New research on the affects of background noise and how we perceive taste.
While louder noise reduced the reported sweetness or saltiness, it increased the measure of crunch.
The research is reported in the journal Food Quality and Preference.
It may go some way to explaining why airline food is notoriously bland – a phenomenon that drives airline catering companies to heavily season their foods.
“Theres a general opinion that aeroplane foods arent fantastic,” said Andy Woods, a researcher from Unilevers laboratories and the University of Manchester.
via BBC News – Background noise affects taste of foods, research shows.