Yomiuri: Japan raises stink over ISO standards
Many companies using the Japanese method for measuring odor have found themselves backed into a corner after the European method took the lead in the race to set an international standard for measuring odors during the next three years.
...The [Japanese] method, known as the Triangle Odor Bag Method, involves three plastic bags, one of which is filled with odorized air. The odorized air is compared with air that has not been odorized using the olfactory senses of a group of panelists.
...The European method, however, uses a machine to produce two types of air--one that is odorized and one that is not--which are compared by participants.
...But criticism of the Triangle Odor Bag Method in the West has been quite harsh.
...The Japanese researchers chalked the comments up to differences in attitudes toward technology.
"It may be due to some cultural differences, but in the West, there seems to be a trend toward trusting machines over people," one of the researchers said.
If you really are interested:
PDF File: The History of Odor Measurement in Japan and Triangle Odor Bag Method
PDF File: Measurement of Odor Threshold by Triangle Odor Bag Method
