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Unit 1 The Science of Food
ill after eating that food as a young
child. Although the food may not
have caused the illness, the person
will subconsciously link the two
events. When food becomes linked
with unpleasant memories, the
food will become distasteful to
one degree or another. This
psychological factor is believed
to be a protective mechanism of
the brain. It keeps you from eating
harmful substances again.
When negative experiences
cause a person to dislike a food, the
person has developed a taste bias.
Taste bias can also be caused by
positive experiences or taste
preferences, 3-3. Imagine entering
a lemon cake in a baking contest
where your competition is all types
of chocolate cakes. Suppose all
the judges prefer chocolate to
lemon. The judges would have
trouble judging your cake fairly if they were not aware of their taste
bias. Trained taste testers have to learn to put such food biases aside
when evaluating food products.
Other factors that can cause bias in food products are label terms
and brand names. Many students will state a brand preference, but
select a competitor’s brand in a blind taste test. Advertising, peers,
and setting infl uence this type of bias. Food manufacturers have found
such biases very diffi cult to overcome in the marketplace.
Cultural Infl uences
The cultural patterns of people’s lives strongly infl uence what
and how people eat. Culture is the beliefs and behaviors followed
by a group of people. These beliefs and behaviors are passed from
one generation to another. Region, lifestyle, religious practices, and
holiday traditions are all part of culture. For example, grits is a regional
food that is more likely to be served in the South than the Midwest.
The French lifestyle often includes daily shopping for fresh ingredients.
In French culture, few people rely on convenience foods like frozen
entrees for many meals. Traditionally, people of the Jewish religion
do not eat pork, and Hindu followers do not eat beef. In the United
States, the food most often eaten on Halloween is candy. In Mexico,
a similar holiday is celebrated with the serving of pan de muerto,
or bread of the dead.
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3-3 Many positive taste biases people have as adults are associated with
happy memories of their childhood.