Ok, maybe I am a little sadistic but come on… is there anything more funny or cute than when a baby does the sour face? Ok, maybe a baby animal learning to stand but other than that? I don’t think so.
(Ok, maybe Borat. High fives!)
No, the sour face takes the cake.
Ok, let’s take a quick quiz… Who here has not given a slice of lemon or a LAY’S Salt & Vinegar Flavored Potato Chip to a baby and stood back while the hilarity ensues? I know it is not just me right? Come on. Admit it in the comments. The sour face is hilarious.
The science behind these chips and how they are made is pretty interesting but let’s talk about why these children are making these faces.
Scientists describe the five basic tastes as bitter, salty, sour, sweet, and umami. Humans perceive tastes through sensory organs called gustatory calyculi, or taste buds, concentrated on the upper surface of the tongue. And so stuff in the food has a chemical reaction with the chemicals that your taste buds produce. The taste buds interpret the result as a taste and send a signal to the brain. The sourness sensation of the taste of a certain food is determined by the concentration of loose hydrogen atoms it contains. Thus the higher the concentration, the more sour a food will taste and thus the sour face.
Oh, this is boring and who cares anyway? Let’s see another sour face.
Here is another which, may not be a ‘sour face’ technically, it is still funny.
I know there are going to be those of you who think this is cruel. Those who listen to all the advice about how you should not give citrus to a child before age 1 and make believe peanut allergies and so on and so on. But really, don’t worry. A baby is much stronger than many of us give it credit for. We all survived right?
And you can rest assured, soon enough they will learn the secret to dealing with all the lemons: making lemonade (and adding vodka to it).
In the mean time, give a baby a lemon or a salt and vinegar chip and enjoy the sour face. Soon they will be grown.
Life is short and time goes quick. Might as well smile a little.
What sort of things have you seen a child eat for it to make the sour face? Let me know in the comments. We love to hear from you.