Raised blood pressure (or hypertension) is the commonest underlying cause of cardiovascular disease, responsible for the most deaths, morbidity and disability in the world. The natural development of hypertension is determined by a complex interaction between a polygenic background of risk which is modulated by epigenetic interactions with a number of clearly identified environmental and behavioural - yet modifiable - factors. The latter include metabolic and nutritional influences like positive energy balance and obesity, and excessive salt consumption. In the last few decades, high as well as middle and low - income countries have recorded an epidemic of obesity, diabetes and hypertension, attributable in great part to a shift in behavioural aspects of daily living like overeating, increased portion sizes, reduced energy expenditure due to physical inactivity, increase in consumption of low quality food rich in sugar, fat and salt. The need for a more comprehensive understanding of the factors that drive food choices has led biomedical research to studying the relationships between specific food preferences and their consumption. N euro - and chemo - sensory pathways, like those regulating odours and flavours, are well known to determine human behaviour towards food and drink consumption. These pathways may lead to the perception of perfect happiness - or bliss – and for food the bliss point is defined as the “quantity of consumption where any further increase would make the consumer less satisfied”