World Taste & Smell Day Spotlights $11 Trillion Opportunity to Transform Global Health Through Sensory Wellness
NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / June 17, 2025 / Every September 14, World Taste & Smell Day illuminates a hidden public health emergency: the widespread loss of humanity's most undervalued senses. With one in three people destined to experience significant taste or smell dysfunction during their lifetime, this silent epidemic demands immediate recognition and action.
The World Taste & Smell Association (WTSA) is mobilizing a global coalition of healthcare professionals, researchers, industry leaders, and the public to revolutionize how we understand sensory health-transforming it from an afterthought into a cornerstone of human wellness.
"Taste and smell have been overlooked and underfunded for decades, despite being fundamental to how we eat, heal, connect, and experience life," says Mindy Yang, Co-Founder and CEO of WTSA. "As healthcare becomes more data-driven and AI-enabled, we have a unique opportunity to champion the human sensory experience. By breaking down traditional medical silos, we can finally integrate sensory wellness into comprehensive care."
The Invisible Epidemic: Millions Suffering in Silence
Behind closed doors, millions navigate life with diminished or lost senses of taste and smell-conditions that remain chronically underdiagnosed, misunderstood, and untreated. This sensory deprivation creates devastating ripple effects across mental health, nutritional well-being, immune function, emotional intimacy, and basic safety.
"Our sense of smell is the architect of flavor," explains Dr. Rachel Herz, renowned cognitive neuroscientist and author of Why You Eat What You Eat. "When smell vanishes, food becomes flavorless, nutrition suffers, and the emotional threads that connect us to memories and loved ones begin to fray. The restoration of our sense of smell represents far more than sensory recovery-it signals hope, healing, and the return of life's essential pleasures."
The urgency intensifies when considering smell loss as an early warning system for serious health conditions. Olfactory dysfunction often precedes neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, while taste disorders signal metabolic, psychological, and nutritional imbalances. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified this crisis, with post-viral conditions like anosmia and parosmia affecting millions worldwide.
"We are sounding the alarm bell about the immense scope of chemosensory disorders. Scientists have now linked the loss of smell to 139 different health conditions. Couple that with the known loss of taste and smell acuity that comes with age, the lingering impact of Covid for millions of people, and smell or taste loss from injuries, allergies, radiation treatments and genetic causes, there is no question that chemosensory disorders are a silent epidemic," says Stephanie Feuer, Co-Founder and Board Chair of WTSA. "As someone who lost my sense of smell after a viral infection, I know how profoundly chemosensory loss can affect your daily life and emotional wellbeing."
The $11 Trillion Opportunity: Sensory Health as Economic Driver
Forward-thinking analysis reveals the extraordinary economic potential of prioritizing sensory wellness. McKinsey's 2025 research projects the global quality-of-life economy will reach $11.2 trillion by 2034, with sensory well-being emerging as a primary catalyst for innovation across healthcare, consumer products, smart technology, food systems, and wellness industries.
This represents more than economic opportunity-it's a chance to democratize health through preventive care, personalized nutrition, advanced diagnostics, and food-as-medicine approaches that serve every community.
The Critical Stakes: Why Sensory Health Can't Wait
The Statistics Speak Volumes:
1 in 3 people will experience measurable smell or taste dysfunction-most without access to proper care
Early detection potential: Sensory changes often serve as the first indicators of neurological, viral, or chronic diseases
Vulnerable populations: Children, elderly adults, and post-viral patients face heightened risks
Comprehensive impact: These senses directly influence nutrition, memory formation, immune response, personal safety, life satisfaction, and mental health
Join the Global Movement: Your Role in Sensory Health Revolution
WTSA invites individuals, healthcare providers, researchers, and organizations worldwide to participate in this transformative movement through TasteAndSmell.org:
Advance Scientific Discovery - Participate in groundbreaking global surveys, research studies, and clinical trials that will shape the future of sensory medicine
Amplify Your Voice - Engage in public forums and town halls where personal experiences drive policy change and medical innovation
Spark Essential Conversations - Initiate discussions about sensory health in homes, medical offices, classrooms, and communities
Fuel the Mission - Support and donate to WTSA's nonprofit initiatives to expand education access and ensure equitable care for all
Spread the Word - Use #TasteAndSmellDay and tag @TasteAndSmellOrg to make this invisible crisis visible
"We're standing at the threshold of a healthcare revolution," Yang reflects. "As data science and AI transform medicine, we have an unprecedented opportunity to innovate around human sensory experience. Each person's taste and smell profile is unique, and changes in these senses serve as potential biomarkers-early signals that can guide intervention and personalized care. The breakthroughs happening now can finally give sensory health the attention it deserves, unlocking new potential to enhance quality of life, advance preventive medicine, and harness the power of food as medicine for longevity and quality of life."
About the World Taste & Smell Association (WTSA)
The World Taste & Smell Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit transforming how the world understands sensory health. Through partnerships and applicational research spanning science, healthcare, culinary arts, nutrition, fragrance, design, and technology-as well as signature initiatives like the Global Taste & Smell Summit, World Taste & Smell Day (September 14), and #DeliciousForAll-WTSA is making taste and smell essential components of global wellness. We are building a future where sensory wellness is fundamental to healthcare and available to all.
WTSA also produces The World of Taste & Smell podcast, featuring leading voices across science, culture, and innovation exploring how the senses shape our health, memory, and humanity.
WTSA is available for expert commentary, interviews, and thought leadership on sensory science, public health, aging, food systems, and the future of wellness. For health and science facts, media requests, or speaker inquiries, please contact us at press@tasteandsmell.org.
World Taste & Smell Day: September 14 - Taste. Smell. Thrive.
Media Inquiries: Jenna Troyli at jenna@noted.llc
Learn More: TasteAndSmell.org
SOURCE: World Taste And Smell Association
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