A Question Of Taste - The Smoking Debate Restaurants in UK are now smoke-free so the smoking debate tends to have taken a back seat. However, the question of does it affect the taste of the food we eat goes on, as many people still smoke prior to eating. Many kitchen staff and chefs - who determine the taste of the food we eat - are, in fact, smokers. The basic tastes are salty, sweet, bitter and sour (plus unami if you want to be pedantic). Flavour involves both taste and smell. For example, because a person is able to smell a chocolate bar while eating it, the chocolate not only tastes sweet but also has the flavour of "chocolate." The flavour of a bar of chocolate might not be as good if you couldn't smell it too. If you can't smell or taste your food, you might eat too much and gain weight, or, more likely, you might eat too little and lose weight - often the reason given for teenage smoking. You might use too much sugar and salt to try to make your food taste better which can be a problem if you have diabetes or high blood pressure. Tobacco smoking is the most concentrated form of pollution that most people will ever be exposed to. It impairs the ability to identify odours and diminishes the sense of taste. Stopping smoking improves the smell function. There is strong evidence that nicotine strongly suppresses nerve activity in brain regions involved in taste sensation. Several properties of nicotine may cause this suppression: (a) nicotine's bitter taste may suppress other tastes; (b) the irritant sensation of nicotine might inhibit taste responses similar to the way capsaicin (the chemical that makes chilli peppers burn) when too much chilli powder is used, reduces some tastes; (c) nicotine can enter the brain where it could activate areas involved in feeding How Do Taste And Smell Work? Smell and taste are a part of our sensing system much like vision and hearing. Molecules released by substances around us stimulate special nerve cells in the nose, mouth or throat. These special nerve cells transmit electric impulses to special areas of the brain that recognize smell and taste. Olfactory nerve cells are stimulated by odours around us such as flowers, baked goods, perfumes, etc.. These olfactory nerve cells are located in a tiny patch high up in the nose. They connect by nerve pathways to areas in the brain. Taste cells react to food and drink, mixed with saliva, and are located in the taste buds of the mouth and throat. Many bumps on the back of the tongue contain taste buds . These taste cells send information along nerve pathways to the brain. Unlike other nerve cells, taste and smell cells are replaced when they become old and damaged. Another set of cells in the nose and mouth have non-specialized nerve endings which are stimulated by strong and irritating sensations like ammonia, chilli peppers, onions, etc. Humans can commonly identify five basic taste sensations: sweet, sour, bitter, salt and unami (savoury like msg). But the sense of smell is necessary to identify flavours such as chocolate, the sweetness being identified by the nerve cells of the tongue and mouth. The combination of saliva with the chocolate releases odours and molecules which travel up the nasal passage from the back of the throat. The nasal cells are stimulated and the smell and flavour of chocolate will be recognized. This is why people who complain of taste problems really often have a smell disorder which interferes with the ability to identify the flavour of foods. On the balance of evidence available, there can be no doubt that smoking affects taste and smell to a greater or lesser degree. So the no smoking message is clear if you want to achieve maximum taste enjoyment and, more to the point for kitchen staff, accurate taste and smell assessment.