研究：餐具的颜色和形状会影响食物口感

英国牛津大学的研究人员发现，餐具的大小、重量、形状及颜色均会对食物的口感产生影响；比如，用白色的勺子吃酸奶会觉得口感更好，而用刀取食奶酪会让其咸味更明显。研究人员表示，食物在被送到嘴里之前，大脑就已经对其口感做出了判断。他们发现，当餐具的重量和颜色与大脑预期一致时，食物的口感也会随之被影响。比如，用平时吃甜点的小勺子吃东西，食物尝起来会更甜；用白色的勺子吃白色的酸奶会觉得酸奶更甜。研究人员指出，我们对食物的品尝过程是一个多重感官体验的过程，包括味觉、食物的口感、香味以及眼睛的观感。

Our perception of how food tastes is influenced by cutlery, research suggests.

Size, weight, shape and color all have an effect on flavor, says a University of Oxford team.

Cheese tastes saltier when eaten from a knife rather than a fork; while white spoons make yoghurt taste better, experiments show.

The study in the journal Flavour suggests the brain makes judgments on food even before it goes in the mouth.

More than 100 students took part in three experiments looking at the influence of weight, color and shape of cutlery on taste.

The researchers found that when the weight of the cutlery conformed to expectations, this had an impact on how the food tastes.

For example, food tasted sweeter on the small spoons that are traditionally used to serve desserts.

Color contrast was also an important factor - white yoghurt eaten from a white spoon was rated sweeter than white yoghurt tasted on a black spoon.

Similarly, when testers were offered cheese on a knife, spoon, fork or toothpick, they found that the cheese from a knife tasted saltiest.

"How we experience food is a multisensory experience involving taste, feel of the food in our mouths, aroma, and the feasting of our eyes," said Prof Charles Spence and Dr Vanessa Harrar.

"Even before we put food into our mouths our brains have made a judgment about it, which affects our overall experience."

Past research has shown that crockery can alter our perception of food and drink.

For example, people generally eat less when food is served on smaller plates.

The new research into how the brain influences food perceptions could help dieters or improve gastronomic experiences at restaurants, said Prof Spence.

He told BBC News: "There's a lot more to food than what's on the plate. Many things we thought didn't matter do. We're going to see a lot more of neuroscience design around mealtimes."