ISO 13299:2016

Overview - ISO 13299:2016 (Sensory analysis - Establishing a sensory profile)

ISO 13299:2016 gives general guidance for establishing a sensory profile using trained assessors. It covers descriptive sensory analysis for any product or sample assessable by sight, odour, taste, touch or hearing (for example food, beverage, tobacco, cosmetics, textiles, paper, packaging, air or water). The standard provides an overall process for panel organisation, method selection, sample handling and reporting to produce repeatable, interpretable sensory profiles.

Key technical topics and requirements

• Scope and definitions: clear terminology for attributes, sensory profile types (quantitative, qualitative, consensus, partial profiles) and panel roles (panel leader, selected and expert assessors).
• Descriptive methods covered: consensus profile, deviation-from-reference (relative-to-reference), free-choice profile, flash profile, quantitative descriptive profile, qualitative profile and Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS).
• Panel selection and training: guidance for recruiting, screening and training assessors; panel size recommendations (sensory acuity can be balanced with panels of 10 or more assessors).
• Test conditions and equipment: laboratory, sample preparation and test-room requirements in line with ISO 6658 and ISO 8589; panel leader responsibilities (train, maintain and execute tests).
• Sample preparation and presentation: standardize preparation, masking appearance if needed (e.g., coloured lighting), code samples (three-digit random numbers) and use appropriate presentation designs.
• Procedure steps: prepare the test (select products and attributes, define evaluation order and response scales), conduct the test (scoresheets, replication), perform statistical interpretation and produce a study report.
• Replication and reliability: recommend presenting samples multiple times across sessions to estimate experimental error and improve precision.

Practical applications and intended users

ISO 13299 is practical for:

• Product developers and R&D teams using descriptive analysis to develop or reformulate products.
• Quality managers and standards bodies defining product, production or trading standards in sensory terms.
• Shelf-life and stability teams establishing a reference “fresh” product and monitoring sensory changes.
• Sensory scientists, laboratories and consultants mapping perceived attributes to instrumental or consumer data.
• Environmental or pollution researchers characterizing off-odours or off-tastes.
• Academics studying human cognition and behaviour using sensory profiling methods.

Related standards (normative references)

ISO 13299 cross-references several ISO standards for terminology, test design and assessor training, including:

• ISO 5492, ISO 4121, ISO 6658, ISO 8586, ISO 8589, ISO 11035, ISO 11036, ISO 13300-1 / 13300-2, and others.

Keywords: ISO 13299:2016, sensory analysis, sensory profile, descriptive sensory analysis, sensory panel, quantitative descriptive profile, panel leader, sensory methodology.