NOISE MAKES FOOD TASTE WORSE

posted by James Reel

Here's a very interesting little article on the effect sound has on the way we perceive taste. Noise apparently makes us less sensitive to salt, which is another reason bar food is oversalted--besides the usual explanation that it's intended to make you thirsty and order more drinks. It also proposes that the roar of the engines is what makes airplane food taste so icky. And perhaps this also explains why the restaurants I enjoy most have only a low murmur of conversation and no music blaring over the sound system; the pianist in the next room half-heartedly going through Andrew Lloyd Webber's greatest hits is only a minor inconvenience.

Of course, my boss would never endorse any suggestion that you turn off the radio to make your breakfast taste better ...