Pâté or Dog Food?

You want to know why I stay away from the wine? Because if you drink very much of the stuff, confusion sets in.

Here a hint: If you are wondering if the stuff on the serving board is pâté or dog food, give it a pass!

But no, some people are not willing to leave well enough alone, and so research has to be done.

And it was.

Robin Goldstein of the American Association of Wine Economists and colleague researchers provided 18 volunteers five food samples to try in a blind taste test. Only three were able to identify the dog food.

As The Los Angeles Times food blog notes:

[...] The five samples came from a wide price range and were processed to have a similar consistency. The foods were duck liver mousse, pork liver pâté, two imitation pâtés — pureed liverwurst and Spam — and Newman’s Own dog food.

Eight participants believed the liverwurst was the dog food, and four thought the Spam was the culprit.

Two people identified the high-end pâté as dog food, and one identified the duck liver mousse as dog food.

On the upside: 72% rated the dog food as the worst-tasting pâté.
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