SUMMARY Nine experiments were conducted to compare magnitude (ratio) and hedonic 9‐point (category) scales of food acceptance. Five experiments were conducted with foods varied along one or more quantitative dimensions, and the remaining four with foods representing different flavors of a single product type. Both evaluation procedures appeared to be equally sensitive to differences in food acceptability, but each procedure provided additional information as well. Magnitude scales quantified the ratios of food acceptability among different items, and the hedonic scale provided numerical and verbal categories of acceptance. Each scale may be used to complement the other in the measurement of food acceptance.