Inter-laboratory comparison of sensory profiles:: methodology and results

Are sensory profiles reproducible? In other words, do two laboratories having worked independently provide similar profiles? To answer this question, several laboratories carried out in parallel the sensory profiles of two sets of products. The results have been studied according to two points of view, one-dimensional and multidimensional. An analysis of variance has been carried out for each attribute in each laboratory and we have compared the significances of the coefficients of the product effects of two laboratories. A multiple factor analysis is performed to compare the multidimensional approaches by laboratory. The data show a great multidimensional stability in spite of some divergences for some products and some attributes. This important data file gives the opportunity to have an idea of the frequency of the following effects' significance: the order effect, the session effect, and the interaction between product and session during the tasting with a trained jury. Moreover, it gives the opportunity to enrich the discussion about the statute (fixed or random) of the assessor factor. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.