Off‐flavors in foods

Abstract
The most common reason for consumer rejection of a food product is an unacceptable flavor. Food flavor may become unacceptable due to many reasons. For example, the food may become contaminated by airborne‐, waterborne‐, or packaging‐related chemicals. Alternatively, food components may undergo degradation due to oxidation, nonenzymatic browning, enzymatic reactions, or light‐induced reactions. This review will provide a general description of the sensory properties, mechanism of occurrence, and recent research developments for the commonly occurring off‐flavors in foods.