On Monday, our Sensation Perception class followed up the jello study by investigating supertasters. There are a number of resources online that help you identify what kind of taster you are. So we did 5 different assessments to see if they would give us the same answers.
One of my favorites is a little questionnaire on the BBC. We also used the mint lifesaver test, because people are supposed to react the same way to peppermint as they are to the more scientific taste of PROP.
Probably the most dramatic thing we did was to put reinforcers on our tongues, swab some blue food coloring in the middle of the ring, and count papillae. I brought one mirror to class, but most of the class went down the hall to the restroom with their blue tongues sticking out. I guess we looked a bit odd.
We also looked at the overall structure of the tongue, using these images as models of the different taster types. Finally, I adapted a little questionnaire asking students to rate how much they liked broccoli, coffee, grapefruit juice, and other tastes that usually distinguish between taster types.
According to the BBC, about 25% of the population are non-tasters (that would be me), 25% are supertasters (Mr. F), and the remaining 50% fall somewhere in between. Women are more likely to be supertasters than men, and people from Asia, South America, and Africa are more likely to be supertasters than people from other parts of the world.
Personally, I think knowing one’s taste status can be rather useful in planning diets and just understanding the eating patterns of others. One feature that characterizes the supertaster is a “passion” for food, and I think Mr. F and our daughters definitely have that. Our latest project is to adapt our cheesecake recipe to include chocolate. We have lots around here. Mr. F bought 50 pounds of chocolate–definitely a supertaster! This is only one of the 5 10-lb bars he has in our pantry.
1 Comment
itsmuoi4 · May 30, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I just took the 5 question test which result shows that I am indeed a “super taster”. The questions, I thought, were asking things that I considered very vague and 5 short questions to me cannot determine whether or not one is a super/non taster or in between. It is quite interesting however that super tasters can taste the bitterness of PROPs whilst non-tasters cannot. Something I know for sure, regardless of the bitterness, I still continue eating, avoiding the evolutionary explanation that it was a way for the body to tell us to stop eating unsafe foods and toxins. Needless to say, I also have a passion for food but I’m anything but picky…I’d put anything in my mouth.
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