Emojis Could Be the New Face of Food Research

The language of smiley faces and purple eggplants is fundamentally changing the way we text, sext, and even the way we talk about food. The long-awaited taco emoji was a text messaging game-changer—for us, at least— and emojis may even be the next line of defense in the battle against potentially lethal food allergies.

Now, food researchers who are seeking to better understand the diets of elementary-school children have begun assessing the scientific reliability of emojis as a means of measuring kids' culinary likes and dislikes.

The diets of schoolchildren are a growing source of concern, not only in North America but across the globe, which is why emojis may become the most accurate way to establish an international measure for how they rate their cafeteria food.

This is the methodology being explored by scientists at the Sensory and Consumer Research Center at Kansas State University Olathe. More specifically, they are using emojis to evaluate how kids feel about their school lunch programs. This current study, in keeping with the international reach of emojis, focused on schools Kansas and Ghana.

Their method is an "emoji ballot" that's "applicable internationally across cultures, across countries," Marianne Swaney-Stueve, manager of the Sensory and Consumer Research Center told the Albuquerque Journal, adding that "there really is no language barrier." By extension, researchers hope to get a better understanding of which foods schools should buy in order to cut down on food waste, which amounts to an estimated $1.23 billion per year.

"School nutrition professionals are always looking for new ideas to promote healthier choices to students [and] to find ways to get more student feedback so they can develop kid-approved menus that are healthy and also appealing to students," School Nutrition Association spokeswoman Diane Pratt-Heavner said.

The "emoji methodology research," as it is being called, began in 2014 with focus groups of children ages seven to 11 in Olathe, Kansas. Researchers looked at how kids rated plain oatmeal, pepperoni-pizza Lunchables, and Ramune soda, a strawberry-flavored soft drink from Japan. In doing so, the researchers were able to establish a spectrum of 28 reactions to food.

Building on that, they were able to pinpoint which foods, for example chocolate graham snacks or white bread, elicited a "smiling face with smiling eyes" or a "smile with the tongue out" emoji. Conversely, fresh spinach earned only a "worried face, confused face or confounded face."

Emojis or not, looks like convincing kids to eat their greens is still a tough sell.