Screening: a sensitive subject
Experts in sensory evaluation are urging manufacturers to reject artificial tasting devices in favour of training up and screening taste panellists.
"Electronic tongues don't reflect what people perceive well enough, so there's little use for them in the food and drink industry," says David Kilcast, business development manager for the sensory and consumer department at Leatherhead Food International. He believes that people are the most accurate tasting tools, but warns that they need to be trained in the art of sensory analysis, before being let loose on a product. "Newer companies don't appreciate the need for sensory methods, using their internal informal methods to reflect that of consumers," says Kilcast. "It is wise to screen taste panellists to check that they aren't blind to anything. For example, if you are trying to use the panel as a bitterness instrument, then they need to be able to taste bitter."
People can be bitter-blind, says Andrew Skinner, director of TQS food consulting, so sensory evaluation training is necessary to ensure that people can differentiate the basic taste attributes. "A well written sensory description is an objective tool in assessing product quality," he adds.
A food technologist by trade, Skinner has worked with retail giants Tesco and Safeway, as well as Hygrade Foods and United Biscuits. "There is a fairly standard test you can do [to check the sensitivity of someone's palate]," he says. "The first stage is to see whether people can identify the four basic tastes [sweet, sour, bitter and salt]. We then test it at varying concentrations to see whether the person is able to recognise the taste.
"If you look at the British Retail Consortium standard, there is calibration of monitoring devices, and I would certainly say that taste panellists are monitoring devices."
Tracey Hollowood, chairman of the Institute of Food Science and Technology's Professional Food Sensory Group, also believes that taste panellists are the way forward: "When the success or failure of a product depends on the customer's perception, nothing is more sensitive or appropriate to use in product testing than a group of people.
"Food manufacturers use sensory tests for all sorts of reasons, for example, to develop new products, maintain the quality of the product and make improvements to existing products," says Hollowood.
"In these cases small groups of people are used and it is important to screen the panellists to make sure they have an appropriate sensory acuity and are not insensitive to taste compounds (aguesic) or aroma compounds (anosmic)," she adds.
