While many have posed the question before, the debate over box or bag was sparked once again when a X user posted a photo of a box of Maltesers, with the caption: 'Still waiting for the day scientists come up with the answer to the most vital of questions - why do Maltesers taste better from a box than a packet?'

In response, another posted her support of the claim, writing: 'My dad used to buy me a box once a month when he got paid and they tasted like pure nectar. Box all the way.'

The post has garnered thousands of likes and hundreds of comments from lovers of Maltesers, who either sit firmly in the team box, team bag, or team they’re all the same.

But are they really all the same?

Charles Spence is a professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University and he thinks internet users may be onto something here.

Spence says that when it comes to preferring the taste of the same item served in a different way, ‘It is nearly always the packaging that makes the difference.'

'Food in motion captures our visual attention’, he said.

In the cardboard box, the delicious shiny little malt spheres covered in chocolate are much more appetising than they are, ‘sitting in bottom of bag stationary and hard to find,' Professor Spence said.

An element of sound is at play, too, suggests Professor Barry Smith, director of the Institute of Philosophy at University of London's School of Advanced Study.

'The reason Maltesers would be perceived as tasting better from the box than the packet is the sound quality of the little, light round objects colliding with the sides of the box and with each other,' Professor Smith told MailOnline.

Research has long suggested that maximum enjoyment of food comes from igniting all of the five senses – taste, smell, touch, sight and sound – which is why when it comes to Maltesers, we’re team box.