Among the British workers surveyed, 44% described their lunch as “a means to an end” to refuel their body.

The research into the lunch time habits of British workers, which was led by Dr. David Lewis, further revealed that some participants were unable to even tell the difference between flavors. While 93% were unable to differentiate between beef and Chinese pork, 92% could not tell ham from tuna; 78% of them could not distinguish pork from chicken.

The results stem from the fact that participants were either distracted with work while eating, or were eating under time pressure.

"The abundance of great flavors food experiences have never been more diverse, yet our findings suggest consumers are lazy when it comes to tasting and appreciating their food. I doubt there's ever been such a rich tapestry of food and flavor combinations at our disposal, yet we're not savoring what we eat, which is not just a shame but a genuine waste of taste," Sourcewire.com quoted Lewis as saying. 

"Our lunchtime habits in particular show that workers consume food as a means to refuelling the body and most rarely, taste what they're eating," he added.

According to Lewis, it is very important to chew food properly, in order to process the food in the mouth, to break it into smaller pieces, mix with saliva and hence ease the process of digestion.

He says that a person who eats inattentively often does not chew the food properly, and hence, it could cause indigestion and heartburn. This prevents the body from absorbing essential nutrients from the food.

Also, when food is eaten in a hurry, it goes down rapidly, and by the time the stomach signals the brain that it has “had enough,” the person has already overeaten.

 From the May 24, 2012, Prepared Foods’ Daily News