![]() Consumers identified factors that influenced their evaluation. Ground beef burger patties were rated on descriptive textures such as surface roughness, firmness, connective tissue amount, cohesive mass, particle size and chewiness. Miller found interesting differences in the way chewers, crunchers, smooshers and suckers experience hamburgers and steaks based on the way the meat was processed prior to cooking. "So as meat scientists, our concern is, especially when beef prices are high, retailers want to know how they can get consumers to buy beef one more time a month," Miller said. "But we know there are some that are: for instance, granola bars-do you want them crunchy or chewy? You can look at the package merchandising and see they know there is a difference in what their consumer wants," she said. Her study revealed that many times, products are made without considering consumers' sensory behaviors. The study also showed that suckers reject products at a 45% level, while smooshers reject at 29%, crunchers at 16%, and chewers at 10%. population consists of about 8% suckers, 43% chewers, 33% crunchers and 16% smooshers. Smooshers use their tongue and the roof of their mouth suckers appropriately suck the flavor out before chewing. Crunchers are often accused by others of being too loud. Miller breaks down the mouthfeels a little more: chewers and crunchers have the same mouth motions, but chewers are less vigorous in their chew and eat food more slowly, while crunchers eat food forcefully. "They talk about flavor, but not texture, because we have a low awareness of how to verbalize that." "In general, people have a very low texture awareness," she said. Researchers are interested in whether texture impacts purchasing habits regarding food products. Texture is a strong driver of rejection of a food item. Little is known about what drives people's preferences, but everyone is born with a preference for texture, Miller said. "Most people don't even realize they are manipulating their food in their mouth," Miller said.īut Miller does, as she operates the Sensory Science Evaluation Laboratory, conducting research on a variety of meat and food products, evaluating them for flavor and palatability. Suckers and smooshers manipulate food between their tongue and the roof of their mouth.īut these texture terms are not universally understood-a "good crunch" to a cruncher is much different to a chewer. Chewers and crunchers like to use their teeth to break down foods. ![]() People manipulate food in their mouths differently-some use their molars and chew some people manipulate the food with their tongue. She conducted a three-phase Mouth Behavior Study involving how all four types of eaters consume beef and steak. Miller is applying her mouthfeel research to products in the beef industry to determine how to improve consumption. Texture has been one of the trends in food product messaging for several years, said Rhonda Miller, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research Faculty Fellow and meat science professor in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Animal Science in Bryan-College Station. ![]()
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