1. Food Flavors & Quality

2. Food Expectations Color – quality factor Relates to quality
We expect meat to be red
Bananas to be yellow – not brown!
Naturally occurring pigments affect food color

3. Food Expectations Texture – quality factor Gum to be chewy
Crackers to be crisp
Refers to qualities felt with fingers, tongue & teeth
Changes in texture usually due to water status

4. Food Expectations Size & shape – quality factor
Expect foods to have certain sizes & shapes
Easily measured
Fruits & vegetables graded by size & shapes

5. How Do We Taste? Tongue – taste buds – help perceive flavor
4 main tastes
Bitter
Sour
Salty
Sweet

6. Lifesaver Activity

7. Sensory Science Part of food science
Dedicated to finding ways to help humans accurately describe the flavors & other sensory properties of food (scent)
Flavor – quality factor
People differ in preferences

8. Measure Taste
Best method – use taste panels – professionals or customers
Other evaluation methods used – chemical & mechanical

9. Quality Standards Help ensure food quality Types
Research – setup by company
Trade – setup by members of an industry
Government – some mandatory, some optional
All help to provide common language for all involved
Quality standards by USDA

10. Quality Control
Manufacturing plants usually have some type of internal, formal, quality control
Inspection duties
Lab tests
Oversee sanitation
Guide research & development

12. Classroom Taste Tests
Tomorrow we are going to set up blind taste tests to see if we can taste the difference between brand name & generic foods.
This is similar to how consumers would do a taste test for a company.