LAUSR

Abstract How do diners visually inspect the plate when it is first placed down in front of them? Do any regularities in the patterns of visual inspection across diners (such as reading from top-left to bottom-right) provide useful predictions concerning the way in which the element(s) on the plate should be arranged? In this review, I look at the evidence concerning the perceptual/interpretational biases that may be elicited by placing various food elements at different positions on the plate, focusing specifically on their left-right (i.e., lateral) arrangement. An analogy is drawn both with the patterns of eye-movements that have been documented in reading (e.g., the menu) and when people visually inspect paintings. Where relevant, comparisons are also made with the literature on the representation of food on/through product packaging. Taken together, the evidence suggests that while visual attention is typically drawn to the single item, or high energy-density item(s), on the plate, when multiple elements are presented, a left-to-right viewing bias is likely (at least amongst those who read from left-to-right). Understanding any such biases in ‘reading’, or visually-inspecting, the plate can presumably be used to help provide guidelines concerning the arrangement/interpretation of food elements. For instance, it has been reported that people prefer it when the direction of flow of images coincides with their own reading direction. Viewers also tend to prefer images when there is a higher density of items on the right than on the left. The question is raised as to whether a similar bias is also seen in aesthetic plating.