title: Minerals in drinking water: impacts on taste and importance to consumer health.
abstract: More than 100 years of research has focused on removing acute and chronic health threats to produce safe drinking water, but limited research has focused the consequences of removing minerals that affect drinking water taste and health. This paper covers the human sense of taste, typical variations in drinking water taste, comparisons of global taste standards, the role of water chemistry and future research needs for understanding consumer preference. Results of several consumer tap and bottled water acceptability investigations conducted by the authors are presented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 418 Durham Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. awhelton@vt.edu
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Whelton
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Dietrich
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Burlingame
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schechs
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Duncan
mesh_terms: D001628:Beverages; D002713:Chlorine / Q000494:pharmacology; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005374:Filtration; D006801:Humans; D008903:Minerals / Q000032:analysis*; D013649:Taste; D013652:Taste Threshold; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D008903:Minerals; D002713:Chlorine