domains.

Behavioural Nudges, Physico-Chemical Solutions, and Sensory Strategies to Reduce People’s Salt Consumption

This narrative historical review examines the wide range of approaches that has been trialled/suggested in order to reduce the consumption of salt. While sodium is an essential micronutrient, there is widespread evidence that high levels of consumption are leading to various negative health outcomes. This review summarises the evidence relating to the various approaches that have been put forward to date to help reduce salt consumption over the years, while also highlighting a number of important questions that remains for future research. Solutions to reducing salt consumption include everything from the gradual reduction in salt in foods through to the reduction in the number/size of holes in saltshakers (what one might consider a behavioural nudge). Physico-chemical solutions have included salt replacers, such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) through to the asymmetric distribution of salt in processed (e.g., layered) foods. A wide range of sensory approaches to modulating expected and perceived saltiness have also been suggested, including the use of salty aromas, as well as suggesting the use of colour cues, sonic seasoning, and even textural primes. It is currently unclear whether different salty aromas can be combined to increase odour-induced taste enhancement (OITE) effectiveness. In the years ahead, it will be interesting to assess how long such solutions remain effective, as well as whether different solutions can be combined to help reduce salt consumption without having to compromise on taste/flavour

The sound of silence: Presence and absence of sound affects meal duration and hedonic eating experience

The interplay between external auditory cues in the eating environment and cognitive processes, such as distraction, may influence food intake, but how and the degree to which they do is unclear. We report an experiment designed to investigate the effects of different sonic atmospheres on meal duration, food intake and evaluations, and responses to the sonic eating environment. In a quasi-naturalistic cafeteria setting, participants (N = 248) were eating a lunch meal whilst being in one of four conditions: slow music, fast music, cafeteria noise, and silence. The results revealed that participants eating their lunch while exposed to some kind of background sound spent more time on their meal than those eating in silence. In terms of music tempo, slow music prolonged meal duration compared to fast music, but did not lead to increased intake. The appropriateness and liking of the sonic atmosphere were positively correlated with the overall pleasantness of the eating experience and liking of the food. The findings provide support for existing evidence documenting the importance of ambient sound in relation to food experiences and provide further insights into how individuals perceive and respond to sonic meal environments. Results are discussed in terms of recommendations for future design of eating environments in different contexts.

“Sound” Decisions: The Combined Role of Ambient Noise and Cognitive Regulation on the Neurophysiology of Food Cravings

Our ability to evaluate long-term goals over immediate rewards is manifested in the brain’s decision circuit. Simplistically, it can be divided into a fast, impulsive, reward “system 1” and a slow, deliberate, control “system 2.” In a noisy eating environment, our cognitive resources may get depleted, potentially leading to cognitive overload, emotional arousal, and consequently more rash decisions, such as unhealthy food choices. Here, we investigated the combined impact of cognitive regulation and ambient noise on food cravings through neurophysiological activity. Thirty-seven participants were recruited for an adapted version of the Regulation of Craving (ROC) task. All participants underwent two sessions of the ROC task; once with soft ambient restaurant noise (∼50 dB) and once with loud ambient restaurant noise (∼70 dB), while data from electroencephalography (EEG), electrodermal activity (EDA), and self-reported craving were collected for all palatable food images presented in the task. The results indicated that thinking about future (“later”) consequences vs. immediate (“now”) sensations associated with the food decreased cravings, which were mediated by frontal EEG alpha power. Likewise, “later” trials also increased frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) —an index for emotional motivation. Furthermore, loud (vs. soft) noise increased alpha, beta, and theta activity, but for theta activity, this was solely occurring during “later” trials. Similarly, EDA signal peak probability was also higher during loud noise. Collectively, our findings suggest that the presence of loud ambient noise in conjunction with prospective thinking can lead to the highest emotional arousal and cognitive load as measured by EDA and EEG, respectively, both of which are important in regulating cravings and decisions. Thus, exploring the combined effects of interoceptive regulation and exteroceptive cues on food-related decision-making could be methodologically advantageous in consumer neuroscience and entail theoretical, commercial, and managerial implications.

