Chrissy Teigen thinks the best Skittle is the purple one (followed by red), and while I’d hate to start an argument with the Queen of Twitter herself, it turns out there isn’t that big of a difference between the two colors. Your brain just thinks there is.
The best skittle is purple followed closely by red
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 7, 2018
Earlier this year, a neuroscientist revealed Skittles’ hidden secret. Did you think grape, lime, orange, or strawberry was your favorite? Whatever you thought, you’re wrong. They all have the same flavor.
TIL: Skittles have different fragrances and different colors — but they all taste exactly the same. 🌈 https://t.co/cPZZSdEx3H
— NPR (@NPR) January 8, 2018
In blind tests, experiments showed people couldn’t actually distinguish which Skittle flavor they were eating, because while each Skittle color has its own scent, in the end, they are all flavored the same way. The combo of color and scent only makes us think we’re eating different flavors. (Go ahead, try it yourself).
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6OaRBn26ik"]#MindBlown. Every @Skittles is the exact same flavor. They taste different because they smell different. Try plugging your nose while eating. pic.twitter.com/mUjPcNzhqd
— Todd Gutner (@Todd_Gutner) January 19, 2018
Scientists have tested the impact that food color has on our sense of taste, including in some less-than-appetizing experiments in which they dyed steak blue (some participants got sick when they realized what they were eating).
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yddVG4zo9y4&feature=share"]Other experiments gave participants uncolored drinks of various flavors and asked them to identify what they were tasting. In this round, the participants were able to correctly guess the flavors. But when those same drinks were colored with the wrong color — an orange-flavored drink colored red, for example — it got harder for testers to name what they were tasting, and they often fell back to relying on the color of the drink to decide what flavor they were drinking.
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiYmXZyfH9s"]We eat with our eyes as much as our mouths, and the color of our food is as important to our perception of the taste as the actual flavor. It says a lot of our perception of color and flavor that Gatorade has a drink simply called Cool Blue.
if you ever meet someone who calls Gatorade flavors the actual name of the flavor instead of just the color they are 100% a cop
— pointy (@chipspopandabar) July 15, 2017
That natural inclination to judge food by how it looks has led manufacturers to use color to their advantage, and not just in candies and cereals. Oranges are often dyed a brighter hue since they can be harvested while still green, and no one wants to eat a green orange. Even strawberries, blueberries, and apples are dyed. That orange tastes juicier when you believe it came from a brightly colored fruit, that apple tastes sweeter the more red it looks.
You can use this illusion to your advantage, too. Want wine to taste better? Change the light you drink it in. A study found that wine tasted better in blue and red ambient lighted environments over environments with green or white lighting. Want your dessert to taste better without overloading it with sugar? Bright colors are often perceived to be sweeter.
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEpg9x2CLFY"]By now you may be wondering what foods you can actually trust. What is artificially-colored, and what flavor are they anyway? Froot Loops all taste the same. Haribo gummy bears each have their own flavor, but other gummies may not. Starbursts are individually flavored (Chrissy says the pink is the best, I say the red). M&Ms are all chocolate, obviously.
[fm_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGPs4E_jZeY"]Best sour patch is red
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 7, 2018
And while there were rumors that Coca-Cola is actually green and dyed brown, don’t worry. That one isn’t true.
So next time you eat multi-flavored candy, or grab a colored sports drink, think about the flavor without considering the color.
What does it really taste like?
If you love food science, you’ll love this video (we dare you to stop watching once you start!):
Told ya so.
