Sensory Evaluation Center,
Department of Food Science,
College of Agricultural Sciences,
Department of Food Science, College of Agricultural Sciences
John Hayes is an Associate Professor of Food Science, and Director of the Sensory Evaluation Center, at Penn State. His research team studies why people choose to eat specific foods, including spicy foods, vegetables, and alcoholic beverages. His areas of expertise are human psychophysics, taste biology, food choice, ingestive behavior, and consumer acceptability. He earned a BS and MS in Food Science from Cornell University and a PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Connecticut before completing a postdoctoral fellowship in behavioral genetics and alcohol addiction at Brown University.
Dr. Hayes has published 100+ peer reviewed articles and his work has been covered in national and international media including NPR All Things Considered and Morning Edition, The Guardian, Slate, and the Wall Street Journal. He has received multiple national and international awards for his work, including the Barry Jacobs Award for research in human psychophysics, and the Ajinomoto Award for an outstanding junior scientist in the field of gustation, both from the Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS), the Food Quality and Preference Researcher of the Future Award, and the Rose Marie Pangborn Sensory Science Scholarship. Dr. Hayes has received competitive funding from the US National Institutes of Health, the US Department of Agriculture, and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, as well as commodity groups and industrial partners. He currently serves as a Section Editor of the journal Physiology & Behavior, and is Chair of the Executive Committee for the Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium.
Mary Poppins was right: Adding small amounts of sugar or salt reduces the bitterness of vegetables.
Appetite 07, 2018 | Pubmed ID: 29605517
Explaining variability in sodium intake through oral sensory phenotype, salt sensation and liking.
Physiology & behavior Jun, 2010 | Pubmed ID: 20380843
Vegetable Intake in College-Aged Adults Is Explained by Oral Sensory Phenotypes and TAS2R38 Genotype.
Chemosensory perception Dec, 2010 | Pubmed ID: 21157576
Allelic variation in TAS2R bitter receptor genes associates with variation in sensations from and ingestive behaviors toward common bitter beverages in adults.
Chemical senses Mar, 2011 | Pubmed ID: 21163912
Quantitative perceptual differences among over-the-counter vaginal products using a standardized methodology: implications for microbicide development.
Contraception Aug, 2011 | Pubmed ID: 21757061
Two decades of supertasting: where do we stand?
Physiology & behavior Oct, 2011 | Pubmed ID: 21851828
Differences in the chemesthetic subqualities of capsaicin, ibuprofen, and olive oil.
Chemical senses Jun, 2012 | Pubmed ID: 22281531
Rejection Thresholds in Chocolate Milk: Evidence for Segmentation.
Food quality and preference Oct, 2012 | Pubmed ID: 22754143
Wine Expertise Predicts Taste Phenotype.
American journal of enology and viticulture Mar, 2012 | Pubmed ID: 22888174
Rejection thresholds in solid chocolate-flavored compound coating.
Journal of food science Oct, 2012 | Pubmed ID: 22924788
Direct comparison of the generalized Visual Analog Scale (gVAS) and general Labeled Magnitude Scale (gLMS).
Food quality and preference Apr, 2013 | Pubmed ID: 23175601
Shape of vaginal suppositories affects willingness-to-try and preference.
Antiviral research Mar, 2013 | Pubmed ID: 23276592
User preferences in a carrageenan-based vaginal drug delivery system.
PloS one , 2013 | Pubmed ID: 23358688
Using milk fat to reduce the irritation and bitter taste of ibuprofen.
Chemosensory perception Dec, 2012 | Pubmed ID: 23527314
Personality factors predict spicy food liking and intake.
Food quality and preference Apr, 2013 | Pubmed ID: 23538555
Bitterness of the non-nutritive sweetener acesulfame potassium varies with polymorphisms in TAS2R9 and TAS2R31.
Chemical senses Jun, 2013 | Pubmed ID: 23599216
Masking Vegetable Bitterness to Improve Palatability Depends on Vegetable Type and Taste Phenotype.
Chemosensory perception Mar, 2013 | Pubmed ID: 23682306
Explaining tolerance for bitterness in chocolate ice cream using solid chocolate preferences.
