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    Home » Science Questions » Is taste linked to smell?

    Is taste linked to smell?

    November 5, 2021 By Emma Vanstone 1 Comment

    Is taste linked to smell? Have you ever wondered why food doesn’t taste as good when you have a cold and blocked nose?

    When you eat, smell chemicals from the food travel up your nose, where they are detected by tiny nerve endings at the back of the nose. These nerves send a message to the brain, which becomes part of the overall taste sensation you experience.

    If your nose is blocked, the food smell chemicals can’t reach the nerve receptors, and so the overall taste is not as strong.

    The smell of food can also act as a warning. If you open a carton of milk and it smells sour, you know before tasting it that it won’t taste good.

    Taste and Smell Investigation

    One way to investigate how smell affects taste is to close your eyes, hold your nose and ask a friend to feed you something. This activity works really well with different flavour jelly beans as the texture for each jelly bean flavour is the same, but the taste should be different!

    How is smell linked to taste? Image of a girl holding her nose and eating jelly beans
    Image and activity were taken from Gross Science
    Image shows the cover of Gross Science book and a girl holding her nose. Is taste linked to smell? Find out

    Print the activity and try it for yourself!

    Does smell impact taste? Explanation and activity, taken from Gross Science

    Find this and more smelly science experiments in Gross Science!

    Collage of experiments taken from Gross Science - a science book full of gross science for kids. Includes poo made from chocolate, mummified vegetables and bendy bones

    Last Updated on March 16, 2023 by Emma Vanstone

    « FREE Christmas Science Book
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    Safety Notice

    Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

    These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Dkraeer

      November 09, 2021 at 1:44 am

      Since I had COVID my smell and taste are definitely messed up, spicy foods, chicken, peanut butter, peanuts, and other foods just taste and smell nasty. However, if I hold my nose I can eat them. As soon as I let go the nasty taste returns. Oddly enough it doesn’t effect sweets.

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