The impact of environmental sounds on food reward

Wanting and liking are both components of food reward, but they manifest in fundamentally different neural substrates. While wanting denotes anticipatory and motivational behaviors, liking is associated with consummatory and hedonic experiences. These distinct constructs have also been quantitatively dissociated in behavioral paradigms. Indeed, internal, physiological, and interoceptive states affect the degree to which the food presented is valued. However, how contextual sensory cues might impact these appetitive and rewarding responses to food remains unexplored. In light of the increasing empirical focus on sound in food research, we investigated the influence of environmental soundscapes on explicit liking, explicit wanting, implicit wanting, choice frequency, and reaction time of healthy/unhealthy food using an online version of the Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire (LFPQ). Soft nature sounds and loud restaurant noises were employed to induce emotional relaxation and arousal respectively. One hundred and one healthy university students completed a repeated-measure design of the LFPQ; once with each soundscape playing in the background. Generalized linear mixed model analyses detected a significant interaction effect between soundscape and food type on choice frequency, yet the post hoc analyses did not reach significance. No interaction effects between soundscape and food type on wanting or liking were discovered. However, hypothesis-driven analyses found that nature sounds increased explicit liking of healthy (vs. unhealthy) foods, while no effect of soundscape on any wanting measures (explicit or implicit) were observed. Finally, exploratory analyses indicated that restaurant noise (vs. nature sound) induced faster response times for both healthy and unhealthy foods. The study exemplifies that in an online setting, contextual auditory manipulation of certain food reward measures and decision processes is feasible.

An Overview of Olfactory Displays in Education and Training

This paper describes an overview of olfactory displays (human–computer interfaces that generate and diffuse an odor to a user to stimulate their sense of smell) that have been proposed and researched for supporting education and training. Past research has shown that olfaction (the sense of smell) can support memorization of information, stimulate information recall, and help immerse learners and trainees into educational virtual environments, as well as complement and/or supplement other human sensory channels for learning. This paper begins with an introduction to olfaction and olfactory displays, and a review of techniques for storing, generating and diffusing odors at the computer interface. The paper proceeds with a discussion on educational theories that support olfactory displays for education and training, and a literature review on olfactory displays that support learning and training. Finally, the paper summarizes the advantages and challenges regarding the development and application of olfactory displays for education and training.

Sonic Seasoning and Other Multisensory Influences on the Coffee Drinking Experience

The coffee drinking experience undoubtedly depends greatly on the quality of the coffee bean and the method of preparation. However, beyond the product-intrinsic qualities of the beverage itself, there are also a host of other product-extrinsic factors that have been shown to influence the coffee-drinking experience. This review summarizes the influence of everything from the multisensory atmosphere through to the sound of coffee preparation, and from the typeface on the coffee packaging through the drinking vessel. Furthermore, the emerging science around sonic seasoning, whereby specific pieces of music or soundscapes, either pre-composed or bespoke, are used to bring out specific aspects in the taste (e.g., sweetness or bitterness) or aroma/flavor (nutty, dark chocolate, dried fruit notes, etc.) of a coffee beverage is also discussed in depth. Relevant related research with other complex drinks such as beer and wine are also mentioned where relevant.

Virtual Terroir and the Premium Coffee Experience

With its origin-centric value proposition, the specialty coffee industry seeks to educate consumers about the value of the origin of coffee and how the relationship with farmers ensures quality and makes coffee a premium product. While the industry has widely used stories and visual cues to communicate this added value, research studying whether and how these efforts influence consumers' experiences is scarce. Through three experiments, we explored the effect of images that evoke the terroir of coffee on the perception of premiumness. Our results revealed that online images that resembled the broad origin of coffee (i.e., a farm) could influence premiumness expectations of coffee (Experiment 1). Similarly, a virtual reality environment that depicted this broad origin (vs. a control but not a city atmosphere) could enhance the perception of coffee premiumness for non-expert consumers (Experiment 2) and the enjoyment of the experience for coffee professionals (Experiment 3). Importantly, we found that congruence between the coffee and the virtual reality (VR) atmospheres mediated how much non-experts enjoyed the experience (Experiment 2). VR atmospheres also influenced expectations of sweetness and acidity for non-experts (Experiment 2). These findings serve as a steppingstone for further exploration of the effects of congruence between visual cues and product/brand attributes on premiumness expectations and perception, and more generally on consumer experience. From a practical standpoint, this study provides insights into key aspects for the development of immersive virtual product experiences.

