The overall purpose of this study is to identify an effective strategy for improving the sensory quality of a product. A study on processed cheese was used to develop and illustrate our ideas. A screening experiment, with seven processing and ingredients variables, was performed in order to identify the processing variables with the greatest effect on sensory quality. A fractional factorial design with resolution IV was used to keep the number of experimental runs to a minimum. ANOVA and normal plots were used to evaluate the effects of the different factors on the sensory variables one by one. The same factors were identified as being important when the scores from a principal component analysis (PCA) of the sensory variables were analyzed. PCA was found to be of value in identifying samples that had improved properties compared to today's product in addition to having a low intensity of undesirable properties.
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