Mouth work: bodily action in sensory science

Abstract

ABSTRACTSensory science is a scientific discipline that measures human responses to the sensory qualities of food products. In order for study subjects to reflect on their tasting experience, the products under study have to be put into the mouth: chewed, sucked, savored, and (possibly) swallowed. The mouth and its actions are key areas of interest for sensory science: the movements of the mouth can potentially affect how subjects perceive sensory qualities and thus determine the reliability of data. To control the actions of the mouth, sensory tests may include strict instructions on chewing behavior. This paper explores the concept of the mouth in sensory science: how is the mouth controlled, imagined, and organized in an experimental modality? It draws on the analogy of work to elucidate the mouth as a regulated and productive instrument in sensory tests. As a correlate to the productive mouth, it also shows how the consumer’s mouth is conceptualized either in contrast to, or as emanating from, standardized behaviors. Based on ethnographic research with US sensory scientists and on sensory science literature, it examines how a focus on work and its excesses can illuminate the mouth as the intimate site that scales up to mass markets.