Emotional State During Tasting Affects Emotional Experience Differently and Robustly for Novel and Familiar Foods

Emotional state during food consumption is expected to affect food pleasantness. We hypothesize that a negative emotional state reduces food pleasantness and more so for novel foods than for familiar foods because novel foods have not yet been associated with previous emotions. Furthermore, we expect this effect to be stronger when judging the food again from memory without tasting. We induced a positive emotional state in 34 participants by telling them that they earned a monetary bonus and induced a negative emotional state in 35 other participants by subjecting them to a social stress test. After this emotion induction, both groups tasted and rated a (for them) novel soup (sumashi soup) and a familiar soup (vegetable soup). Several explicit and implicit measures of food pleasantness (rated valence, EsSense25, willingness-to-take-home and sip size) indicated that while the negative emotion group did not experience the soups as less pleasant than the positive emotion group, there was an interaction between food familiarity and emotional group. The positive emotion group experienced novel and familiar soups as equally pleasant, whereas the negative emotion group experienced the novel soup as relatively unpleasant and the familiar soup as pleasant. The latter result is consistent with a comforting effect of a familiar taste in a stressful situation. This effect remained in the ratings given 1 week later based on memory and even after retasting. Our results show that emotional state affects food pleasantness differently for novel and familiar foods and that such an effect can be robust.

Contribution of ambient noise and hyperbaric atmosphere to olfactory and gustatory function

Introduction

Taste and smell are important for occupational performance and quality of life. Previous studies suggested that the function of these senses might be influenced by ambient pressure and noise. This knowledge would be helpful for divers, submarine crews, or mine workers. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of noise and hyperbaric pressure on olfactory and gustatory functions.

Methods

This prospective controlled study included 16 healthy male divers. Inside a hyperbaric chamber, participants performed olfactory and gustatory function tests at sea level pressure and at 2 bar pressure. The olfaction threshold, and the discrimination and identification of odorants were measured with validated ´Sniffin sticks´. Taste identification and the gustation threshold scores were examined with validated filter paper strips. Tests were performed under two conditions: noise reduction (silence) and white noise stimulation presented at 70 dB sound pressure level.

Results

The results showed that normobaric and hyperbaric ambient pressures did not significantly affect olfactory or gustatory function. Moreover, noise had no relevant impact on taste or odor sensation. The odor identification score was not influenced in hyperbaric conditions, and the odor threshold score was not influenced by ambient noise or both barometric conditions. The only taste modality affected by hyperbaric conditions was the sensitivity to salty taste, but it was not significant.

Conclusion

We concluded that hyperbaric and noisy environments have no influence on gustatory and olfactory function. From a practical point of view, the influence of pressure in moderate hyperbaric occupations should be negligible.

Factors affecting flavor perception in space: Does the spacecraft environment influence food intake by astronauts?

The intention to send a crewed mission to Mars involves a huge amount of planning to ensure a safe and successful mission. Providing adequate amounts of food for the crew is a major task, but 20 years of feeding astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) have resulted in a good knowledge base. A crucial observation from the ISS is that astronauts typically consume only 80% of their daily calorie requirements when in space. This is despite daily exercise regimes that keep energy usage at very similar levels to those found on Earth. This calorie deficit seems to have little effect on astronauts who spend up to 12 months on the ISS, but given that a mission to Mars would take 30 to 36 months to complete, there is concern that a calorie deficit over this period may lead to adverse effects in crew members. The key question is why astronauts undereat when they have a supply of food designed to fully deliver their nutritional needs. This review focuses on evidence from astronauts that foods taste different in space, compared to on Earth. The underlying hypothesis is that conditions in space may change the perceived flavor of the food, and this flavor change may, in turn, lead to underconsumption by astronauts. The key areas investigated in this review for their potential impact on food intake are the effects of food shelf life, physiological changes, noise, air and water quality on the perception of food flavor, as well as the link between food flavor and food intake.

