RAINBOW YUM!

Wanna know what rainbow yum is?

Yup! Above there! That is what we call rainbow yum! Doesn't the color of the goods just add to the appeal of the food? I think it does! It simply entices people to try every color! But, this doesn't mean color is just used to attract consumers. In fact, natural and human-made world provides many color signals that help us identify and classify things. An example can be when we choose certain food because the color represents a a particular flavor we desire. 

To give more examples of the functions of color, here is a collage of wherein the color of the food plays an important role:

As seen, color can be an indicator whether food is ready to eat or is not already edible. Color also helps us choose which products to choose that matches it purpose. For example, we want fried bananas for snack, and if this was the case, we would pick the dominantly green and partially yellow. This is so that it would have the right texture, toughness and crispiness when we fry them. Another example is in the lower left image. Those green areas helps us to perceive that the bread could possibly be unhealthy to intake. Then, in the remaining photo, it illustrates that the color of the food can help us determine whether something is cooked already! This is color used to avoid eating unsafe foods when it's raw or overcooked. Or the color can be simply used so that we would be guided on when to take the food out of the fire, just for personal preferences. In short, color can be used to enhance the taste of the food. Also, the color perception protects us from ingesting unsafe foods, which facilitates survival.

Another function of color is that it enhances the contrast of objects. But, how can we use it in the context of food. To do this, let me show you a picture of this Filipino snack: "ginataan"

Some people crave for those bilo-bilo, those white chewy circles. Others favorite is those violent substances. In this case, the two groups of people already choose which parts to separate when they are eating. Some even decide during the getting of food from the serving bowls. Well, the idea in this example is that the contrast of colors in the ingredients allows the consumer to pick which ones to intake based in their preference. There is no need to taste each single ingredient and then throw it up each single time it is detected in the mouth.

Now, the question is "what colors do we perceive?" 

In Goldstein's book of Sensation and Perception, he presents that we can all describe the colors we can perceive by using the terms red, yellow, green, and blue. He does this by citing the experiments of Hurvich, and Abramov and Gordon. He also clarifies in the chapter that if one of the basic colors was removed, there are some colors that couldn't be described. Here is an example of a color circle which features the yellow, green, blue and red as basic colors.

Although the color circle is based only on the four basic colors, there are other colors found on the image. These colors are called extraspectral colors. They do not appear in the spectrum. Moreover, more colors can be created by changing its intensity through its saturation. This can be done through adding white color. Adding white decrease a color saturation. Just imagine those times when you add creamer to your coffee. In that activity, you engage in desaturating the color of your good old cup of coffee. 

With all of these things said, color truly facilitates the perceptual organization, in this blog - particularly taste!

===Trazo, Gaea Isabel D.===

References:

Goldstein, E. B. (2010). Sensation and peception. (8th ed.). Belmont, California: Wadsworth, CENGAGE Learning

*particularly Chpater 9: Perceiving Color

Image Sources:
http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4576400453667492&pid=15.1
http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4543741531850870&pid=15.1
http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4815870637247615&pid=15.1
http://cf2.foodista.com/sites/default/files/styles/featured/public/field/image/oreo-crop.jpg
http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4777400622187837&pid=15.1
http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4951638807807247&pid=15.1
http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4713800725823649&pid=15.1
http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4764236519048977&pid=15.1
http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4808998679806940&pid=15.1