Studies involving young adults have clearly demonstrated that familiar-looking foods make people expect a certain taste based on previous memories, to the extent that this actually influences the perception of the food during consumption, whereas with unfamiliar-looking foods the perception is based on sensory evaluation of the oral characteristics
The influence of food familiarity on food perception/liking has been investigated among seniors in a few studies.
However, the results observed so far are not straightforward to compile. Firstly, seniors are reported to have a clear preference for well-liked familiar foods as opposed to unfamiliar foods, independent of their sensory performance.