Sensory Testing
Trained panelists are commonly used to measure the
sensory changes in products over time. These
panelists should be highly skille
d at describing the appearance, ar
oma, flavor, and texture of the
product. For most shelf life tests, three to five
trained sensory panelists evaluate the samples at
each time point. During an initial evaluation, pane
lists describe or rate the intensity of key sensory
attributes of each sample. These scores or de
scriptions are anchored to the scoresheet for
comparison at later time points.
Panelists then describe or rate the changes in samples that have
been held under typical or accelerated storage cond
itions. Panelists may also offer their subjective
opinion as to how close the aged samples are to a
refrigerated or frozen reference sample on an
overall basis. A sensory panel leader would lead
the group discussion and record their consensus of
opinion. However, the final decision on accept
ability of the product belongs to the company.