5.3.2

Sensory Testing Methods

Test yourself on Sensory Testing Methods

Test your knowledge with free interactive questions on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

Preference Tests

Preference tests show which foods people prefer. Here are two popular preference tests:

Paired preference test

Paired preference test

  • A taster gets two similar foods to sample.
  • The taster indicates which one they prefer.
Hedonic rating test

Hedonic rating test

  • Tasters try various different foods.
  • Tasters rate the foods on a scale.

Discrimination Tests

Discrimination tests are designed to see if tasters can taste the difference between products.

Triangle test

Triangle test

  • Tasters try three foods:
    • Two are the same.
    • One is slightly different.
  • Tasters select the one they think is different from the other two.
A not A test

A not A test

  • Tasters try a sample.
  • Tasters try two more samples.
    • From these two samples, tasters pick the one they think is the same as the first sample.
Reliability

Reliability

  • Triangle tests are considered slightly more reliable than A not A tests.
  • This is because tasters in triangle tests are less likely to guess the right answer than in A not A tests.
Jump to other topics
1

Food Preparation Skills

2

Food, Nutrition & Health

3

Food Science

4

Food Safety

5

Food Choice

6

Food Provenance

Practice questions on Sensory Testing Methods

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
Answer all questions on Sensory Testing Methods

Unlock your full potential with Seneca Premium

  • Unlimited access to 10,000+ open-ended exam questions

  • Mini-mock exams based on your study history

  • Unlock 800+ premium courses & e-books

Get started with Seneca Premium