The eyes sometimes have it, beating out the tongue, nose and
brain in the emotional and biochemical balloting that determines the taste and
allure of food, a scientist said here today. Speaking at the 245th National
Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s
largest scientific society, he described how people sometimes “see” flavors in
foods and beverages before actually tasting them.
“There have been important new insights into how people
perceive food flavors,” said Terry E. Acree, Ph.D. “Years ago, taste was a
table with two legs — taste and odor. Now we are beginning to understand that
flavor depends on parts of the brain that involve taste, odor, touch and
vision. The sum total of these signals, plus our emotions and past experiences,
result in perception of flavors, and determine whether we like or dislike specific
foods.”