Look at the new snacks people are reaching for(伸手去拿) in supermarkets and you may notice a trend. From Mondelez, one food giant, there is a Dairy Milk chocolate bar stuffed with(填满、塞满) crunchy Lotus Biscoff biscuits. From Mars, a rival, there are Skittles Gummy Crystals, which add tiny crackly(脆脆的、有碎裂声的) pieces to chewy(耐嚼的) sweets, and the “Extra Crunchy” version of its popular Cheez-It crackers. Texture, it seems, is the new taste.(口感似乎成了新的味道。)
看看人们在超市里伸手去拿的新零食，你可能会注意到一个趋势。食品巨头亿滋国际推出了一款夹着酥脆Lotus Biscoff饼干的Dairy Milk巧克力棒。竞争对手玛氏则推出了彩虹糖软糖水晶，在耐嚼的糖果里加入了微小的脆粒，还有其广受欢迎的Cheez-It饼干“超脆”版。看来，口感正在成为新的味道。
Big food has long engineered(精心设计) every aspect of snacks to make them moreish(让人吃了还想吃的), from the bright colour of the packaging to the aroma(香气) that escapes when it is ripped open. But the heavy emphasis on texture is new. It includes both how a product sounds when it is eaten and what is known in the industry as “mouthfeel”.(这既包括产品被食用时发出的声音，也包括业内所称的“口感”。) Mintel, a research firm, reckons(估计、认为) that the share of snacks making claims about texture grew from 31% in 2023 to 41% last year. Of those that did, “crunchy” was the most popular description, though “chewy” and “gooey(黏软的)” are gaining fast(迅速流行).
大型食品公司长期以来一直精心设计零食的方方面面，让它们让人吃了还想吃，从包装的鲜艳颜色到撕开时飘出的香气。但对口感的着重强调却是新现象。这既包括产品被食用时发出的声音，也包括业内所称的“口感”。研究公司英敏特估计，宣称注重口感的零食占比从2023年的31%增长到了去年的41%。在这些零食中，“酥脆”是最受欢迎的描述，不过“耐嚼”和“黏软”正在迅速流行。
Texture can be hard to cook up(调配、设计出). Norberto Chaclin, head of research and development at Mondelez, points out that mixing crunchy and soft ingredients is tricky. Water migrates(迁移、移动) from moist to dry, turning crisp things soggy(湿软的). Take the Dairy Milk Biscoff. It was engineered carefully with a shell of milk chocolate to keep moisture out and a layer of fat-based Biscoff spread beside the biscuit crumb to preserve its crunch.(它经过精心设计，用牛奶巧克力外壳隔绝水分，并在饼干碎旁边加了一层脂肪基的Biscoff抹酱来保持酥脆。) The bar went through lengthy testing to ensure its texture held over its shelf life(保质期).
口感可能很难调配。亿滋国际研发主管诺贝托·查克林指出，将酥脆和柔软的原料混合在一起很棘手。水分会从湿润的地方迁移到干燥的地方，让脆的东西变软。以Dairy Milk Biscoff为例，它经过精心设计，用牛奶巧克力外壳隔绝水分，并在饼干碎旁边加了一层脂肪基的Biscoff抹酱来保持酥脆。这款巧克力棒经过了漫长的测试，以确保其口感在保质期内保持不变。