Sensory Evaluation Chapter 6

Sensory evaluation panels Groups of people who evaluate food samples. Three main groups – highly trained experts, laboratory panels, and consumer panels. Their input has a lot of impact on whether a food makes it from the test kitchen to the shopping cart.

1) Highly trained experts Judge the quality of a product, using standards set by the food industry. Involved in testing for very complex foods that require their refined, practiced skills, and sensitivity.

2) Laboratory panels Small groups that work at a company’s laboratory. Help develop new products and determine how a change may affect the quality of an existing product.

3) Consumer Panel Some companies use large consumer panels to test foods outside the laboratory For example: In grocery stores, shopping malls, and at market research firms. Consumers tell how much they like or dislike a product or one of its flavor characteristics.

Uniform Evaluations To get the most reliable sensory information from people, researchers must make testing experiences as uniform as possible. For example: all samples being the same temperature.

Minimize Distractions Testing takes place in a controlled atmosphere. Lighting and temperature are always kept the same. One exception to this practice is the development of a new product, where an effort is made to serve the food as it would normally be eaten.

Minimize bias Knowing how one sense can affect another, researchers may mask irrelevant characteristics. Color differences may be hidden by using colored lights Testers guard against the contrast effect, which can occur when a lesser-quality food is offered right after one of higher quality. Testers need to understand human psychology in addition to food science.

Help evaluators use their senses to the fullest Testing often occurs in the morning or midafternoon, when people are most responsive and alert. Food tasters rinse their mouths with water, between each sample. Warm water is used to cleanse the mouth of fatty foods. Eating a bland food, such as a cracker, also clears the taste of the previous sample.