-
We studied the effect that the taste of some metals has on the perception of food.
-
Gold and stainless steel spoons did not affect the flavor of the different [dairy] creams [cf. John Harrison’s use of a golden spoon].
-
Zinc and copper enhanced the creams’ dominant taste.
-
Pleasantness was also affected statistically-significantly by the type of spoon used.
-
The effects differ from those found when metal salts are added to food/solutions.
This study investigated the effect that the taste of certain metals has on the perception of food. 4 spoons plated with different metals (gold, copper, zinc, and stainless steel) were used to taste cream samples having different tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and plain.
…2.2.2. Food stimuli: 4 creams were prepared by adding 20 g of table sugar (sweet), 5 ml of freshly squeezed lemon juice (sour), 5 g of lemon pith (bitter), and 5 g of table salt (salty) per 100 g of extra thick double cream (50.5% fat; Tesco, UK) to obtain creams of distinguishable tastes/flavours. Plain cream was also used as a ‘control’ sample.
…The results revealed that the zinc and copper spoons, in addition to transferring a somewhat metallic and bitter taste, enhanced to a greater or lesser extent, each cream’s dominant taste. Contrary to our expectations, the metallic taste of the copper and zinc spoons did not seem to affect the pleasantness of the samples statistically-significantly.
These findings reveal that the effect that the metals from which cutlery can be made have on food perception differs from that found when the metal salts are added to the composition of the food itself.
…5. Pleasantness: Finally, the type of spoon also affected the pleasantness ratings statistically-significantly (p < 0.05). In addition, the sample×spoons interaction was statistically-significant (p < 0.001), demonstrating that the differences among the samples were influenced by the spoon. The sweet sample was the most liked, tasted with the copper and zinc spoons, which gave it a slightly sweeter sensation. By contrast, the salty cream samples tasted with these spoons were the least liked. The sweet and sour creams were similarly liked (see Figure 2E). However, the differences between the spoons were not statistically-significant across samples, according to the results of Tukey’s test.