Mechanism of Cross-modal Information Influencing Taste

Studies on the integration of cross-modal information with taste perception has been mostly limited to uni-modal level. The cross-modal sensory interaction and the neural network of information processing and its control were not fully explored and the mechanisms remain poorly understood. This mini review investigated the impact of uni-modal and multi-modal information on the taste perception, from the perspective of cognitive status, such as emotion, expectation and attention, and discussed the hypothesis that the cognitive status is the key step for visual sense to exert influence on taste. This work may help researchers better understand the mechanism of cross-modal information processing and further develop neutrally-based artificial intelligent (AI) system.

Factors influencing the choice of beer: A review

Research on those variables that have been shown to influence the consumer's choice of beer is reviewed. The focus is on the choice of whether to drink beer as opposed to a beverage from another category, and to a greater extent, the choice between different types or styles of beer. Inspired by previous research on a diverse array of factors that have been shown to influence food and beverage choice, the review examines how beer choice is driven by consumer variables (covering biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors), product-intrinsic attributes (the sensory aspects of the beer itself), product-extrinsic attributes (external sensory characteristics, such as packaging), and contextual and environmental influences. These situational factors refer to variables such as the location where choice/consumption takes place (i.e., on- versus off-trade), as well as the context, occasion, and reason for drinking. Current trends related to choice and consumption, such as the emerging interest in beer-food pairing, are also examined. The review groups these attributes which affect people's beer wanting, choice, and purchase in order to understand the beer consumer's choice process. Along with general conclusions, a number of key directions for future research are also presented, given that the relative contribution of each type of factor on consumer's choice behaviour is still unclear.

The Influence of Teacup Shape on the Cognitive Perception of Tea, and the Sustainability Value of the Aesthetic and Practical Design of a Teacup

The ceramic industry is among the most profitable industries in the world, but, because of the use of nonrenewable materials and high fuel consumption, it also has a carbon footprint. Ceramic materials account for the majority of drinking vessels. Several scholars found that consumers’ awareness of drinks and purchasing desires are highly correlated with a vessel’s shape and color—in other words, the visual stimulation. However, since prior studies have focused on alcohol, bubble drinks, juice, coffee, cocoa, etc., there has rarely been any research on the appropriate drinking vessels for Chinese tea. This study intends to investigate the visual design of vessels for Chinese tea, in terms of its impact on the taste of the drink, by integrating the thinking and methods of expert users and designers for the sustainability of design and industry. In this study, tea experts and designers were asked for their opinions as a means of data collection. Fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (Fs/QCA) was used for data analysis. This study proved that the design of a tea-drinking vessel could have an influence on the perception of the taste and scent of the tea. This research not only brings new meaning to the traditional concept of teacup design, but also reflects famous Japanese craftsman Liu Zongyue’s idea of practical beauty, which is beneficial to promoting Chinese tea culture, and contributes to sustainable design and sustainable behavior.

Sugar labeling: How numerical information of sugar content influences healthiness and tastiness expectations

Overconsumption of highly sugary foods contributes to increases in obesity and diabetes in our population, and initiatives are issued worldwide to reduce sugar content in food products. However, it is unclear how the presentation of reduced sugar content on food packages affects taste expectations of consumers. Based on the learned knowledge about negative health effects of sugar and the common belief that unhealthy food tastes better than healthy food, consumers might conclude that lower sugar levels are associated with higher healthiness and lower tastiness. Addressing this concern, we examined how quantitative information about sugar content without any verbal description influences consumers’ health and taste expectations of dairy desserts. We asked participants to indicate the expected healthiness and tastiness of randomly sampled dairy desserts, while varying systematically the quantitative sugar information provided in a label presented with the desserts (numerical sugar level in grams per 100 grams of product: low vs. original vs. high). We assumed that quantitative sugar content is not equally associated with healthiness and tastiness of products and that numerical information about sugar content informs health more than taste expectations. Therefore, we predicted that consumers expect higher healthiness, but not to the same degree lower tastiness for products with reduced sugar contented compared to products with higher sugar content. The results of the present study are in line with this hypothesis. We found that consumers expected desserts with less sugar to be healthier than desserts with higher levels of sugar. The experimentally varied sugar levels did not affect the tastiness expectations. Notably, consumers did not follow the unhealthy = tasty intuition and did not devaluate the tastiness of desserts because of heightened healthiness expectations. Our findings suggest that sole numerical information about sugar content—an important nutritional value—is more diagnostic in the construction of healthiness rather than tastiness expectations of food products.