Journal of dairy science Aug, 2013 | Pubmed ID: 23769376
Tolerance for high flavanol cocoa powder in semisweet chocolate.
Nutrients Jun, 2013 | Pubmed ID: 23792967
Do polymorphisms in chemosensory genes matter for human ingestive behavior?
Food quality and preference Dec, 2013 | Pubmed ID: 23878414
Rebaudioside A and Rebaudioside D bitterness do not covary with Acesulfame K bitterness or polymorphisms in and
Chemosensory perception Sep, 2013 | Pubmed ID: 24187601
Exploring associations between taste perception, oral anatomy and polymorphisms in the carbonic anhydrase (gustin) gene CA6.
Physiology & behavior Apr, 2014 | Pubmed ID: 24534176
Nonnutritive sweeteners are not supernormal stimuli.
International journal of obesity (2005) Feb, 2015 | Pubmed ID: 24942868
Release of tenofovir from carrageenan-based vaginal suppositories.
Pharmaceutics , 2014 | Pubmed ID: 24999606
Interpreting consumer preferences: physicohedonic and psychohedonic models yield different information in a coffee-flavored dairy beverage.
Food quality and preference Sep, 2014 | Pubmed ID: 25024507
Just-About-Right and ideal scaling provide similar insights into the influence of sensory attributes on liking.
Food quality and preference Oct, 2014 | Pubmed ID: 25061258
Relationships between perceptual attributes and rheology in over-the-counter vaginal products: a potential tool for microbicide development.
PloS one , 2014 | Pubmed ID: 25188244
Physical approaches to masking bitter taste: lessons from food and pharmaceuticals.
Pharmaceutical research Nov, 2014 | Pubmed ID: 25205460
Firmness Perception Influences Women's Preferences for Vaginal Suppositories.
Pharmaceutics Sep, 2014 | Pubmed ID: 25211123
Polymorphisms in TRPV1 and TAS2Rs associate with sensations from sampled ethanol.
Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research Oct, 2014 | Pubmed ID: 25257701
Regional differences in suprathreshold intensity for bitter and umami stimuli.
Chemosensory perception Dec, 2014 | Pubmed ID: 25485034
Gender differences in the influence of personality traits on spicy food liking and intake.
Food quality and preference Jun, 2015 | Pubmed ID: 25663751
Maximizing overall liking results in a superior product to minimizing deviations from ideal ratings: an optimization case study with coffee-flavored milk.
Food quality and preference Jun, 2015 | Pubmed ID: 26005291
Quinine Bitterness and Grapefruit Liking Associate with Allelic Variants in TAS2R31.
Chemical senses Jul, 2015 | Pubmed ID: 26024668
Check-All-That-Apply (CATA), Sorting, and Polarized Sensory Positioning (PSP) with Astringent Stimuli.
Food quality and preference Oct, 2015 | Pubmed ID: 26113771
Perceptual mapping of chemesthetic stimuli in naïve assessors.
Chemosensory perception Jun, 2015 | Pubmed ID: 26236421
Consumer peach preferences and purchasing behavior: a mixed methods study.
Journal of the science of food and agriculture May, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 26249651
Perception of chemesthetic stimuli in groups who differ by food involvement and culinary experience.
Food quality and preference Dec, 2015 | Pubmed ID: 26516297
Type of milk typically consumed, and stated preference, but not health consciousness affect revealed preferences for fat in milk.
Food quality and preference Apr, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 26752811
Differential bitterness in capsaicin, piperine, and ethanol associates with polymorphisms in multiple bitter taste receptor genes.
Physiology & behavior Mar, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 26785164
An introduction to this Special Issue: Chemosensation and Health.
Chemosensory perception Sep, 2015 | Pubmed ID: 26823921
TongueSim: Development of an Automated Method for Rapid Assessment of Fungiform Papillae Density for Taste Research.
Chemical senses 05, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 26892308
Drivers of Vaginal Drug Delivery System Acceptability from Internet-Based Conjoint Analysis.
PloS one , 2016 | Pubmed ID: 26999009
Salivary protein levels as a predictor of perceived astringency in model systems and solid foods.
