A taste tester evaluates the taste, smell, and appearance of food products, providing useful information to scientists and food managers. They analyze aesthetic elements, smell, and taste, providing both quantitative and qualitative data. The tester must have an educational background in food production science.
A taste tester’s responsibilities often involve product testing and quality control to determine the attractiveness, taste, and smell of a given food. Different procedures can be used, although in general it involves smelling and tasting a piece of food. Aesthetic elements of a dish or food can be considered to ensure that the color is attractive and appropriate for the taste of a product. The taste tester is responsible for providing useful and relevant information about the item, describing the taste and making recommendations to scientists and food managers based on their findings.
As the title of the job suggests, much of what the taste tester does is based on determining various qualities about the taste and smell of different foods. People working in this position are usually food technicians with an educational background in the science of food production. A taste tester’s job usually begins with an analysis of a dish’s aesthetic elements, including color and visual texture considerations. If one is testing a new grape-flavored candy, for example, the color and similar features should reinforce that flavor and make the food more cohesive.
After the visual inspection is complete, the tester is likely to consider other sensual elements of the food, most notably smell and taste. The scent is supposed to help a person recognize whether it will be sweet or salty, and the tester can help determine how well a particular item does that. It is also important that the smell is pleasant and the taste must match the objectives of a food. If the grape candy in the previous example doesn’t taste like “grape” for many people, the taste tester will try to provide information about what’s wrong with it.
The information provided by a taste tester is one of the most important elements of the job. This is used for analysis by other food scientists to determine the extent to which the product fulfills its objectives and to consider additional actions that may be required in development. It is important for the taste tester to provide both quantitative, numerical, data and qualitative, descriptive information during the execution of a test. Additional testing may be performed on an item, and the tester may also be responsible for cleaning the testing area and ensuring sanitary conditions are maintained.
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