For food and beverage advertisers, understanding consumer taste preferences is critical. New research is shedding more light on what drives the preferences of one group, known as supertasters. This research may allow advertisers to better market their products to this segment of the population.
The research of Michael LaTour, a former professor of marketing and law at Ithaca College who passed away in November 2015; his wife Kathy LaTour, an associate professor of services marketing at Cornell University; and Brian Wansink, professor of marketing at Cornell, is set to be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Advertising Research.
The trio used three small studies to answer several questions about supertasters—individuals whose increased amount of taste bud papillae leave them prone to disliking bitter foods while preferring sweet ones—and find out more about their brand identification ability, brand loyalty and if their abilities dissipate with learning.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Friday December 23 2016, @04:03AM
Have been since I heard of SuperTasters 30 years ago. I can identify flavors in mystery food, but can't say what they are. My brother in law can taste something I cooked and say shit like "a bit of oregano, some thyme, bit of garlic". I can taste the same thing, even though I cooked it, and say "damn, wish I'd written down what I put into that cuz it's mighty tasty".
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Friday December 23 2016, @04:08AM
I should add, when I resist the temptation to add jalapenos and habaneros to what I cook (I like hot stuff), most people label me an excellent cook. Those who don't tend to have dietary restrictions, like glucose free, which I don't even try to accommodate.j
I'm the cook, here's the food, chow down. Vegans and likewise, please don't hog the steam broccoli.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday December 23 2016, @05:07AM
Like imperfect pitch?
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 23 2016, @03:10PM
"a bit of oregano, some thyme, bit of garlic"
He's grasping... sounds like very common ingredients to me and enumerating a couple of those means he'll get a 90% hit rate. It's the equivalent in cooking to saying "some ones and some zeroes" when looking at what is contained in a compiled binary.
(Score: 2) by t-3 on Friday December 23 2016, @07:04PM
Same here, in fact I think this is why I have a tendency to prefer very strong flavors and dislike a lot of very sweet things - I like very hot peppers and strong spices, very sour fruit (I love eating lemons and limes, peel and rind included), very dark chocolate, black tea/coffee (sweetened or with milk makes me gag), but I don't like most berries, cake, or any cooked fruit except lemons or limes. I also tend to be far more picky about texture in food than others, but I'm not sure if that's related or not.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 23 2016, @04:16AM
This is clearly the most important research in the history of human kind.
If you think not then you have not been paying to attention to what our entire society devotes itself to almost exclusively...
(Score: 2) by edIII on Friday December 23 2016, @05:41AM
Exploiting and abusing each other? That's the predominant activity.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Friday December 23 2016, @04:19AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synsepalum_dulcificum [wikipedia.org]
Seems like a fun thing for New Year's and this story reminded me about it.
Amazon is selling 3.5 grams (10 servings) for $15 or 7 grams for $25. Has added corn starch.
As for the actual topic, is the way to figure out you're a "supertaster" to ingest cilantro and identify a soapy taste?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 23 2016, @10:29AM
Yes, and I have a plant. It's fun stuff, though mostly a novelty for me. Apparently much more useful in places and times where sweeteners are less available, and for people with diabetes or undergoing chemo.
Make sure to take your time eating the fruit or pill. It's all about coating your tastebuds as thoroughly as possible. The effect diminishes over time, too, so if you want to try a lot of foods, have them mostly ready. You don't need to rush or anything, but just don't expect the effects to last forever.
Lemon is the canonical thing to try, and for good reason. You can make lemonade without the sugar, and straight lemon tastes really sweet, while still lemony. Vinegar, too. It's a bit of a weird sensation as your brain registers a familiar flavor that's supposed to be spit-that-out sour, but that comes through sweet instead.
Just keep in mind that your stomach and teeth are not fooled like your tastebuds, so be mindful of how much acid you're taking in.
Something that surprised me, because I don't think of it as being sour at all, was strawberry. It tasted like strawberry syrup or sweetened pie filling or something. *Very* good. I half-joked about getting more plants and setting up a miracle fruit stand next to a local u-pick strawberry place.
