Are YOU a 'Sour Patch' adult? One in eight people enjoy intensely tart sensations, study reveals

If you went into a sweet shop, what would your go-to selection be?

If the answer is Toxic Waste, Warheads, or Sour Patch Kids, you might be what scientists have coined a 'Sour Patch Adult.'

'Sour Patch Adults' make up around 12 per cent of the population, and enjoy intensely sour sensations, according to researchers from Penn State University.

'This is the first time it's been convincingly shown that there is a segment of adults who likes strongly sour things,' said Professor John Haye, an author of the study.

If you went into a sweet shop, what would your go-to selection be? If the answer is Toxic Waste, Warheads, or Sour Patch Kids, you might be what scientists have coined a 'Sour Patch Adult' (stock image)

According to previous studies, roughly one in three children enjoy intensely sour flavours.

However, until now, this has not been tested in adults.

'Think about candies like Warheads and Sour Patch Kids,' Professor Hayes said.

'The market tells us that there must be some people who enjoy them into adulthood, but now we have an estimate of how many.'

In the study, the team measured the responses of 143 American adults and 350 Italian adults to various levels of citric acid.

The participants were asked to rate the intensity and liking of a range of samples of varying sourness.

For both the Italian and American cohorts, the researchers discovered three distinct patterns of response.

About 70 per cent of participants fell into a strong negative group, in which liking dropped with increased sourness (stock image)

Firstly, about 70 per cent of participants fell into a strong negative group, in which liking dropped with increased sourness.

Next, around 12 per cent were in an intermediate group, and showed a more muted drop in liking with more sourness.

Finally, around 12 per cent were in a strong positive group, in which liking increased with more sourness.

'Most people didn't like sourness, so if you just average across the entire group, then you'd conclude that more sour equals bad,' Professor Hayes said.

'But if you dig deeper, you find huge differences across people.'

Both the Italian and American groups showed similar proportions, which suggests that these may be stable across cultures, according to the researchers.

'Italian food culture and American food culture are so wildly different,' said Sara Spinelli, a researcher from the University of Florence in Italy and first author on the paper.

'And yet we end up with almost identical percentages, which suggests to us this is not an effect of prior exposure. It's probably something innately different about those people.

'We don't know what that is, but it tells us that it's not just the foods you grew up with.'

The researchers believe the findings could be used to develop tailored products for 'Sour Patch Adults'.

'This could ultimately serve to promote the consumption of healthier foods and beverages that are lower in sweetness but still acceptable to consumers,' Professor Hayes concluded.