That freshly baked pie. That little waffle stand. Smell starts in the nose, but the brain plays a large part in connecting smell with our eating behaviour. How?

What we eat strongly correlates with how our senses perceive and appreciate food. Not just our taste and smell, but texture, sound, look and even stimuli like pain are a part of our sensory perception that determines what we like. These sensory processes are responsible for our choice of food and, as a result, the variation of our eating pattern.

Food design

The documentary Food Design gives us a glimpse of what’s behind the veil, into the secret rooms of large manufacturers where every day, designers, scientists, chefs and developers are working on the perfect crunch. The film shows us how shape, scent, colour and texture are manipulated and created from scratch by food designers. See the trailer here.

Visual stimuli

The visual impression of food and our eating behaviour are strongly connected. The eyes send signals to the brain before our sense of taste does and therefore influences how we expect something to taste. Colour is the first thing we notice. When it comes to fruit and vegetables, we use colour to determine ripeness and freshness. If the colour doesn’t align with our expectations, we might experience taste differently.

Smell

That freshly baked pie. That little waffle stand. Smell starts in the nose, but the brain plays a large part in connecting smell with our eating behaviour. A scent is a combination of molecules. Every combination in a scent simulates a different part of the brain. Food that smells good stimulates the olfactory nerves, boosting the production of digestive juices and speeding up the processing of food.

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