Food recognition by the elderly.

While blindfolded, 27 young college students and 29 elderly subjects tasted and smelled a series of unseasoned blended foods. The elderly subjects were significantly less able to identify the foods than young subjects. The elderly subjects rated the foods on adjective scales in such a way that a multidimensional scaling of these ratings yielded only one dimension, related to the hedonic aspect of the foods. The multidimensional solution for youthful subjects' ratings was two-dimensional, indicating more discrimination among foods for young subjects compared with the elderly. Significantly more elderly subjects commented on the weakness of the smell or taste of the foods.