Subtle differences in milk: Comparison of an analytical and an affective test

A sensory analytical test, viz. descriptive analysis, and the authenticity test, which relies on affective responses, were used to evaluate subtle flavour differences in milk. We hypothesise that the affective test is more sensitive to small differences than the analytical test. Consumers, who drink milk habitually, have an expectation as to what constitutes the typical taste of milk. These expectations are encoded without the subjects' awareness and, hence, are implicit, which means that they are not consciously available to the consumers. In the present authenticity test an upsetting story concerning foreign milk on the Danish market was told, and the consumers were asked to identify foreign and Danish milk, among samples of milk which differed with regard to the feed given to the cows and the length of time the milk had been stored. A standard descriptive analysis was carried out with the same types of milk used for the authenticity test. The results suggest that subjects in the authenticity test and in descriptive analysis make use of different evaluative processes, and that the ability to perceive subtle flavour differences was sharpened in the authenticity test.