This was likely the downfall of Crystal Pepsi; the actual taste did not coincide with what its color (or lack thereof) suggested. Subconsciously, consumers probably expected a lemon lime or slightly fruity taste and were thrown off when they tasted traditional cola. According to Nicki Engeseth, food scientist at the Univ. of Illinois, “People are strongly influenced by perception based on sight. If you put yellow food coloring in vanilla pudding, before they even taste it, they will think it will be lemon or banana. They will tell you it is lemon or banana even after tasting it because they are so strongly perceiving it as lemon or banana.”