Is it the plate or is it the food? Assessing the influence of the color (black or white) and shape of the plate on the perception of the food placed on it

Piqueras‐Fiszman, Betina; Alcaide, Jorge Martínez; Roura, Elena; Spence, Charles

doi:10.1016/j.foodqual.2011.08.011

Cited by 227 publications

(168 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Sensation transference might, for example, partially account for the fact that properties of the tableware are associated with the food and drink [12]. High-level attributes of the accessories, such as their perceived quality and expense, might be transferred to the consumables, just as low-level attributes (such as colour) seem to be [16,17]. Similarly, psycholinguistic transference might result in descriptions of cutlery, plates, cups, or decorations being transferred onto the food (e.g., a "heavy" bowl results in the perception of food that is rated as being heavy).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In another study, Piqueras-Fiszman et al [17] compared the taste of foods served on either black or white plates. They found that a strawberry-flavoured mousse served from a white plate was perceived as 15% more intense, 10% sweeter, and was 10% more liked as compared to exactly the same dessert when served from a black (otherwise identical) plate (see Figure 5).…”

Section: Cutlerymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although explanations for the fact that the colour of the plate impacts taste/flavour perception have not been fully developed yet, these results will nevertheless hopefully make innovative chefs think a little more carefully about the colour of their plateware and its potential effects on customers' flavour perception. Piqueras-Fiszman et al [17] also investigated whether the shape of the plate influences taste/flavour perception. They found that the taste of strawberry-flavoured mousse was not affected by the shape of the plate on which it was served.…”

Section: Cutlerymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…*Represents significant differences as measured with Tukey's honestly significant difference test, p < .05. Figure and text adapted from: [17]. crossmodally [26]) in order to describe flavour attributes, it is possible that it may be more likely to exhibit sensation transference effects when used to describe foodstuffs.…”

Section: Cutlerymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing the impact of the tableware and other contextual variables on multisensory flavour perception

Spence

Harrar

Piqueras‐Fiszman

2012

Flavour

Self Cite

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Currently little is known about how the non-edible items associated with eating and drinking (tableware items such as the plates, bowls, cutlery, glasses, bottles, condiment containers, etc.), or even environmental factors (such as the lighting and/or background music), affect people's perception of foodstuffs. Here, we review the latest evidence demonstrating the importance of these contextual variables on the consumer's behavioural and hedonic response to, and sensory perception of, a variety of food and drink items. These effects are explained by a combination of psychological factors (high level attributes, such as perceived quality, that may be mediating the effects under consideration), perceptual factors (such as the Ebbinghaus-Titchener size-contrast illusion and colour contrast in the case of the colour of the plateware affecting taste/flavour perception), and physiological-chemical factors (such as differences in the release of volatile organic compounds from differently-shaped wine glasses). Together, these factors help to explain the growing body of evidence demonstrating that both the tableware and the environment can have a profound effect on our perception of food and drink.Keywords: Cutlery, Tableware, Contextual factors, Flavour, Liking, Multisensory, Weight, Colour, Size, Material ReviewResearch on the topic of flavour perception has grown rapidly over the last decade or so (see Figure 1). In particular, the relative contributions of the various sensory cues (i.e., olfactory, gustatory, somatosensory, auditory, visual, and trigeminal) to multisensory flavour perception have been examined for a wide variety of different food and beverage items (see [1,2] for reviews). While a number of recent studies have also highlighted the importance of atmospheric/environmental cues in determining what, how much, and how quickly, we eat and drink, and even how much we report liking the experience ([3,4]; for reviews, see [5,6]), far less research has studied the role of the tableware on eating, drinking, and flavour perception. Below, we review the latest evidence highlighting the significant effect that the non-edible components of eating and drinking (e.g., the cutlery, plateware, glassware, condiment containers, menus, and atmosphere) can have on people's perception of, and response to, foods and beverages. CutleryCutlery, by which we mean forks, knives, and spoons, has been in widespread use for nearly 200 years now (e.g., [7,8]). Traditionally, it was made from a wide variety of different materials, such as wood, bone, ceramic, iron, brass pewter, etc. Nowadays, though, the range of materials used for cutlery is much narrower, mainly limited to stainless steel, silver, plastic, or wood (for chopsticks and the cutlery often found in ecofriendly coffee shops). This streamlining of materials has probably resulted from a combination of factors including: the ease and cost of manufacture/production, the ease of cleaning, environmental impact, and any taste transferred from the cutlery to the food.Lau...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cutlerymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cutlerymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cutlerymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Assessing the impact of the tableware and other contextual variables on multisensory flavour perception

Spence

Harrar

Piqueras‐Fiszman

2012

Flavour

Self Cite

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“…Food perception can even be influenced by the shape of the plate it is served on. For instance, different foods have been shown to taste sweeter when sampled from a round plate than from a square one ( [11,12]; see [13], for a review; though see [14] for a null effect of plate shape on taste ratings).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the effect of shape on the evaluation of expected and actual chocolate flavour

Wang

Carvalho

Persoone³

et al. 2017

Flavour

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Background: Shape can play an important role in our perception of food. In this study, the consequences of crossmodal correspondences between shape and taste on the expected and actual experience of eating chocolate were evaluated. Participants were given two identical dark chocolates differing only in terms of their shape (round or angular) and then rated their expectations of sweetness, bitterness, creaminess and liking. Subsequently, they rated their experience of those attributes on tasting the chocolates. Repeated-measures multivariate analyses (RM-MANOVA) of variance were conducted to assess the role of chocolate shape and cacao content on expected and post-taste chocolate ratings. In addition, we assessed the differences between expected and post-taste ratings for each chocolate shape. Results: The results revealed that the shape of the chocolate significantly influenced expected sweetness, bitterness and creaminess. By contrast, it had no significant effect on post-tasting ratings. The round chocolates were judged to be less sweet, more bitter, less creamy and liked less than expected, whereas the angular chocolates were judged to be slightly more creamy than expected. Conclusions: The theory of assimilation and contrast is outlined as one plausible mechanism behind the differences between expectation and the actual taste experience. Implications for food product design and directions for future research are discussed.

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Introducing the Perfect Meal

Spence

Piqueras‐Fiszman

2014

The Perfect Meal

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Is it the plate or is it the food? Assessing the influence of the color (black or white) and shape of the plate on the perception of the food placed on it

Cited by 227 publications

References 15 publications

Assessing the impact of the tableware and other contextual variables on multisensory flavour perception

Assessing the impact of the tableware and other contextual variables on multisensory flavour perception

Assessing the effect of shape on the evaluation of expected and actual chocolate flavour

Introducing the Perfect Meal

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