Sense of Taste

Taste is one of your five senses. Your tongue helps you taste food and drinks. Without taste, eating would not be as much fun. Taste also helps keep you safe from bad food.

Taste Buds

Your tongue has tiny bumps on it called taste buds. You have about 10,000 taste buds in all. They send signals to your brain about what you eat. Kids often have more taste buds than grown-ups. That is why some foods taste too strong for kids.

Five Tastes

There are five main tastes. They are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Umami is a savory taste found in foods like meat and cheese. Sweet tastes come from sugar and fruit. Bitter tastes warn you that some foods might be bad to eat.

Fun Facts

• Taste buds are replaced every two weeks.
• You cannot taste food if your tongue is dry.
• Umami was named by a scientist in Japan in 1908.

Did You Know?

Your sense of smell makes up most of your sense of taste, which is why food tastes bland when you have a cold.