IFST Sensory Science Group event: Celebrating Individuality

2018 can be certainly crowned as the year of individuality. This year, we have seen increasing levels of personalisation in the food and drink industry, together with progressively growing interest in understanding the bases of individual variation in taste acuity. This November, IFST Sensory Science Group event invited delegates from business and academia to Celebrate Individuality at the University of Nottingham’s Sutton Bonington campus. Along with three speaker presentations which explored the factors that influence individual differences among consumers and personalisation opportunities in the industry, this event provided the attendees with a great chance to share their thoughts during a group discussion session. 

The first speaker of the event, Dr Martha Skinner, Sensory Science research fellow at the University of Nottingham, presented her fascinating research into Thermal Taster Phenotype – a perceptual phenomenon where taste sensations are induced thermally (i.e. by stimulating the tongue using a range of temperatures) in the absence of a tastant. Martha presented the techniques currently used to measure the differences between taste-evoked responses in the brain across Thermal Tasters and Thermal non-Tasters and highlighted the importance of understanding the variation in thermally-induced variation in taste-responses. 

Xirui (Sherrie) Zhou, a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant at the University of Reading, presented her ongoing work on understanding individual differences in oral fat perception, and the genotypic and phenotypic factors influencing human sensitivity to fat in various food matrices. Sherrie’s presentation also explored the impact of fat-reduction on product reformulation and liking responses across consumers.  

The last presenter of the day, Emma Gubisch, Head of Consumer and Sensory Insight at Leatherhead Food Research, held a talk on growing levels of personalisation in the food and drink market, discussed a few success and failure examples in the personalised product market, and touched on some ethical issues related to using consumers’ genetical information in new product development and diet-related services.  

During the group discussion, delegates tackled the questions related to individual differences in acuity and perception, and how these differences may affect the methods we currently use in the food industry. 

All in all, the event was well-received, themes were varied and sparked a lot of discussion. When asked about the day, Jake Rigby-Wilson, Food and Nutrition undergraduate student at Bath Spa University, said: 

'Beautifully located setting with friendly and welcoming hosts. Three great talks that gave an insight into thermal tasters, post-doctoral work and wider industry trends and implications. Group discussion and activities allowed for meeting people from a broad range of industries and discuss the presentations in more detail. As an undergraduate student the meeting was a chance to see the range of industries that my study relates to, also a great chance to network while building on my reading and knowledge around sensory science.'  

Gabriele Kavaliauskaite, Sensory Science PhD Student at the University of Nottingham