Food perception Appearance Colour Texture

Food perception

Colours are significant and to a consumer, can be the deciding point in purchasing a product. Blue food is a rare occurrence in nature. There are no leafy blue vegetables, no blue meats, and aside from blueberries and the odd blue potato in remote corners of the world, blue just doesnt exist in any significant quantity as a natural food colour.

We dont have an automatic appetite response to blue because our primal nature avoids food that we deem poisonous blue being the key signifier. Due to the negative connotations associated with the colour, it is often seen as an appetite suppressant and is used frequently within diet schemes; simply using blue food colouring is enough to reduce food intake.

 Food perception

Red is a stimulating and energising colour, particularly in relation to hunger. It raises blood pressure and heart rate by energising the nerves and the circulation of blood. The colour is often used within the branding of fast food restaurants. The colour subconsciously lets customers know that the restaurant is high-energy, bustling, and most importantly, fast.

 Food perception

Red is a stimulating and energising colour, particularly in relation to hunger. It raises blood pressure and heart rate by energising the nerves and the circulation of blood. The colour is often used within the branding of fast food restaurants as it subconsciously lets customers know that the restaurant is high-energy, bustling, and most importantly, fast.

Yellow, in association with red, creates heightens these reactions Red and yellow are seen as hot colours and are known to speed up the metabolism, cause blood pressure to rise and increase appetite. You may realize that you order more food, eat faster and leave the restaurant quicker due to the subliminal effect of the colours.

 Food perception

If you want to eat more green vegetables, eat them from a green plate. A lower contrast often results in a larger intake.

 Food perception

It is seen that the best colour to use within food branding is orange due to its warm and rich connotations. As a citrus colour, orange is associated with healthy food and as a result, stimulates appetite and increases hunger. Sainsburys in particular has adopted the colour through their branding. Their orange exactly captures that reminder that you might be hungry. If you see Sainsburys branding and are slightly hungry but had not realised it, it is going to activate that instinct.

 Food perception

The E in E-numbers stands for Europe, and the number code relates to a set of EU rules about which foods can contain them and how much you should be able to consume in a day. For instance, E160c is paprika and E300 is Vitamin C. The rules were developed to regulate additives (rather than encourage their use), so that dangerous substances like toxic lead tetroxide could be banned from use in childrens sweets. In the past, food adulteration was a deadly problem.

 Food perception

The reality is that all foods are a combination of chemicals, whether added by man or not, and just because a food is organic doesnt necessarily make it better for you. The worst nutritional problems are caused by substances that come in purely organic form: salt, fat and sugar, none of which are E numbers. According to a study, producing meals in six different colours will boost a young persons appetite, while dishes arranged into fun shapes, such as hearts or smiley faces will have even more appeal. The scientists found youngsters were much more likely to clear their plate when there was more colour and choice than adults would typically choose.

 Food perception

In 2011, Tesco unveiled rainbow packs containing sprigs of purple, orange and emerald green cauliflower aimed at youngsters reluctant to eat their greens. Young children prefer vibrant colours and respond more positively than they do to pastels or muted blends. Children also preferred the main part of the meal, such as the meat, at the front of the plate and were especially particular about food being attractively arranged into a recognisable pattern.

 Food perception

Psychologists Stephen Palmer and Karen Schloss tested the theory that human colour preference is adaptive; that is, people are more likely to survive and reproduce successfully if they are attracted to objects with colours that look good to them, and they will avoid objects with colours that look bad to them. The idea is that the more experiencebased feedback that a person receives about a particular colour that is associated with a positive experience, the more the person will tend to like that colour. But is this colour preference hard-wired by evolution or learned? Interestingly, the researchers found that Japanese colour preferences were different from American preferences, suggesting a cultural influence on colour preference.