Background soundscapes influence the perception of ice-cream as indexed by electrophysiological measures

Listening to specific soundscapes can influence multisensory flavour perception. In the present study, changes in people's perception of the flavour of ice-cream were tracked over time as they listened to a café soundscape, and when this soundscape was overlaid with either bird, machine, or forest soundscapes. In addition, emotions and electrophysiological measures were recorded in order to help understand any changes in taste/flavour perception. The results of Temporal Dominance of Sensation (TDS) analysis revealed that cocoa was dominant early in the consumption episode while listening to the control café soundscape. Sweetness and creaminess were dominant at the start of the consumption episode while listening to the café-forest soundscape. Creaminess was dominant at the start of the consumption episode while listening to the café-bird soundscape. Bitterness was perceived at the end of the consumption period while listening to the café control and café-machine soundscapes. These findings demonstrate the crossmodal influence of audition on perception in the chemical senses. As expected, negative emotions were significantly higher when listening to the machine soundscape, while positive emotions were significantly higher when listening to café-forest and café-bird soundscapes. Evaluating ice-cream while listening to the café-machine soundscape evoked negative emotions associated with bitterness and creaminess, that were also associated with increased heart rate (HR) and respiration rate (RESP). When listening to the café-forest soundscape, ice-cream was associated with sweetness, and positive emotions (e.g., love, satisfaction, happiness, amusement and enjoyment). This might have led to increased blood volume pulse (BVP) amplitude, which is itself indicative of a relaxed state. Enhancing eating experiences by means of atmospheric soundscapes that are designed specifically to accentuate specific aspects of multisensory taste/flavour perception is currently an area of interest in the food sciences literature and will likely lead to future commercial applications.

The role of arousal in boundary judgement errors

Eyewitnesses to a crime rely heavily on their visual memory; however, there are many ways that the details of visual scenes can be missed, or distorted. In particular, for emotional scenes, the "boundaries" are narrowed at retrieval, whereas central details-such as a weapon-are remembered in greater detail. This phenomenon is known as boundary restriction, the reverse of boundary extension whereby people tend to expand the boundaries of a neutral scene at retrieval. In the present series of experiments, we investigated whether arousal is the element of an emotional scene that leads to increased boundary restriction or reduced boundary extension. We presented neutral images to participants either with or without a stress-inducing noise. In Experiment 1a and 1b, at test, participants viewed the image they originally viewed next to the same image but with narrower or wider boundaries and selected which of the two images they originally viewed. In Experiment 2, at test, participants viewed the identical image they originally viewed, but were told the boundaries had been changed. Participants selected the extent to which the images at test had restricted or extended boundaries compared to their memory of the original image. When the noise stressor was present, participants made more boundary restriction errors-selecting the image with narrower boundaries than the original-and fewer boundary extension errors than when the noise was absent. Our data suggest that arousal plays a key role in boundary judgements.

The Role of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Sensory Factors in Sweetness Perception of Food and Beverages: A Review

When it comes to eating and drinking, multiple factors from diverse sensory modalities have been shown to influence multisensory flavour perception and liking. These factors have heretofore been strictly divided into either those that are intrinsic to the food itself (e.g., food colour, aroma, texture), or those that are extrinsic to it (e.g., related to the packaging, receptacle or external environment). Given the obvious public health need for sugar reduction, the present review aims to compare the relative influences of product-intrinsic and product-extrinsic factors on the perception of sweetness. Evidence of intrinsic and extrinsic sensory influences on sweetness are reviewed. Thereafter, we take a cognitive neuroscience perspective and evaluate how differences may occur in the way that food-intrinsic and extrinsic information become integrated with sweetness perception. Based on recent neuroscientific evidence, we propose a new framework of multisensory flavour integration focusing not on the food-intrinsic/extrinsic divide, but rather on whether the sensory information is perceived to originate from within or outside the body. This framework leads to a discussion on the combinability of intrinsic and extrinsic influences, where we refer to some existing examples and address potential theoretical limitations. To conclude, we provide recommendations to those in the food industry and propose directions for future research relating to the need for long-term studies and understanding of individual differences.

