A review of 2017 Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) conference: It’s not always just about the flavour!

Rachel KellyThe 2017 Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) conference took place at the De Vere Jubilee conference centre in Nottingham, United Kingdom.  The focus of this conference was to explore all sensory attributes and not just flavour alone.  There were approximately 70 attendees from both academia and the industry. 

Throughout the day there were oral presentations, poster presentations and workshops. What I like most about conferences like this is the workshops.  At this conference there were two workshops.  One focused on the appearance of a food product while the other workshop explored the aroma of food.  In the first workshop about appearance, there were 3 slices of bread and a juice drink for each person.  Firstly, the appearance of the juice drink was discussed.  It was a red juice and all participants were instructed to drink and identify the flavour.  There were varying answers in the group and it was discovered to be pineapple juice.  This was just a small insight into how we perceive a food product before we consume it.  The second workshop was about aroma.  There were three activities, one of which included a triangle test where we had to identify the odd aroma.  It is interesting as sensory scientists to take part in the tests we use in order to obtain a full understanding of what it is like for the panellists and consumers. 

An oral presentation that I found particularly interesting related to sound and sensory evaluation.  The presenter explained how he works in a laboratory test centre that specializes in listening tests.  These tests are conducted with products ranging from hearing aids, headphones or noise annoyance.  

A case study was provided with windows and how the sound of rain on windows can affect the consumers liking.  The presenter explained that panellists attend their facility and listen to sounds in designated rooms and assess the sounds just like panellists would with a food, drink or non-food product. The presenter demonstrated sounds the panellists heard in the test with 3 different recordings as part of the presentation.  Listening to the sounds one after the other was very insightful as they were explained why one of the sounds was the most preferred and one of the sounds was least preferred. This was an excellent example of how other aspects and not just flavour impact on our senses with everything around us. 

As part of the poster presentations, I presented a poster about my current work with beef steak.  It was interesting to see the other posters also and learn about what other students and researchers are currently doing. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and feel that I have a better understanding of how sensory evaluation is not just about the flavour but many other factors. I look forward to attending the next IFST conference in the future!

Reviewed by Rachel Kelly,

PhD student at University College Dublin, Ireland

Contact me via Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-kelly-6b088384/