Sensory Specific Satiety, Bette's Box Lunch, and You
Almost everyone out there has a favorite food that they absolutely love to eat, whether it's a grilled fluffernutter sandwich, a pint of ice cream, or a jar of peanut butter. The first bite of whatever your favorite food happens to be is always the best, but like most people, by the time you start on the eighth slice of pizza, you realize that you're not really enjoying it anymore, and the only reason you're even eating the last peice is because your friend said you couldn't. The sensation of diminished gratification after eating a specific kind of food over and over again is known as sensory specific satiety and is a well documented phenomenon of sensory science. When certain types of foods are eaten in large amounts, the last few bites always give significantly less satisfaction to the consumer. The effect is seen the most when eating foods that have a characteristic taste; potato chips are salty, candy is sweet, coffee is bitter, lemons are sour, meat is savory.
The easiest way to avoid sensory specific satiety is to vary the types of foods that you eat in a meal, which is where the genius of Bette's Box Lunch really lies. Within the box lunch there is a wide variety of flavors and tastes. The turkey and stuffing in the Thanksgiving sandwich have very pronounced savory notes, while the freshly cut fruit salad has a deliciously refreshing sweet taste, and the key lime Upcake, made with real lime juice, is just sour enough to make your mouth pucker.
If you're thinking of making a new years's resolution, especially in regards to portion sizes, maybe a Dixie PIcnic would be a nice change. We think that the variety of sensory experiences you find in our food along with the enjoyable surroundings and philosophy could help you in finding some new food choices. Order in advance to give yourself a truly relaxing lunch hour, without a lunchtime trip that sometimes leaves us stressed to the point that we eat more and enjoy it less.
Happy New Year and Welcome to Dixie PIcnic Frazer!
Cameron Prescott is a senior in the Food Science program at Penn State University. When not managing Dixie Picnic in the summer you can find him studying food chemistry in the Food Science Building (the Berkey Creamery) at University Park. You can contact him at ccp5006@psu.edu.