Environmental Sounds Influence the Multisensory Perception of Chocolate Gelati

Recently, it has been shown that various auditory stimuli modulate flavour perception. The present study attempts to understand the effects of environmental sounds (park, food court, fast food restaurant, cafe, and bar sounds) on the perception of chocolate gelato (specifically, sweet, bitter, milky, creamy, cocoa, roasted, and vanilla notes) using the Temporal Check-All-That-Apply (TCATA) method. Additionally, affective ratings of the auditory stimuli were obtained using the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) in terms of their valence, arousal, and dominance. In total, 58 panellists rated the sounds and chocolate gelato in a sensory laboratory. The results revealed that bitterness, roasted, and cocoa notes were more evident when the bar, fast food, and food court sounds were played. Meanwhile, sweetness was cited more in the early mastication period when listening to park and café sounds. The park sound was significantly higher in valence, while the bar sound was significantly higher in arousal. Dominance was significantly higher for the fast food restaurant, food court, and bar sound conditions. Intriguingly, the valence evoked by the pleasant park sound was positively correlated with the sweetness of the gelato. Meanwhile, the arousal associated with bar sounds was positively correlated with bitterness, roasted, and cocoa attributes. Taken together, these results clearly demonstrate that people's perception of the flavour of gelato varied with the different real-world sounds used in this study.

Environmental Immersion's Influence on Hedonics, Perceived Appropriateness, and Willingness to Pay in Alcoholic Beverages

The eating experience is multimodal. As we consume a dish, we perceive much more than that which initially activates the senses, including influences from our surroundings. Foods sampled in experimental settings are largely evaluated within a sensory booth, an environment designed to be devoid of such external or non-standardized stimuli, so that participants can focus solely on the sample itself. In natural experiences, we rarely consume food in such isolation—context is actually key to many dining experiences and can have an integral role in how we perceive the foods we eat. Using virtual reality to artificially provide this context, we tested how the setting in which a beverage was consumed influenced perception of two different samples. Virtual environments were formed by processing custom-recorded 360 degree videos and overlaying audio, text, and sensory scales to simulate a typical sensory evaluation. Participants were asked to taste two alcoholic beverages, a beer and a sparkling wine, in two virtual contexts, a bar and a winery. The results indicated that participants’ willingness to pay for, and overall enjoyment of the sparkling wine increased when placed in the winery context, with no change between the two virtual contexts for the beer sample. This occurred without alteration of the samples’ sensory properties or the ability of panelists to identify the beverage they were drinking; however, perceived appropriateness of the samples for the setting was strongly influenced by the context in which they were sampled, suggesting that perceived appropriateness for a surrounding may play a role in the degree to which we enjoy a food. Results provide further proof that artificially-applied context, such as that provided by virtual reality, can further the sensory testing of foods.

Variations in Food Acceptability with Respect to Pitch, Tempo, and Volume Levels of Background Music

This study aimed to determine whether pitch, tempo, and volume levels of music stimuli affect sensory perception and acceptance of foods. A traditional music piece was arranged into versions at two pitches, two tempos, and two volumes. For each session, chocolate and bell peppers were presented for consumption under three sound conditions: 1) upper or 2) lower level with respect to each of the three music elements, and 3) silence. Over three sessions, participants evaluated flavor intensity, pleasantness of flavor, texture impression, and overall impression of food samples, in addition to the pleasantness and stimulation evoked by the music stimuli. Results showed that lower-pitched and louder music stimuli increased hedonic impressions of foods compared to their respective counterparts and/or the silent condition. While the effects of music element levels on hedonic impressions differed with the type of food consumed, the participants liked the foods more when music stimuli were perceived as more pleasant and stimulating. Flavor was perceived as more intense when participants were more stimulated by the music samples. Although a specific element of music stimuli was manipulated, perceptions of other elements also varied, leading to large variations in the music-evoked pleasantness and stimulation. In conclusion, the findings provide empirical evidence that hedonic impressions of foods may be influenced by emotions evoked by music selections varying in music element levels, but it should be also noted that the influences were food-dependent and not pronounced.

