MRI Scan Finds Unexpected Consequence after Smelling Freshly Baked Bread

People who smell bread do not choose bread more often, according to Wageningen scientists, who drew this unexpected conclusion after conducting experiments with odors.

The aroma of freshly baked bread is a prime example of aroma marketing, as it is supposed to stimulate people into making purchases. However, recent research by Monique Vingerhoeds of Wageningen Food & Biobased Research implies otherwise, to the researchers’ surprise. “We did not expect this result”, says Vingerhoeds. She carried out the study, which was published in Food Quality and Preference, together with colleagues from Human Nutrition.

MRI brain scans of the test subjects did show an effect of the smell of bread: the reward system in the brain was activated. However, when the subjects had to choose between standardized images of white bread, brown bread and cookies, the exposure to the bread aroma had varying effects. The aroma of bread turned out to increase the choice for cookies, whereas the smell of warm wood led to a more prominent preference for brown bread.

Concluding that the smell of bread stimulates the purchasing of cookies might be too far-fetched, Vingerhoeds thinks. Additional research would be required in a real-life setting, for example in a supermarket. In this experiment, the test subjects laid in a special MRI scanner and were administered aromas through a small hose in their nose while being showed images.

However, the researchers did clearly notice that to influence the purchase of a specific type of bread, such as full grain, spreading specific fragrances in a supermarket would not help. The researchers think this is due to most people putting bread in their basket or trolley without a thought. “The choice of bread is habitual behavior”, says Vingerhoeds. “And we therefore think that odor has very little influence.”

With this, the smell of bread has joined a list of methods to promote the choice for whole wheat bread that were studied previously and which were discarded. This published research is part of a much larger project into stimulating healthy choices.