Surprise! Fat proves a taste sensation
By Janet Raloff
For decades, scientists who study the gustatory senses have argued that fat has no taste. Sure, it has texture and contributes to a food’s perceived richness. However, conventional wisdom has held that our mouths lack taste buds or other sensors specifically tuned to fat.
That view may be slipping away.
By studying 19 adults, Richard D. Mattes of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., has shown that the share of consumed fat that travels, as triglycerides, into a person’s bloodstream