An academic named Professor Barry Smith, who founded something called the Centre for the Study of the Senses in the Philosophy department of the University of London, had an idea on a flight.
He flew British Airways round-trip to Istanbul both with and without noise-cancelling headphones, and he ate the food.
That’s adventurous enough, you might say. But the learned man came away with a new discovery: Without the non-stop drone of the engines in his ears he was able to enjoy the food more. With more testing, he found a pattern.
“Apart from the dry air and the fact you are at high altitude in a low-pressure environment, white noise in your ear makes the tongue less able to discriminate between sweet and sour by about 15 per cent,” he told the Daily Mail.
“But it doesn’t seem to affect umami— the savory taste of foods such as strong cheese, shellfish, tomatoes and soy,” Smith claimed. “At the same time, droning sounds accentuate bitterness.”
The Daily Mail reported that British Airways responded to the discovery, which was published two years ago, by using more foods with umami flavors.
But since then, British Airways has found an even better way to improve complaints about its food: Don’t serve any. The airline is ending free meals in coach on flights five hours or shorter.
For flights that do still subject you to their cooking, may we suggest ordering the headphones?