The Colour of Food and its Relationship to Appetite Appeal

Abstract

How important is the visual appeal of food we prepare for ourselves? Perhaps when our health is good the visual appearance of home-prepared meals is of little consequence, as long as the food tastes good and satisfies our hunger. But if we're not well, then food not only nourishes our body, but also benefits our state of mind by encouraging us to eat. Does strong and varied colour equal perceived flavour, and monotone or lack of colour a lack of flavour? The study addressed the hypotheses that the most visually appetising meals would approximate complementary or triadic colour schemes, and the least appetising meals would relate to monotone or analogous colour schemes. To test this postulation selected students undertook investigations into the colour of meals they prepared. The results confirmed the importance of colour in appetite appeal, but also defined the specifics of colour in relation to culture, and whether the meal was breakfast, lunch or dinner. It seems our expectations vary in this respect. The value of analogous colours plus a complementary colour was recognised while too much colour was seen to be as unappetising as too little colour. A follow-up expanded study reassessed the link between colour and visually appealing meals. The earlier findings were confirmed.