Physiology & behavior 09, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 27129672
Behavioral measures of risk tasking, sensation seeking and sensitivity to reward may reflect different motivations for spicy food liking and consumption.
Appetite 08, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 27137410
Investigating Mixture Interactions of Astringent Stimuli Using the Isobole Approach.
Chemical senses 09, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 27252355
Innovative sensory methods to access acceptability of mixed polymer semisoft ovules for microbicide applications.
Drug delivery and translational research 10, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 27357703
Perceptual Qualities of Ethanol Depend on Concentration, and Variation in These Percepts Associates with Drinking Frequency.
Chemosensory perception Sep, 2015 | Pubmed ID: 27594968
Expectation and expectoration: Information manipulation alters spitting volume, a common proxy for salivary flow.
Physiology & behavior 12, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 27660032
Chocolate not necessarily healthier or tastier.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 10, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 27729517
Soy protein concentrate mitigates markers of colonic inflammation and loss of gut barrier function in vitro and in vivo.
The Journal of nutritional biochemistry 02, 2017 | Pubmed ID: 27951472
Degree of free fatty acid saturation influences chocolate rejection in human assessors.
Chemical senses 02, 2017 | Pubmed ID: 28119358
Effects of Matrix Composition on Detection Threshold Estimates for Methyl Anthranilate and 2-Aminoacetophenone.
Foods (Basel, Switzerland) May, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 28231131
Perceptual and Affective Responses to Sampled Capsaicin Differ by Reported Intake.
Food quality and preference Jan, 2017 | Pubmed ID: 28392628
Effect of fat content on the physical properties and consumer acceptability of vanilla ice cream.
Journal of dairy science Jul, 2017 | Pubmed ID: 28456409
Influence of biological, experiential and psychological factors in wine preference segmentation.
Australian journal of grape and wine research Jun, 2017 | Pubmed ID: 28579910
Sip and spit or sip and swallow: Choice of method differentially alters taste intensity estimates across stimuli.
Physiology & behavior Nov, 2017 | Pubmed ID: 28912088
Characterizing Dynamic Sensory Properties of Nutritive and Nonnutritive Sweeteners with Temporal Check-All-That-Apply.
Journal of sensory studies 06, 2017 | Pubmed ID: 29104366
Increasing flavor variety with herbs and spices improves relative vegetable intake in children who are propylthiouracil (PROP) tasters relative to nontasters.
Physiology & behavior 05, 2018 | Pubmed ID: 29421338
Variety and content of commercial infant and toddler vegetable products manufactured and sold in the United States.
The American journal of clinical nutrition 04, 2018 | Pubmed ID: 29635494
Bitter and sweet tasting molecules: It's complicated.
Neuroscience letters 05, 2019 | Pubmed ID: 29679682
Self-reported Smoking Status, TAS2R38 Variants, and Propylthiouracil Phenotype: An Exploratory Crowdsourced Cohort Study.
Chemical senses 09, 2018 | Pubmed ID: 30137252
Qualitative exploration of intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence acceptability of semisoft vaginal suppositories.
BMC women's health 10, 2018 | Pubmed ID: 30342510
Quantifying Sweet Taste Liker Phenotypes: Time for Some Consistency in the Classification Criteria.
Nutrients Jan, 2019 | Pubmed ID: 30634558
Oral somatosensatory acuity is related to particle size perception in chocolate.
Scientific reports May, 2019 | Pubmed ID: 31092875
Putting out the fire - Efficacy of common beverages in reducing oral burn from capsaicin.
Physiology & behavior 09, 2019 | Pubmed ID: 31121171
Evaluation of Sweetener Synergy in Humans by Isobole Analyses.
Chemical senses Oct, 2019 | Pubmed ID: 31424498
Vanillin modifies affective responses to but not burning sensations from ethanol in mixtures.
Physiology & behavior 11, 2019 | Pubmed ID: 31476345
Regional Variation of Bitter Taste and Aftertaste in Humans.
Chemical senses Oct, 2019 | Pubmed ID: 31541607
Associations of olfactory dysfunction with anthropometric and cardiometabolic measures: Findings from the 2013-2014 national health and nutrition examination survey (NHANES).
Physiology & behavior Mar, 2020 | Pubmed ID: 31629766