Cultural Differences in Food Perception

Julia Low1,2* and Joanne Hort1,2

1Riddet Institute, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand2FEAST, SF&AT, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Sweden’s Disgusting Food Museum: 80 food items

Why some cultures love the tastes you hate?

Sweden’s Disgusting Food Museum:• Wine made of

baby mice • Fruit Bat Soup • Frog Smoothies• Canned pork

brains with milk gravy

But vegemite toast…

Taste and Food Preference

• ‘Taste’ is a key driver of food choice

• Evolutionary perspective of taste (sweet=energy)

• Large individual variation in capability to perceive taste

Breslin, 2013. An evolutionary perspective on Food and Human Taste, Current Biology.

Individual variation in perception (Low et al., 2016)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

1.0 1.6 2.7 4.5 7.4 12.1 20.0 33.0 54.5 89.9 148.3

Freq

uenc

y

Concentrations (mM/L)

not watersweetx33 folds

Glucose

Low et al., 2016. Psychophysical evaluation of sweetness function across multiple sweeteners, Chemical Senses.

Individual variation in perception

Environment

Exposure

Individual

Individual: Genetics, gender, age, health status, dietary intake, emotions, smoking status, pregnancy

Exposure: Habits, familiarity, prior experience

Environment: Culture, family/friends/ context

Gender - Individual variation in perception (Yang et al., 2018)

0.12 0.14

0.430.24

0.450.63

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Female (n=176) Male (n=72)

Prop

ortio

n

SLS * Gender (p=0.01)

Unclassified Sweet Disliker

45% of Females were Sweet likers, compared to 63% of Males were Sweet likers

Yang et al., 2018. Where are we with individual variation in perception? Understanding different taste phenotype and genotype in taste sensitivity. Presented at Eurosense 2018, Verona Italy

Genetics – Individual variation in perception(Yang et al., 2018)

0.260.09 0.14 0.06

0.50

0.36 0.29 0.44

0.24

0.55 0.57 0.50

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Caucasian (n=156) Asian (n=67) Black (n=7) Others (n=18)

Prop

ortio

n

PTS * Ethnicity (p=0.0001)

NT MT ST

55% of Asians were Supertasters, compared to 24% of Caucasians were Supertasters.

Supertaster: Experiences the sense of taste with far greater oral sensation including texture

Yang et al., 2018. Where are we with individual variation in perception? Understanding different taste phenotype and genotype in taste sensitivity. Presented at Eurosense 2018, Verona Italy

Cross-cultural differences in sensory taste perception

• Intensity perception of the 4 basic tastes between “westerners” (Australians) vs. “Asians” (Japanese) does not differ much (Laing et al., 1993, Prescott, 1998, Holt et al., 2000, Prescott & Bell, 1993)

• Differences in responses to taste stimuli emerge when hedonic responses are measured (Laing, 1993)

Cross-cultural differences in food preference

• Mean liking of sweet products were dependent on the context in which sweetness is judged (Prescott & Bell, 1995).

Exporting to Asia?

Exporting to Asia

• Asia is highly differentiated

• Preference of drinking water temperature differs throughout Asia

Challenges of exporting to China

• ~1.4 billion people in China (4.79 million in NZ)

• China is a highly differentiated nation

Challenges of exporting to China

• Representative group of Asian consumer

• Translation/Mistranslation of Sensory Perception (e.g. Sweetness and “freshness”)

• Scale usage

Conclusions

• Cross-cultural differences in food preferences and perception• China is a highly differentiated nation – cross cultural challenges

needs to be considered

Kia Ora & Thank you for your attention!

Find us:www.massey.ac.nz/feast

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/australia-food-blog/2014/oct/01/durian-the-worlds-most-divisive-fruit

“It tastes like completely rotten mushy onions” – Andrew Zimmern, host of Bizarre Foods

“Your breath will smell as if you’ve been French kissing your dead grandmother” – Anthony Bourdain, chef and TV host

“China Mengniu Dairy Company uses D24 variety of durian in it’s flavoured yoghurt…”

Mintel China: “Chinese consumers are open to trying different foods which incorporate durian fruit”… including pizza?

Why some cultures love the tastes you hate?

https://www.foodnavigator-asia.com/Article/2018/08/23/China-s-durian-boom-Malaysia-secures-export-deal-to-extend-the-king-of-fruits-reign