Super tasters have a special gene?

Do you like snacks? There is a profession that allows people to taste all kinds of delicious food for free. Is this your ideal profession? Let’s learn about this enviable job.

Weird atmosphere “dinner”

In a room, a lot of food was placed on the table, and several people sat around. They each took a cup of water to gargle, then picked up a few nuts and looked at them carefully; Put the nuts under your nose, smell the taste, send them to your mouth, bite them, chew and taste them carefully; At the same time, what is recorded in the book; After eating these nuts, they gargle again, grab another food and repeat the steps just now… Although these people taste all kinds of snacks, they don’t show the lightness and pleasure of enjoying delicious food, but look serious. 

This is actually the work scene of food tasters. They are also known as “tasters”. Whether the taste of food is qualified or not should be identified by them.

Delicious or not, the tasting teacher has the final say.

In modern times, whether the ingredients of food are safe or not can be detected by machines, but machines can not evaluate whether the food is delicious or not. They can only be evaluated manually. Therefore, there is a profession of taster. The taster records the appearance, smell and taste of food samples through observation, smell and taste, and provides suggestions for improving the taste of food. The food processing factory will readjust the formula according to the suggestions of the taster.

There are many kinds of tasters, some are responsible for tasting a variety of foods, and some are specially responsible for one kind of food, such as ice cream tasters, chocolate tasters and so on. The most special one is pet food tasters, that’s right! The taste of cat food and dog food also needs to be tasted by humans.

Super taster

Tasters must have the ability to taste trickily. They should be able to detect the differences in taste caused by small changes in food formula. Most of them are naturally sensitive to taste. These people are called super tasters, and their number is only about a quarter of the total population. Scientists believe that most super tasters have a special gene. Some of them have more tongue taste buds than ordinary people, which makes them particularly sensitive to some tastes.

Their keen taste and long-term experience in tasting make them form a unique taste memory. They can even taste the source of food, how high the sugar content is, and what spices are added in production

Occupational requirements and unavoidable injuries

Tasters must be careful to protect their sense of smell and taste. They can’t use scented items or eat as they like. They should also strictly maintain a good work and rest.

In addition, tasters also need to face a series of “industrial injuries” – sometimes the food they try is not necessarily what they like. Maybe someone hates coriander, but has to taste a pile of coriander flavored products; If you keep trying some fried foods, you may get a mouthful of blisters; Eating food for a long time will lead to fatigue of taste buds, gastrointestinal dysfunction and loss of appetite; There are also obvious obesity and dental problems.

How to become a food taster

Food tasters should have a sensitive nose and tongue. Some food enterprises will test the taste and smell of tasters, and only after passing the test can they work; To carry out in-depth taste training, be able to identify the taste, aroma and texture of different foods; To describe food, you can’t just say “good” or “very sweet”. For example, to taste a biscuit, you need to say its sweetness, spice intensity, crispness, water content of nuts, etc; In addition, it is also important to know which flavor is more popular, which can cater to the tastes of consumers. If you are a pet food taster, you need to know the tastes of animals.

In addition, mastering professional knowledge of food science, cooking and nutrition can also help tasters make more accurate analysis of food taste or formula. 

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