Sensory evaluation
Sensory evaluation is a scientific discipline used to evoke, measure, analyse and interpret reactions to the characteristics of food and materials as they are perceived by the human senses (sight, smell, taste, touch and sound).
Use of sensory evaluation
At Gumlink, sensory science is a powerful tool used by Research & Development, supply chain and marketing.
Within R&D, sensory evaluation provides an objective measurement of a chewing gum’s flavour release, taste and texture, and can be used in comparison studies of competitor products.
Supply chain uses sensory science to determine whether variation in a specific product is acceptable.
For marketing purposes, sensory evaluation is a useful tool in understanding our own products and those of our competitors. Our own online consumer panel carries out both product and concept testing. Along with objective sensory measurements, this subjective consumer data can be used as key input to another extremely useful tool – preference mapping.
Methods of sensory evaluation
At Gumlink, the most commonly adopted methods are:
- Progressive profiling (a modified Time-Intensity profile)
- Time-Intensity
- Difference testing e.g. pair and triangle testing
Testing is carried out by trained internal and external panellists in ISO 8589-certified laboratories, the results of which are analysed using univariate and multivariate statistics.