How Much Does Color Impact Taste?

from the more-than-you-would-think dept

Fri, Apr 8th 2011 1:37am — Mike Masnick

With recent reports claiming that food coloring might increase hyperactivity in children, leading the FDA to say that there isn't enough proof that such dyes are really a problem for most, it has some people asking if we really need food coloring at all. While there's one argument, which says that if you're eating food that needs to be colored, you're not eating food (think of that as the Michael Pollan argument). But, on the other side, some people are wondering why the same products can't be made without food coloring. Apparently, those people aren't aware of just how much color impacts taste. Apparently it can more or less override our tastebuds. I'd always heard that smell could override tastebuds, but it sounds like color might do an even better job.

In an experiment with "uncolored" Cheetos Crunchy Cheese Flavored snacks, apparently, the bland color matched people's feelings about the taste:

Their fingers did not turn orange. And their brains did not register much cheese flavor, even though the Cheetos tasted just as they did with food coloring.

"People ranked the taste as bland and said that they weren't much fun to eat," said Brian Wansink, a professor at Cornell University and director of the university's Food and Brand Lab.

Tests in the other direction also had a similar impact. Seeing a different color than is actually the flavor can make that flavor seem apparent:

When tasteless yellow coloring is added to vanilla pudding, consumers say it tastes like banana or lemon pudding. And when mango or lemon flavoring is added to white pudding, most consumers say that it tastes like vanilla pudding.

Of course, this may be tempting me to start adding more food coloring to various things, rather than less...

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: color, food coloring, taste

48 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Matt Williams (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 2:08am

Ketchup
This reminds me of those novelty purple, green and blue tomato ketchups that Heinz brought out. Just the idea of putting purple ketchup on my food was enough to put me off buying it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Christopher (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 7:34am
  
  Re: Ketchup
  This reminds me of those novelty purple, green and blue tomato ketchups that Heinz brought out. Just the idea of putting purple ketchup on my food was enough to get me interested in buying it.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Valerie K, 30 May 2012 @ 7:33pm
  
  Re: Ketchup
  My physio teacher actually had students who did an experiment on those ketchups and when blind-folded, over 95% of the subjects said that the purple one tasted the best but when they could see they said the red tasted best.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 8 Nov 2012 @ 4:20pm
  
  Re: Ketchup
  Purple Ketch NO WAY!!!!!!!(so gross)
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Arlette, 20 Jan 2014 @ 9:25pm
    
    Re: Re: Ketchup
    Purple Ketch Is kind of cool don't be judge mental and also you are such a coward
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
musically_ut, 8 Apr 2011 @ 2:19am

Obligatory
http://xkcd.com/882/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Liz, 8 Apr 2011 @ 2:24am

That actually seems to make sense in a way. As animals, aren't our brains somehow hard wired to associate color with possible foods? From ripe fruits to venomous critters. Nature has a way of telling us what can and shouldn't be eaten.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2011 @ 2:39am

Simplest proof
Green ketchup. 'nuff said.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Capitalist Lion Tamer (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 2:42am

I totally get the color=flavor thing
Like when you pull out one of the Doritos that just looks like a plain tortilla chip and you eat it anyway but it just kind of sucks. And then you come across one that's like completely orange and you're like, "Hell yeah! That's why I'm eating these!"

Of course, once you're down to the bottom of the bag, it's all orange but the chip pieces are so small and kind of disappointing and then your wife catches you dumping the last of that bag directly in your mouth and kind of gives you a look that says "this is very close to the 'or for worse' column," and you can't really respond because you've got a family-size bag covering your noise-hole and you're pretty much out of saliva.

I think it's called the Law of Diminishing Returns. Both the chip/flavor thing and the "for worse" look.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2011 @ 3:26am

Does this explain Shamrock shakes?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased) (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 10:06am
  
  Re:
  Yeah! I'm pretty sure they've been making 'em greener...but cutting back on the flavoring.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
marak (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 3:59am

Were taught as chefs that sight is one of the most important pieces of a meal we serve, which is really driven home by this.

Its the same principal if one of my apprentices serves one of my pans dish's badly, i can guarantee the customer's going to start out with a bad idea on the meal haha. (which is why i dont let apprentices serve my meals!)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Old Fool (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 4:25am

Try it yourself with mash
We did this as an experiment at school, we died mashed potato with (untastable) food dye. The colored potato just tasted 'wrong' even though we knew it could only taste like normal.

