March 20/Amsterdam/Flavour -- Dutch researchers found that a food's aroma intensity influenced a person's first bite, as well as additional bites. Higher aroma intensities, or more concentrated smells, led to smaller bite sizes of a food. (A bite size in this study referred to the amount of food placed in the mouth at any one time.)
"The reduction in bite size as a result of aroma is relatively small," the researchers write. In fact, they estimate it may be between 5% and 10% of food intake per bite.