ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a case study of the recruiting, training, panelist motivation, and data analysis practices of the International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) Sensory Testing Center. It deals with panels for fragrance evaluation and magnitude estimation. The chapter discusses the pros and cons of a standing panel and magnitude estimation scaling. It describes the data collection and analysis system. It includes a discussion of normalization methods and some of their limitations and a discussion of some potential problems in the use of magnitude estimation. The IFF Sensory Testing Center program originated from the customer's need for fragrances with demonstrable functional properties, such as substantivity and malodor masking. Magnitude estimation eliminates one of the principle drawbacks of category scaling: end effects. Training begins with the magnitude estimation of the area of a series of geometric shapes. Internal standard normalization works well for measurement of the intensities of flavors and fragrances.
