Sensory Tests

Why is it worth carrying out regular sensory tests checking sensory sensitivity among your employees?

The answer is simple. If you care about proper quality control of the offered products, employees should regularly undergo sensory tests verifying their sensory abilities (I recommend at least once a year).

In order to assess product quality, an organoleptic assessment is made using human senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing). In this way, sensory discriminants are investigated, which are one of the main measures of food quality. Sensory attributes – visual, flavour and aroma of products – influence the consumer’s perception of the product and, consequently, are critical factors determining the choice of food, chemical products, tobacco products, etc. This assessment is made by employees.

It should be remembered that people have different sensory predispositions, and among them there are individuals who, due to very low sensory sensitivity or certain limitations such as colour blindness and taste blindness, should not make organoleptic evaluations of products. Such people are not able to properly assess product quality, but for some reasons still often participate in tastings and make decisions.

Colour vision deficiency, commonly known as colour blindness, is a colour recognition disorder. It manifests itself as the inability to perceive differences between some or all colours that are normally perceived by other people. Colour vision deficiency is usually a congenital, genetically determined defect inherited recessively in conjunction with the X chromosome. Therefore, it affects men much more often (approx. 8%) than women (approx. 0.5%). The disorder can also result from damage to the visual pathway from the retina to the brain cortex, as well as from side effects of drugs or chemicals.

The same applies to taste blindness. A person with this disorder is unable to partially or completely distinguish individual tastes while eating. These disorders may lead to a complete abolition of taste sensation, but also to the weakening or intensification of taste perception. Some causes lead to transient taste disturbances, while others may result in permanent loss of taste.

Nowadays, it should also be remembered that some people recovering from COVID-19 often suffer from long-term disturbances of the senses and experience distorted smells and tastes. Among them there are those who struggle with dysosmia, that is, impairment or change in the perception of olfactory sensations. For example, they may report that meat “smells like petrol” or that they smell “rotting apples” when drinking prosecco. According to scientists and doctors, there are many olfactory disorders after COVID-19 infection, and sometimes they can be so strong that they effectively hinder normal functioning.

In order to eliminate such biases from the decision-making process in matters of product quality, sensory tests for sensory sensitivity are conducted. Thanks to these tests, we can select people with appropriate sensory abilities and, where possible, create the best possible product evaluation team, ensuring correct organoleptic assessment that translates into product quality at every stage of its cycle.

However, this does not mean that people with very low sensory sensitivity or limitations should be completely excluded from organoleptic evaluation, but their opinion should not be crucial or decisive.

As part of Consumer Insight Consulting, we conduct sensory tests both at the client’s location and externally, evaluating each person individually as well as entire teams.

We also carry out tests as part of sensory workshops, which additionally increase awareness of sensory analysis, show how it can be used at work, and teach how to perform proper organoleptic evaluation.