By Dominic Maher, 5 November 1998 00:15
NEWS The University of Texas has come one step closer to replacing food tasters with an electronic tongue. Scientists have created a chip covered with microbeads - the electronic version of taste buds. Researchers believe it will respond to different analytes that determine a wide range of tastes such as sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Sue Hudson, sensory analyst for Walker Snack Foods, had never heard of the etongue but explained it probably has a long way to go. "It needs to calibrate against humans to respond to a certain amount of taste," she said. Hudson added: "Assessments would have to be made regarding how much people would like the taste and in this case the humans would come out on top." A spokesperson for Tennents Caledonian Brewery said: "We do test our beer electronically at various stages of production. But the final test before it leaves the brewery is carried out by a panel of people using taste and smell. We still think this is the best way to check the quality of our beers." Researchers hope the etongue will enable the food and drink manufacturers to store data on the most popular tastes for certain generations. They also plan to develop the chip to help test levels of toxins and cholesterol in blood and urine.
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