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Bogus Taste Test is a laboratory research method used to measure food intake without making participants fully aware that their food consumption is being measured. Participants are typically told that they are completing a taste-perception task and are asked to taste and rate foods, while researchers discreetly measure the amount of food consumed.
Bogus taste test are useful for studying eating behavior because they can reduce awareness of the measurement process and capture more natural food intake. Researchers may examine how environmental cues, food characteristics, mood, stress, or social context influence consumption. However, the method requires careful ethical consideration because participants are typically given incomplete information about the study’s true purpose. Researchers must follow appropriate informed-consent procedures, minimize deception, protect participant welfare, and provide a suitable debriefing after the experiment.
In nutritional psychology, bogus taste test can help investigate the relationship between psychological factors and eating behavior under controlled conditions. For example, researchers may examine whether stress, emotions, food-related cues, or perceived social expectations influence how much participants eat. Because the method measures actual consumption rather than relying solely on self-reported intake, it can provide useful behavioral evidence. Still, findings should be interpreted alongside other measures, since laboratory eating behavior may not fully represent food choices in everyday environments.
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Editorial responsibilityReferences and further reading
- Robinson E, Haynes A, Hardman CA, Kemps E, Higgs S, Jones A. The bogus taste test: Validity as a measure of laboratory food intake. Appetite. 2017;116:223-231. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2017.05.002. View source
How to cite this entry
CNP (2026). Bogus Taste Test. In CNP Encyclopedia Editorial Board (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Nutritional Psychology. The Center for Nutritional Psychology.
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