Consumer textural food perception over time based on Mouth Behavior.

Food texture assessment is difficult because it is constantly being modified as a food is eaten. While texture has generally been statically assessed, methods aimed at measurement over time are becoming more common. However, even when texture is assessed over time, that assessment is based on averages across all individuals. This study shows that individuals with different Mouth Behaviors eat foods differently in an effort to develop a texture that suits their Mouth Behavior. Because of this, their texture assessments differ over the eating experience. Overall liking was driven by whether individuals were able to transform the product texture into one that aligned with their Mouth Behavior and how well they liked the dominant texture attribute. 1) Better development of products that meet consumer needs and their expectations of texture 2) Consumer-friendly tools to understand texture over time - aimed at improved product attributes 3) Texture development that meets the needs of targeted segments based on their Mouth Behavior 4) Demonstrating the limitations of current texture assessment, with the intent of improving those methods. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.