For a significant number of consumers, low-fat or fat-free foods have proven something of an anathema. For that matter, I well remember my grandmother despising the very notion of reduced-fat products, almost recoiling at the mere suggestion of the foods. Family members often wondered why she had such a dislike of the products, as most of us could not tell much of a difference, and the dieting and health benefits outweighed any lack of similarity.
Now, word comes that she may have been on to something. Researchers from Australia’s Deakin University believe humans have a sixth taste, by which they can detect fat, joining bitter, salt, sour, sweet and umami. The Deakin scientists utilized a series of taste-testing experiments to discover that humans are able to identify the taste of fat by its chemical composition, as opposed to its texture. According to their research, consumers who are highly sensitive to the taste of fat appear to eat less of it and, as a result, have significantly lower body mass indexes (BMI). As the lead researcher, Russell Keast, notes, “Fat has a very nice mouthfeel to it, (but it) appears that fat is activating something in the oral cavity independent of texture,” according to the Sydney Morning Herald.