Eating dinner will never be the same again for a group of food-loving individuals, following a special training session designed to teach them how to interpret the different qualities of their food.

Market leading gluten and wheat free food supplier,Dietary Specials, invited people from across the UK to help shape current and future product ranges by joining their Consumer Taste Panel Club – and some lucky recruits were invited to a special training session at company headquarters to help them become top testers.

Emma Herring, Product Development Manager at Dietary Specials, explained: “Our Consumer Taste Panel Club will be responsible for letting us know what they think of new and existing products and ranges and this training will ensure they are fully equipped with the knowledge and expertise they need to be able to provide us with this invaluable feedback.

“The session was both scientific and fun, with panel members decked out in white laboratory coats, and the aim was to demonstrate the best ways to interpret the characteristics of a product by using the five senses of sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing.

“We’ve had an amazing response from consumers interested in joining our National Taste Panel Club, with more than 650 applications in total, and we’re excited about working with them to develop and add new products to our dietary specials (ds)  range.”

Consumers who have signed up to the panel will be sent samples of both current and future products to taste and assess via an online questionnaire, and feedback will help influence the choice and range of products available in supermarkets.

The brands dietary specials (DS) is available in all major retailers across the UK.

Emma Herring added: “Our trained testers will be invited to trial our new frozen and chilled gluten and wheat free food ranges in the hope that we can continue to develop these important and market leading product offerings further..
“2010 is an exciting year for us in terms of new product development and we are really pleased to be able to work so closely with consumers to develop the best quality food ranges possible.”
To find out more about the Consumer Taste Panel, or the full DS range, visit www.dietaryspecials.co.uk

Journalists looking for product information, interviews or feature contributions should contact Claire Briscoe at Beattie Communications on 0161 216 4268 or email nutritionpoint@beattiegroup.com