Despite evidence that the ability to taste is weakened by obesity and rescued with weight loss intervention, few studies have investigated the molecular effects of obesity on the physiology of taste. Taste bud cells undergo continual turnover, even in adulthood, exhibiting an average life span of about 10 days, tightly controlled by a balance of proliferation and cell death. Recent data reveal that an acute inflammation event can upset this balance. I demonstrate that chronic low-grade inflammation brought on by an obesogenic diet reduces the number of taste buds in gustatory tissues of mice, by attenuating the renewal of taste cells, and is likely the cause of taste dysfunction seen in obese populations.