Can Culture Be Measured by Food Science?

Can culture as expressed through food be quantified? Using modern scientific tools that analyze texture, flavor, and aroma, along with techniques to calibrate these measurements to human perception and cultural context, researchers and manufacturers aim to preserve regional identities and emotional connections in cuisine.

The invisible things we still try to understand

We measure everything that matters to us. A runner tracks their pace to see if they’re getting stronger. A smartwatch estimates sleep quality to tell us how rested we really are. Even mood can be estimated from movement, speech, or heart‑rate variability. Those numbers don’t replace the experience—they help us interpret it and make better choices the next day.

Food science is doing something similar on a larger scale. In my conversation with Thermo Fisher Scientific application scientist Dr. Gabriela Saavedra, she said something that lingered: “Food is not just food—it’s emotion.” If emotion and culture shape what we eat, then making better food could be made possible by measuring the parts of eating we once assumed were unmeasurable. Measurement matters because it gives us levers to act, so we can keep what people love about food while improving safety, consistency, and access.

Measuring what we taste and smell

When you describe a dessert as creamy or a chip as perfectly crisp, you’re speaking a language food scientists work hard to translate into numbers. Rheology makes that translation possible by measuring the forces that define texture: viscosity, gelling, and lubrication. Rheology studies how materials flow and deform under stress, by tracking changes in elasticity, yield stress, and consistency as foods move through manufacturing, filling, or storage. Advanced rheometers can even pair with optical methods to visualize how a product’s internal structure evolves in real time, linking what we feel on the tongue to what’s happening at the molecular level.

Extrusion plays a complementary role by putting those measurements into action. The extrusion process uses controlled mechanical and thermal energy to transform ingredients at the molecular level, shaping starches or plant proteins into specific forms and textures. Precise control of temperature, pressure, and moisture ensures the results match the target measurements for texture and structure—so the “crisp,” “chew,” or “smoothness” people expect can be reproduced consistently at scale.

But instruments don’t replace human perception, they calibrate to it. Trained sensory panels map how people actually describe mouthfeel and flavor, and developers correlate those sensations with measurable properties. That creates a shared reference point between science and experience. So, if a sauce feels too thin or a plant‑based burger seems too firm, there’s a path to adjust viscosity, fiber alignment, or processing conditions in a targeted way.

Flavor stability can be managed, too. Encapsulation techniques protect fragile aromas from heat, oxygen, and dissipation over time. By embedding flavors in carriers like sugars or starches (often via twin‑screw extrusion), developers can time the release of aroma during cooking or eating. That’s not measurement by itself, but it relies on measurements of volatility, oxidation, and release profiles to hit the mark. The goal is simple: the food you love still tastes like itself tomorrow, next year, or after it has traveled halfway across the world.

Listen to the conversation

Measuring the experience matters for food authenticity

Measuring something like “mouthfeel” might sound trivial next to other scientific challenges, but it’s fundamental to acceptance. Small deviations in viscosity, fiber alignment, or flavor release can completely change how a product feels—and how it’s perceived emotionally. A sauce that’s slightly too thin, a plant‑based cutlet that’s rubbery, or a spice blend that fades after processing can turn curiosity into distrust.

Measurement is what lets teams reproduce positive experiences reliably as they scale and ship. Rheology curves, extrusion parameters, and release profiles aren’t just lab data; they’re the guardrails that keep texture, aroma, and pleasure intact through manufacturing, packaging, transport, and shelf life. Consistency builds familiarity. And familiarity builds connection.

The cultural layer of flavor

Still, what counts as “ideal texture” or “authentic flavor” isn’t universal. As Dr. Saavedra discussed in Field Notes, cultural context shapes perception. A perfectly chewy noodle or a dense loaf might be prized in one cuisine and considered flawed in another. Local ingredients, processing traditions, and even climate (think humidity changing crispness) influence how the very same product is experienced.

When developers measure and adjust for those differences, they’re not erasing culture—they’re acknowledging it. Sensory panels in different regions can establish slightly different benchmarks; analytical data can then be tuned to meet those benchmarks without flattening identity. That’s where scientific precision becomes cultural empathy.

Why food science and food measurement matter

Science isn’t trying to turn flavor into a formula or culture into a number. It’s trying to preserve what makes them recognizable, enjoyable, and shareable at scale. Yes, there are commercial reasons—consistency and trust matter—but there’s also a human reason. People connect through taste and texture. These cues help us recognize what’s familiar and safe, and they anchor us to memories and traditions. When we measure those cues with care, food doesn’t become mechanical; it becomes reliably itself even as production systems, ingredients, and distances change.

Closing reflection

Measuring culture in food involves translating sensory experiences like texture and flavor into quantifiable data using rheology, extrusion, and sensory panels. These approaches allow scientists and producers to interpret and reproduce desired qualities at scale, ensuring consistency and emotional resonance without erasing regional traditions. By pairing scientific precision with cultural empathy, food development now offers a more reliable experience of beloved tastes and textures, strengthening connections to memory and identity in a changing global market .

We measure things not to reduce them, but to understand them. Whether it’s charting the smoothness of chocolate, the elasticity of dough, or the release curve of an aroma, those measurements protect something fragile: the joy of eating. Measuring culture through food isn’t about quantifying identity; it’s about giving it the stability to travel, evolve, and endure.

Join the conversation behind the science → Field Notes Playlist: https://youtu.be/aPsTQwvh51s