The jaw muscles play key functional roles during feeding. During contraction, a bioelectrical signal propagates along the muscle cell helping to coordinate muscle contraction. This signal can be measured via electromyography (EMG). Food scientists have increasingly adopted EMG as a tool for studying the relationships among food textures and oral processing. Specifically, food scientists have used EMG from the feeding muscles as (1) a general measure of food texture, (2) a measure of oral physiology, (3) an estimate of absolute force and (4) a measure of muscle work. Unfortunately, physiological research indicates that estimates of absolute force and mechanical work are not reliably indicated from EMG as it is best considered an indicator of muscle activity and relative recruitment levels.