Sensory Evaluation Practices: Food and Science Technology Series

This Second Edition of Sensory Evaluation Practices provides the background and understanding necessary to make informed decisions about managing a sensory evaluation program, designing tests, and interpreting and reporting results. The authors have been in the sensory management consulting business for more than 20 years and bring their expertise to the enthusiastic and comprehensive revision of this invaluable book. Sensory evaluation of a product is the measurement of what is perceived about that product―not only in terms of its efficacy, but also by the more subtle influences of sight, smell, taste, touch, and where applicable, sound. A key benefit from this exciting and quantitative science is cost reduction in product reformulation due to the ability to evaluate a product's consumer acceptance in the marketplace.

• Reveals changes in the field, particularly in the business view of sensory evaluation as a product information source
• Clarifies the relationships between product specialists/experts and sensory panels, between sensory and market research , and between study of perception and sensory evaluation of products
• Includes discussion of test requests and their "hidden agenda" product selection, and the relative merits of testing products from different (laboratory, pilot plant, production) sources
• Introduces two new methods of quantitative descriptive analysis and an investigation of the merits of product specific versus global panels
• Discusses affective testing and the advantages of various methods including testing with children, the interaction between sensory and market research, the use of employees versus non-employees, and the effect of the number of judgments on product decisions

Herbert Stone, Ph.D. is Senior Advisor & Co-Founder of Tragon Corporation where he served as President from 1974-2008. A former Director of Stanford Research Institute’s (SRI) Food & Agricultural Sciences Department, Dr. Stone was President of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) from 2004-2005. With a Ph.D. from U.C. Davis, he has lectured worldwide, is the author of over 150 publications, and holds six patents. Dr. Stone founded Tragon® in 1974 with Joel L. Sidel. Dr. Stone serves as the Scientific Editor for the Sensory and Quality Section of the Journal of Food Science. He also serves on the Univ. of Massachusetts and UC Davis advisory boards and also serves as Adjunct Professor, Fuzhou University and Visiting Professor, Southern Yangtze University. He chairs the Sensory Science Scholarship Fund. He is the 2010 recipient of the ASTM E18 Peryam Award for contributions to the science of sensory evaluation.

In 1974, Stone and Sidel founded the Tragon Corporation, an important sensory consulting and testing company offering full-service consumer goods research. As a pioneering company in the field of sensory evaluation, Tragon has been able to offer unparalleled capabilities to its customers through the Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) sensory method, a market evaluation system developed by Stone and Sidel.Cumulatively, the authors have over half a century experience in the field of sensory evaluation. In addition to founding the Tragon Corporation, the authors have conducted domestic and international workshops; designed, analyzed, and reported on over 10,000 sensory tests; and have been sensory consultants to the senior management of most major food and consumer products companies.