A team from Unilever’s Research & Development department has found evidence which suggests that the right background sounds played during a meal can significantly influence whether the food tastes good or not. It is all part of Unilever’s ongoing investigation into how multisensory perception affects food.

The research is just one of the many areas Unilever’s scientists explore to enhance consumers’ experience of its products. It could influence future recipe formulations, based on the typical environments in which they are served, but also provide consumers and restaurateurs with a greater understanding of how they can enhance the enjoyment of the food they serve.

The study was carried out by participants blindly tasting an assortment of sweet and savoury foods such as Nice biscuits, flapjacks, cheese crackers and Marmite rice cakes, while background noise was played at different volume levels. When the participants liked the background sound, this enhanced their enjoyment of the flavour of the food and when they disliked the background sound this reduced their enjoyment of the food.

A second strand of the research focused on the perceived taste and crunchiness. Scientists noticed that as the volume of the background noise increased, the strength of the salt or sugary flavours diminished, but perceived crunchiness increased. The opposite was also true.

Unilever is currently investigating potential explanations for this, including the possibility that the background noise distorts the brain’s ability to accurately gauge the senses. The next step is to take the research further, and work out how this applies to music played during a meal.