We eat with our eyes, our mouths and … our ears. Specialists from the University of Oxford have shown that the perception of the sweetness of a cake increases if we listen to high frequency sounds when ingesting it. On the other hand, the low frequency ones enhance the bitterness of the coffee and the taste of Parmesan and soy sauce.
And there is much more. In a noisy environment, the perception of the sweetness of food is noticeably reduced. Other experiments indicate that both the sweet and salty taste lose strength when we eat while listening to loud music . According to experts, the relationship between hearing and taste should not be surprising, as the bilateral branches of the facial nerve that reach the taste buds cross the eardrum on their way to the brain.
Sounds also affect satiety. Thus, if we hear how fried potatoes crunch in our mouths or the noise caused by a food when chewing it, we eat less than if we listen to music or watch a movie at high volume while we eat. This was demonstrated last year by a study from Colorado State University, in the US This is known as the crunch effect. Gina Mohr, co-author of the work, affirms that "food sounds are an important sensory signal in the culinary experience."