Having a Drink with Tchaikovsky: The Crossmodal Influence of Background Music on the Taste of Beverages

Previous research has shown that auditory cues can influence the flavor of food and drink. For instance, wine tastes better when preferred music is played. We have investigated whether a music background can modify judgments of the specific flavor pattern of a beverage, as opposed to mere preference. This was indeed the case. We explored the nature of this crosstalk between auditory and gustatory perception, and hypothesized that the 'flavor' of the background music carries over to the perceived flavor (i.e., descriptive and evaluative aspects) of beverages. First, we collected ratings of the subjective flavor of different music pieces. Then we used a between-subjects design to cross the music backgrounds with taste evaluations of several beverages. Participants tasted four different samples of beverages under two contrasting audio conditions and rated their taste experiences. The emotional flavor of the music had the hypothesized effects on the flavor of the beverages. We also hypothesized that such an effect would be stronger for music novices than for music experts, and weaker for aqueous solutions than for wines. However, neither music expertise nor liquid type produced additional effects. We discuss implications of this audio-gustatory interaction.

Extrinsic Auditory Contributions to Food Perception & Consumer Behaviour: an Interdisciplinary Review

Food product-extrinsic sounds (i.e., those auditory stimuli that are not linked directly to a food or beverage product, or its packaging) have been shown to exert a significant influence over various aspects of food perception and consumer behaviour, often operating outside of conscious awareness. In this review, we summarise the latest evidence concerning the various ways in which what we hear can influence what we taste. According to one line of empirical research, background noise interferes with tasting, due to attentional distraction. A separate body of marketing-relevant research demonstrates that music can be used to bias consumers’ food perception, judgments, and purchasing/consumption behaviour in various ways. Some of these effects appear to be driven by the arousal elicited by loud music as well as the entrainment of people’s behaviour to the musical beat. However, semantic priming effects linked to the type and style of music are also relevant. Another route by which music influences food perception comes from the observation that our liking/preference for the music that we happen to be listening to carries over to influence our hedonic judgments of what we are tasting. A final route by which hearing influences tasting relates to the emerging field of ‘sonic seasoning’. A developing body of research now demonstrates that people often rate tasting experiences differently when listening to soundtracks that have been designed to be (or are chosen because they are) congruent with specific flavour experiences (e.g., when compared to when listening to other soundtracks, or else when tasting in silence). Taken together, such results lead to the growing realization that the crossmodal influences of music and noise on food perception and consumer behaviour may have some important if, as yet, unrecognized implications for public health.

Using immersive technologies to explore the effects of congruent and incongruent contextual cues on context recall, product evaluation time, and preference and liking during consumer hedonic testing

To explore how contextual information streams are processed and prioritized during consumer studies, we manipulated the congruency of visual, auditory and olfactory cues using immersive technologies and assessed the impact on context recall, evaluation time, and preference and liking for cold brewed coffee. Each consumer (n = 50) was exposed to two identical control conditions, a visually incongruent condition, an auditory incongruent condition, an olfactory incongruent condition, and an all-incongruent condition. The control condition simulated a coffeehouse environment complete with the sights, sounds and smells commonly experienced in that venue. A laboratory setting, construction noise, and laundry detergent represented the individual incongruent visual, auditory, and aroma streams, respectively. Results revealed that olfactory information had a lesser priority than visual or auditory information in the simulated environments when assessed by subject's ability to recall encountered information streams. Panelists also spent more time evaluating coffees in the first presented control condition compared to the incongruent conditions or the repeated control condition. Finally, although the averaged combined liking score for subjects' least to most preferred coffees was significantly lowered in the all-incongruent condition compared to the control condition, this decrease was not substantial. Understanding how the saliency of contextual information influences consumer behavior and attention can inform immersive testing methodologies.

Multisensory Technology for Flavor Augmentation: A Mini Review

There is growing interest in the development of new technologies that capitalize on our emerging understanding of the multisensory influences on flavor perception in order to enhance human–food interaction design. This review focuses on the role of (extrinsic) visual, auditory, and haptic/tactile elements in modulating flavor perception and more generally, our food and drink experiences. We review some of the most exciting examples of recent multisensory technologies for augmenting such experiences. Here, we discuss applications for these technologies, for example, in the field of food experience design, in the support of healthy eating, and in the rapidly growing world of sensory marketing. However, as the review makes clear, while there are many opportunities for novel human–food interaction design, there are also a number of challenges that will need to be tackled before new technologies can be meaningfully integrated into our everyday food and drink experiences.