If you're doing New Year's, champagne would probably be interesting. Look around online for what other people have liked, too.
Beer can be "ruined" by the effect, so don't plan to enjoy your favorite beer (at least not with its normal flavor) until it's worn off.
Please post back if you end up trying it for New Year's. I'd be interested to hear what you think and any foods you thought worked particularly well or poorly.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday January 02 2017, @01:30AM
Got the supplies ready now and will post results in the journal.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 23 2016, @05:55PM
Yes, I've tried both the berries and the tablets. They both work fine, so I'd go with the tablets (just remind people to move them around on their tongue until they mostly dissolve ~7min) because they are cheaper and do not spoil. Lemons and limes are the best things I've used with them, but hot sauce is fun to try (bet someone you can beat them in a hot-sauce-mouthwash contest) since a lot of them use acidity to add to their kick.
Sweetness killers (such as gymnemic acid) are also worth trying but are a lot less fun (maybe more useful as a prank that'll ruin dessert).
As for the cilantro question, the answer is no. There are different tests for "supertasters", but most of them rely on testing particular bitter compounds. As far as I can remember, the "soapy" cilantro effect is related to a specific polymorphism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnemic_acid [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 02 2017, @03:42AM
I took a red pill that makes tears taste delicious.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday January 02 2017, @03:47AM
And it was free if you stole someone's XFINITY Wi-Fi!
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday December 23 2016, @04:23AM
We need to make an IPA with stevia crystals!
If you eat/drink bitter things, you get used to the taste. You just need to put in the work.
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(Score: 1) by Francis on Friday December 23 2016, @04:34AM
I've found that to be rather hit or miss in practice. If it's just somewhat bitter that's something I've been able to get used to for things like tea. But, it doesn't work if it's a really strong bitter taste, like you get from certain greens.
I'm not sure how it is for other people that are sensitive to the bitter taste, but I haven't really noticed much difference over the years on the foods that I really can't stand. And I wouldn't expect much change as I've never heard of anybody getting used to the taste of aspirin or other similar flavors.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday December 23 2016, @06:04AM
Some bitter things are good for you. Tea has a slight bitter edge, as do some of my favorite low-potency medical herbs (selfheal flower spike, chrysanthemum, chickenbone grass, etc). Bitter melon too, for obvious reasons. I've found these can be simmered long and low and they ptisane they leave behind is amazingly cooling on a hot, humid day.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1) by Francis on Friday December 23 2016, @08:36PM
Bitter melon is nigh inedible due to the taste. I don't get how anybody can eat enough to not mind it.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday December 23 2016, @08:43PM
I really like it actually. I just add it to a soup about 3-5 mins before it's done so as not to leach/destroy all its phytochemical-y goodness =p
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 23 2016, @09:18PM
I don't get how anybody . . .
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 23 2016, @09:34PM
Hey aristarchus, did your mom get my present? I'm sure the tube of lube will last at least a month.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 23 2016, @04:45PM
It's not just about density of taste buds, it's also about variety. Some people can taste things that others just don't. Celery is one example; to most people it's just neutral, while to a minority it's foul.
Also remember that a lot (if not most of) the experience is really olfactory, and there's a long, long list of things that a subset of the population can not smell. Fig trees, for example, or the change in urine after eating asparagus.
The notion of the unitary SUPERTASTER is a myth, but a very successfully marketed one.
(Score: 1) by hellcat on Saturday December 24 2016, @04:04PM
Read up on this via wiki and a few research articles (sorry for the lack of refs - out xmas shopping)
But the gene that gave rise to the idea of us being able to ident the taste phenotypes was found to be linked to itself, so that a defect in both copies would lead to those who were taste deficient in certain bitter categories.
This category was measured using a single bitter profile test. The idea was that tasting bitterness is a genetic benefit allowing us to avoid poison in nature.
Once the word was out that there were genes tied to taste, and that some people were naturally hypo-tasters, the public took it to the next level and assumed that there would have to be hyper-tasters.
So, as far as science is concerned, it's not fact.
Socially, if you want to be a supertaster, who's to say you're not?
Enjoy supertasting holiday treats like latkes and christmas pudding!