Encouraging research update from the University of Nottingham – 15 May 2026
We wanted to share some encouraging news about recently published research into smell loss led by the University of Nottingham that SmellTaste has been supporting.
The research, recently featured in The Telegraph, explored whether specially designed chewing gum with intense multilayered flavours and cooling and spicy stimulation, could help improve flavour perception in people who have been living with smell impairment from 3 months up to 2 years.
Some members of the SmellTaste community took part in the pilot study, where they were randomly and evenly allocated to 3 groups which were flavour impairment training using chewing gum (FIT), olfactory training (OT) using smelling strips, and a waiting list control group (CTR) (delaying FIT training for 12 weeks).
Whilst this was a small pilot study, with only 16 people using the gums, the early findings are encouraging:
- 67% of participants reported improvements in their sense of smell
- 83% reported improvements in taste
The study combines flavour, temperature and sensory stimulation in a way designed to help retrain the brain’s sensory pathways.
Since the article was published, Dr Nicole Yang from the University of Nottingham, who led the research, has shared that more than 50 people have already expressed interest in taking part in future trials, highlighting the significant demand for further research and support in this area.
At the moment, additional funding is still needed before future trials can take place. In the meantime, people who have contacted the research team are being signposted to our website for support and community resources.
We know how important it is for people living with smell and taste impairment to hear about research progress and potential future treatments. While this is still early-stage research, it is encouraging to see growing awareness, interest and investment in understanding these conditions.
We’d like to thank everyone in our community who continues to share their experiences and take part in research opportunities. Your involvement plays an important role in helping move understanding and innovation forward.
We’d also like to thank TasteTech who stepped in, once it was clear there was nothing already out there in the market, to help develop a set of chewing gums designed to stimulate the smell, taste and sensation of cooling, heat and spice (trigeminal) over time which were used in the study.
