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Chapter 3 Sensory Evaluation: The Human Factor
Taste Test Panels
Sensory evaluations involve more than stating whether you like
a food. Your sense of smell, genetic makeup, and unique experiences
create opinions about food that can interfere with controlled sensory
evaluation. Once you recognize these factors, you are more likely
to base an evaluation on measurable characteristics. For instance,
you may or may not like chocolate. However, you can feel if the
texture of chocolate is smooth, creamy, or gritty. Professional sensory
evaluators have to be able to put aside personal taste biases to evaluate
product quality.
Different types of sensory evaluation can be conducted depending
on the information needed. A taste test panel is a group of people who
evaluate the fl avor, texture, appearance, and aroma of food products.
Taste test panels can be composed of either trained professionals or
untrained consumers. The type of panelists used depends on the
purpose of the evaluation.
Trained sensory panelists are more likely to be used during
a product’s development, 3-7. This is the stage at which subtle
differences must be identifi ed if the product is to be successful. Trained
individuals are also used for federal and state grading of such products
as butter and cheese. The coffee and wine industries need tasters
who are not only highly trained but also very sensitive to fl avor
differences. This requires “supertasters.”
Untrained consumers are used to evaluate products already in
the marketplace. These consumers represent the buying public as
members of consumer taste panels. Consumer taste panels are used
to determine what the average
consumer will prefer. These panels
may test a new product and
compare it to similar products on
the market. Sometimes consumer
panelists evaluate whether they
would buy a totally new type of
product. They help manufacturers
determine whether a food product
will sell.
In this class, you will be using
sensory evaluation to examine
products in many laboratory
experiments. You will base your
evaluations on such factors as
aroma, taste, feel, and appearance.
Like any other skill, sensory
evaluation improves with practice.
Sensory evaluators must learn to
distinguish why they like or dislike
specifi c qualities of food products.
Peggy Greb/USDA
3-7 This trained taste tester, working with a food technologist, is sampling
fresh-cut apple slices to evaluate quality.