Quick Statistics About Taste and Smell

Taste

• Almost 1 in 5 Americans (or 19 percent) over the age of 40 reports some alteration in their sense of taste.¹
  • The prevalence of reported alterations in the sense of taste increases with age, and is highest, at 27 percent, for people ages 80 years and older.¹
  • Risk factors include dry mouth, nose/facial injury, lower educational attainment, and fair/poor health.¹
• 1 in 20 Americans (or 5 percent) reports experiencing dysgeusia [dis-GYOO-zee-a], a disorder characterized by distorted taste.¹ This disorder is often persistent.
  • Dysgeusia is more commonly reported in women (64 percent of reported cases).¹
• Based on their genetics, certain people can taste the bitterness of phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) or a related substance called 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP). In the U.S., about 25 percent are super-tasters who describe PTC as extremely bitter, 50 percent are medium tasters of PTC, and 25 percent cannot taste PTC.² Medium tasters and especially super-tasters tend to dislike more types of food, particularly if they are strongly flavored.³
  • The ability to taste PTC/PROP varies around the world and among different ethnic and racial groups.²

Smell

• Nearly 1 in 4 Americans (or 23 percent) over the age of 40 reports some alteration in their sense of smell.¹
  • Rates increase in older populations and are highest for those over 80 years old, at 32 percent.¹
  • Risk factors include sinonasal symptoms (of the nose and sinuses), heavy drinking, previous loss of consciousness from head injury, poverty, and dry mouth.¹
• Approximately 1 in 15 Americans (or 6.5 percent) over the age of 40 reports sometimes experiencing phantom odor perception. (The survey asked if participants smelled unpleasant, bad, or burning odors when nothing is there; not all phantom odor perception fits into this category.⁴)
  • Women are more likely to report phantom odors, particularly if they are between the ages of 40 and 60, compared to above 60 years of age.⁵
  • Those with a history of head injury or poor overall health are more likely to report phantom odors.⁴
• Approximately 1 in 8 Americans over age 40 (up to 13.3 million people, or 12.4 percent of the population) has measurable smell dysfunction.⁵
  • Approximately 3 percent of Americans have anosmia (no sense of smell) or severe hyposmia (minimal sense of smell).⁵
  • The prevalence of any type of smell impairment increases with age: 4 percent in Americans ages 40-49, 11 percent in Americans ages 50-59, 13 percent in Americans ages 60-69, 25 percent in Americans 70-79, and 39 percent in Americans ages 80 and above.⁵
  • The prevalence of smell impairment is higher in men, ethnic minorities (non-Hispanic Black and Mexican American), and in those with lower educational attainment and/or family income.⁵