Many studies prove that organic food is not only healthier (which is likely due to the lack of pesticides or antibiotics) and nutritious (this has not been proven) than “industrial” food, but that it is also tastier. Could it be true? It seems not, at least as far as fish is concerned.
To verify this, Mausam Budhathoki of the University of Copenhagen asked 92 Danes to taste three types of salmon: conventionally raised, organically raised and fished. “When the participants did not know the origin of the fish, they ranked conventional as the best on average, followed by organic and wild,” he explains in Food Quality and Preference. “If, on the other hand, the origin of the fish was revealed to them before the test, then the organic was indicated as the tastiest, the wild as the second and the conventional the worst.”
Perception only. The degree of sustainability of salmon, therefore, influenced the perceived flavor, demonstrating once again that factors that shouldn’t have much influence with taste, can instead influence it. “The positive side is that if you declare the sustainable origin of food, it makes it tastier in the consumer’s mind, which increases the demand for more environmentally friendly products.”