You can try this at home children!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2011 @ 4:38am

Interesting. Food dye is sort of a "visual spice", then.

...I wonder how much of an effect that had on whatever clinical trials went into the aforementioned reports? Maybe the cause of increased activity was psychosomatic, rather than chemical.
How about another clinical trial to test it? Group A would have bland-looking food. Group B would have the same food, colored with food dye to look appealing. Group C would have the same food, colored to look appealing without using food dye.
Maybe use apples? A skinned apple, a skinned apple dyed red, and an unskinned apple. Something like that, anyway.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 8 Apr 2011 @ 5:19am

Sensory Dissonance?
I remember reading about this several years ago, at a research conference some participants passed around some sweets which were yellow in colour, and with a grape flavour (I think it was).

Nobody was able to identify the flavour.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- scarr (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 7:23am
  
  Re: Sensory Dissonance?
  To be fair, "grape flavour" isn't really the flavour of grapes. It's the flavour purple.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
harbingerofdoom (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 6:27am

interesting that the current news outlets and government are thinking this is some sort of new finding. its been well known for at least 30 years.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- harbingerofdoom (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 6:28am
  
  Re:
  was referring to the fake stuff causing hyperactivity.
  
  clarity.. its a wonderful thing...
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - ChrisB (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 8:40am
    
    Re: Re:
    > its been well known for at least 30 years.
    
    I call bullsh!t. The idiot parents who think "food dyes" are causing their kids hyperactivity are the same morons who give their 6-year-old Coke and a handful of jelly beans. Ya, it is the "food dye", not the 4 cups of sugar and 700 mg of caffeine, that is making your kids hyper.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
FarSide (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 6:29am

I knew it! The light brown M&Ms DID taste the most milk-chocolaty!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Chris Ball (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 6:38am

Oranges and Lemons
Here's my favourite example of this: One of the main components of orange and lemon flavour is limonine. The molecule happens to be chiral: one of the molecules is considerably more common in orange and the other in lemon. Apparently some cheap candies would use the racemate as a flavouring (because it was cheaper than optically pure orange or lemon). If you tasted them with your eyes closed, you couldn't tell the difference. But sure enough, the yellow ones tasted like lemon and the orange ones like orange.

The same apparently goes for mint and caraway, but you'd never get me to try a caraway candy no matter what colour it was.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2011 @ 7:31am
  
  Re: Oranges and Lemons
  You are saying you cant taste the difference between mint and caraway?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2011 @ 7:07am

If only all processed food was died an unappetizing brown color then I could focus and not be a fatty.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Pickle Monger (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 7:19am

"Of course, this may be tempting me to start adding more food coloring to various things, rather than less... "

This Techdirt post is brought to you by colour YELLOW. Put a tangy taste of lemon in you brain!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
PRMan, 8 Apr 2011 @ 7:30am

I can taste the dyes...
In High School, I used to tell M&Ms apart by the dye taste, so despite claims to the contrary, they do have a flavor and one that would be awful on mashed potatoes. (The addition of red and blue has made this all but impossible now.)

That said, to me, most people seemingly can't taste anything. It astounds me that people can eat Doritos, which just taste like MSG, or things fried in canola oil, because it tastes like a sheet of paper. The article doesn't surprise me at all, as most people's taste buds are incredibly dull.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Midnight Voyager, 8 Apr 2011 @ 8:35am
  
  Re: I can taste the dyes...
  So can I. A friend and I skewed some poor classmate's science fair project results. He had blindfolded people given M&Ms to eat and had them guess the colors. The two of us got every one right.
  
  I wish people might take into account the fact that not everyone's taste buds are the same in these studies. Perhaps some people CAN taste the dyes they use, while many cannot? Perhaps color affects taste more in some than others?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - FarSide (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 9:10am
    
    Re: Re: I can taste the dyes...
    The fact you can taste them doesn't matter for the purpose of this article, though. The idea is that the color makes people perceive the taste to match other foods of the same color, based on their own experiences or expectations.
    
    That is, the same coloring (orange, for example) might cause you think something like Cheetos is cheesier, while something like orange-jello is orangeier.
    
