Rainbow food is everywhere, from bagels to coffee to grilled cheese sandwiches. And everyone is posting photos of their colorful meals on the Internet. Thanks to the American consumer’s fondness for increasingly bizarre fast food, rainbow is the current food fad. But more than just being the latest novelty, there may be more to the colorful culinary trend.
Aside from being eye-catching, research has shown that color plays an important role in how we taste, and can suggest flavors to our brains that aren’t necessarily there.
Culture also plays a role in the flavors people gravitate toward. Many regions largely associate black with bitterness; green suggests sourness in the U.S. and sweetness in India.
Color variety also seems to make a person eat more. In 2014, “Appetite” found that more color keeps people from getting bored of eating the same food. In other words, the more a person eats or is exposed to the same kind of food, the less appealing they will find it.
This can be seen a lot with street foods that people tend to get in a quickie or on the go. Because these types of foods are eaten daily or weekly, they can lose their luster. But, if given the rainbow treatment, they are suddenly more eye-catching and intriguing, making people want to consume what was once just a plain old bagel or slice of pizza.
But consumers don’t always have to search for the latest trendy café or wait four hours for a bagel. Rainbow fudge is just as delicious as it is fun to make, and it can be done right in the comfort of one’s own kitchen.
By: Maytinee Kramer
