Book 9, Question 38
Why Do Companies Design ‘Crunch’?
Companies design crunch because sound and texture tell your brain that food is fresh! A loud, snappy crunch can make snacks feel more satisfying. Ears help you taste chips.
More fun facts
- In a 2004 Oxford study, people bit into 180 Pringles in an hour while hearing their own crunch through headphones, changed by a computer.
- The chips seemed crisper and fresher when the crunch sounded louder or when its high pitched sounds were boosted, and staler and softer when the sound was turned down.
- Three quarters of the people thought the chips had come from different packs, even though only the sound had changed.
- When Unilever changed the Magnum ice cream coating so it would stop dropping chocolate bits, it lost its cracking sound, customers complained, and the company went back to the original recipe.
- Kellogg's believes the crunch of its cornflakes is a key reason for their success, and Cheetos once used the slogan The cheese that goes crunch!
- Crispy foods give off lots of high pitched sounds above 5 kHz, while crunching a raw carrot makes mostly lower sounds around 1 to 2 kHz.
- Crispness goes along with freshness in many fruits and vegetables, which may be part of why people love crunchy foods.
Sources: link.springer.com, ora.ox.ac.uk
Questions kids ask
Does the crunch sound really change how food tastes?
It changes how fresh and crisp food seems. In experiments, the very same chips seemed fresher when people heard a louder crunch.