    So while I don't doubt that a dye can indeed impart its own flavor, it doesn't mean a dye's inherent flavor will make the foods taste better.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2011 @ 10:26am
    
    Re: Re: I can taste the dyes...
    The two of us got every one right.
    
    Yeah, sure.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- nasch (profile), 11 Apr 2011 @ 3:00pm
  
  Re: I can taste the dyes...
  That said, to me, most people seemingly can't taste anything. It astounds me that people can eat Doritos, which just taste like MSG, or things fried in canola oil, because it tastes like a sheet of paper.
  
  Kind of weird, sounds like you're the one who has trouble discerning tastes...
  
  The article doesn't surprise me at all, as most people's taste buds are incredibly dull.
  
  More likely the sense of smell, since your taste buds can only detect sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and savory. All other "tastes" are actually smells.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2011 @ 8:56am

Doesn't everyone add blue food dye to their potatoes to bring out that rich blueberry flavor?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2011 @ 9:00am

Oh! This must also be why the green beer on St. Patrick's Day always taste like lettuce.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Grey Ferret, 8 Apr 2011 @ 9:00am

Maybe not color, but psychology
Sure, Nacho Cheese flavored chips that are orange taste great. Those same Nacho Cheese chips without color taste bland. But, what if you took those colorless chips and re-labeled them "Aged White Cheddar" or something? Suddenly, they might taste good again. I think it has a lot to do with psychology and our expectations, and not so much to do with color.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- el_porko (profile), 8 Apr 2011 @ 9:56am
  
  Re: Maybe not color, but psychology
  Agreed,
  Ring the bell and we salivate. The food industry has changed our perception by training our basic instincts to jump through their hoops.
  
  It will take a long time (probably never) to untrain ourselves.
  
  Yet there are products like "hint" flavored waters that have no color yet are popular. Spices you can't see when added to meat, pasta, etc that change the flavors. Salt anyone?
  
  And what color is an nice apple, red? green? yellow?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Nicedoggy, 8 Apr 2011 @ 10:47am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_fruit

Would parents use taste changers foods to make their children eat healthier foods?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Rekrul, 8 Apr 2011 @ 11:20am

A couple years ago, I bought some "magic" Kool-Aid from a local supermarket. It was just standard Kool-Aid with the coloring left out. To me, it tasted like exactly what it was supposed to. I bought it not because of the novelty of it, but because they offered a flavor combination that wasn't available in the normal mixes. Sadly, they seem to have stopped carrying all the combo flavors and now just carry the 5-6 standard ones, like cherry and orange.

The only thing I didn't like about the "magic" version was that if you made up a couple different ones at the same time, you couldn't use the color to tell them apart.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
joyce, 13 Dec 2011 @ 4:48am

that is soooooooooooooooo cool!!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Cassie, 1 Feb 2012 @ 7:31am

Thank You , This is the topic for my science fair project & now i totally understand . & I remember that green ketchup , it made me get sick . & the next day i was eating regular red ketchup & i was fine . this just proved this logic correctly .
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2012 @ 1:37pm

thank you this is the same topic for my science fair project and this really heling me out!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Apr 2012 @ 1:38pm

thank you this is the same topic for my science fair project and this really heling me out!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2012 @ 1:56pm

WOW! I am doing a science project on this and its seems amazing!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 8 Nov 2012 @ 4:18pm
  
  Re:
  So I am I!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Nov 2012 @ 6:39am

Save Me A Cookieeeee!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Nov 2012 @ 7:00am

Save Me A Some SUGARRRR COOKIESSSS!!!! :)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Nov 2012 @ 4:17pm

Love this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Me, 4 Feb 2013 @ 8:06am

Color and food
What sources were used for this?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Arlette, 20 Jan 2014 @ 9:21pm

Science
In a science experiment I put food coloring in Jell-O I had four cups and marked them I only put food coloring in 3 the other one stayed yellow (IT WAS PINEAPPLE) after tasting the Jell-O they would look at the color this shows that the color does fool the human instinct you could try this at home
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 31 Mar 2014 @ 5:16pm

thank you you helped me with my science project
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
lilian, 1 Feb 2015 @ 10:48am

thanks
thank you very much for posting this article it helped me alot with my science fair project
[ link to this | view in chronology ]