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Sensory panel proficiency 
With sensory analysis so important in product development and quality monitoring, ensuring good performance of sensory panels in carrying out descriptive profiling is essential. Proficiency testing compares a sensory panel's performance with that of other similar panels using the same test material. Guidelines and procedures had been developed, as part of an earlier EU-funded project (ProfiSens), for conducting sensory proficiency testing. The European Sensory Network (ESN) has sponsored a follow-up piece of work in which CCFRA collaborated with seven other ESN partners to investigate further some conclusions from the ProfiSens project, including the use of common attributes. A proficiency trial was conducted using 8 samples of chocolate drink, formulated in a controlled way to achieve appropriate sensory distances between samples with regard to five common attributes: sweetness, bitterness, vanilla flavour, chocolate flavour and astringency. Descriptive profiling was undertaken by eight panels. Interestingly, despite using designed products and providing attribute definitions and training samples, there were still some differences in the use of common attributes. However, it proved possible to introduce additional panel performance measures that allowed distinction between panels performing poorly for different criteria, to give a more meaningful assessment of performance. 
Contact: Chantal Gilbert |