Silvia King laughs when asked why she likes her job as a sensory analyst.
"I get to taste food," she says. "But don't write that down."
All jokes aside, King, a sensory analyst in Maryland, likes her job because
it's fun. "I thoroughly enjoy it. The fun part is that we work with people
constantly because they are the ones that do the tasting for us. They provide
us with the information that we need."
Despite the fun she has at her job, there are times when King has tough
issues to handle. "Sometimes when we do a consumer test, we don't get very
clear direction. Or the consumers are saying one thing, but we are not sure
what they mean by it. Those are times when there is a lot more intuition than
skill to the job."
Another great aspect of King's daily work is the investigative component.
"I like to investigate things and try to understand. Humans are basically
our instruments, and they are so complex," she says.
"It makes it really interesting because you have to know a little bit of
everything -- math, psychology, food science. I work with a whole list of
products, from ingredients to any kind of finished product. That keeps it
interesting. There's a lot of variety in my work."
One of the funniest times she recalls was testing garlic. "We were doing
some work with garlic, and they tell you it will give you bad breath. We were
testing to see if that was true. So we were smelling each other's breath and
things like that. It was unusual, but it is seriously fun!"
Busting or proving myths about the potency of garlic is not the most important
thing King has done recently, but she says all her work is important. "Basically,
any food product that you make is going to be consumed by someone -- the consumer.
Our job is to make sure that what we produce is consistent in quality, and
that the customer is going to like it.
"If we don't have the sensory evaluation, there is no way to ensure that
the product is going to be purchased or that the consumer is going to be satisfied
with it. Ultimately, the flavor is the most important thing for someone to
go back and buy the product."
Karen Erin, a sensory analyst, says data analysis, interpretation and report
preparation are her favorite parts of the job.
"Sensory testing is an extremely important aspect of product evaluation
and development because it is integral to ultimate consumer acceptability.
That cannot be duplicated by a machine," she says.
While working with a descriptive panel is a basic part of the job, Erin
says training the panel is the hardest part. "However, when a panel has been
trained and it is performing well, it is extremely rewarding."
Erin also feels her work is important on a social level. "The food industry
attempts to keep abreast of social trends, including changing population demographics,
nutritional concerns and lifestyle changes in order to develop products that
address the increasing diversity of consumers."
Because of rapidly expanding populations and increasing diversity, Erin
feels the number of jobs that will be available to sensory analysts in the
future is growing.
"Food and personal care product industries appear to be increasing their
numbers of sensory personnel. They are recognizing the need for sensory evaluation
in both their research applications and consumer product development."
She also suggests that those who are interested in becoming a sensory analyst
should be willing to relocate, as most industries conduct their sensory research
at specific research facilities or other corporate locations.
William Mikel is a meat scientist and associate professor at the University
of Kentucky. He says the hardest part of the job is "probably maintaining
consistency day in and day out, although most sensory [work] is now also correlated
to objective instrumentation as well."
He adds that "most sensory [work] is done by tasting the product, not eating
it."