Smells delicious: our tongues can detect odours, study suggests

Researchers say adding sweet smells to food could cut sugar intake and help tackle obesity

The tongue does not just detect taste, but might pick up on odours too, according to research shedding new light on how we perceive flavour.

The tongue has long been known to detect whether something tastes sweet, sour, salty, bitter or umami (savouriness) thanks to cells that carry taste receptors - proteins that interact with particular molecules in food.