Virus impact on sommeliers not to be sniffed at

IS YOUR pinot noir smelling a little funky? Perhaps your chips are on the salty side or your chocolate strangely bitter.

Before you blame it on your most recent Covid infection, consider the possibility that someone else’s senses could be at fault, not yours.

Industry experts have warned that food and drink is tasting different to how it did before the pandemic because so many sommeliers and expert tasters lost their sense of taste and smell after catching Covid.

It means wine producers and research chefs were impaired, and food product teams were forced to come up with alternative ways of deciding on flavours and formulas, with some bypassing research chefs and tasting panels altogether.

The unfortunate predicament forced some sommeliers and chefs to keep their condition quiet, while others have signed up to courses to retrain their senses in secret.

The winners were companies like Analytical Flavour Systems, an American business that uses artificial intelligence to model our preferences when it comes to flavour, aroma and texture.

Derailed by anosmia, many food producers bypassed their usual approach of asking research chefs to come up with goldstandard recipes and went straight to their AI platform instead.

Jason Cohen, its founder and chief executive, said: “The pandemic was very good for our business. Companies couldn’t hold tasting panels because of social distancing rules and when chefs couldn’t taste we had more companies coming directly to us.”

The loss of culinary experts has affected the taste of food but Mr Cohen argues that it could actually be getting tastier because “our data is more accurate than attempting gold standards based on what actually gets produced… we can say what the best french fry is”.

The experience of lockdowns has also affected our palettes, which will also start to seep into the recipes and formulas that are made. For example, while stuck at home people drank fewer soft drinks, which has lowered our tolerance for artificial sweeteners.

“Quarantine has been the largest consumer shock since rationing. We’re seeing huge shifts,” Mr Cohen said. “The world is not going to taste the same as it did before Covid.”

Analytical Flavour Systems has in the past been asked to help reformulate recipes for cancer patients and the elderly. Mr Cohen said this could start to happen if it becomes clear that people’s senses have been permanently affected by Covid.

Across the industry, experts have been retraining their senses, from wine producers and restaurant sommeliers to food and drink tasters. Federica Zanghirella, vice-president of the UK Sommelier Association, said: “It will have affected the production of wine. I will have been asking for a second opinion by getting another professional to help.”

Ms Zanghirella, who temporarily lost her sense of smell in the middle of a class she was leading in March 2020, said: “Some students say they couldn’t tell their bosses or head sommeliers because it was too risky for their careers so they had to use their knowledge of ingredients and flavours.”

She added that restaurant sommeliers, who pair wines with dishes on site, have been struggling in particular.

Industries beyond food and drink have also been affected. Isabelle Gellé, founder of the Perfumery Art School, said half of her students are now retraining after losing their sense of smell. Her clients run businesses across the UK, including soap and scented candle shops.