The Color of Plates and Cutlery Can Influence Taste

What you expect to taste when you see your plate hinges on a number of factors. Smell may be the most obvious but did you know the color of your dinnerware also plays a huge role? New research sheds light on how color may influence your taste buds. We offer up tips on how you can use this colorful info to your healthy eating advantage.

The Color of Your Cutlery

If you were served green macaroni and cheese or blue mashed potatoes, you’d probably have a hard time “tasting” the same foods in comparison to the usual stuff. Turns out this same “color” sensory can be applied to the color of your utensils (or even your tablecloth). A new study has confirmed certain color forks and spoons may influence the taste perception of food. When participants tasted the same foods using different color cutlery, certain ratings of taste, such as sweetness and saltiness changed. For example, yogurt eaten from a blue spoon was rated saltier than with other colors. While black spoons lessened the perceived sweetness of yogurt compared to white spoons.

Contrasting Plate Colors

So if different color spoons can change your taste perception, can plates do the same? A Cornell study from the Journal of Consumer Research says contrasting the color of food with the color of your plate can help you eat less and may be more psychologically satisfying. That study found those who didn’t contrast their plate colors with their food ate 22% more than participants with high-contrast food and plates, such as red pasta on white plates, or white pasta on red plates.

How to Use Colors to Eat Better

As you find healthier replacements for foods, use color contrast to trick your tongue into the taste that it wants. Overall if you’re looking to eat less, the name of the game is to contrast the colors between your food and your plate. Here are more color tips that will help you unconsciously make better choices:

Go Green: Eat green vegetables, salads, and healthier fare on green (or dominant vegetable color) plates. This may encourage you to eat more of the dish.

Go Blue: Because blue seems to signal saltiness to many, try “healthified” versions of your favorite foods with blue cutlery. While more research is needed on this, the implication is that using blue could help mitigate the changes in taste that results from making healthier food choices (which may be less salty than what you're used to).

Go Red: The study results corroborate previous findings that snacking with a red plate may help you eat less. Use red saucers to serve up treats instead of white ones.