# How to people react to the smell of food they've never had before? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 14, 2018, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-people-react-to-the-smell-of-food-theyve-never-had-before/824527 "2018-11-14T21:49:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-people-react-to-the-smell-of-food-theyve-never-had-before/824527/21 "2018-11-15T21:07:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Luckily, you can wash away the taste with a refreshing Ting! What’s that noise? Did time run out? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-people-react-to-the-smell-of-food-theyve-never-had-before/824527/22 "2018-11-15T21:21:43Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Luckily, you can wash away the taste with a refreshing Ting! Better be a Banks for me. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-people-react-to-the-smell-of-food-theyve-never-had-before/824527/23 "2018-11-15T21:37:58Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > People can be very odd about smells. > > We had a staff member that parched raw peanuts in the break room microwave. I found it mouth watering. I love freshly parched peanuts. > > Other staff threw a hissy fit. Same thing with cooking popcorn. Is there any snack in this world that’s more delicious? But, some of our finicky staff objected, Strongly! > > New rule, no more peanuts or popcorn in our breakroom microwave. It’s posted on the wall by the microwave. One big problem is when people burn microwave popcorn – now THAT fucking reeks. ---
**Author:** ![Osano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@Osano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osano)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-people-react-to-the-smell-of-food-theyve-never-had-before/824527/24 "2018-11-17T00:52:28Z")
The human nose can distinguish over 1 trillion different odors. Our limiting ability is being able to communicate that scent. At work we have sensory testing and I found the descriptors of smell in the English language, is lacking compared to the other senses. “The team identified 10 basic odor qualities: fragrant, woody/resinous, fruity (non-citrus), chemical, minty/peppermint, sweet, popcorn, lemon and two kinds of sickening odors: pungent and decayed.” We use lecithin sometimes in the lab and an interesting thing I like to do is to ask new people to describe it. Often, and I think this happens to most people, is that the sense is familar to them but they cant place it. If they cannot determines the scent themselves I find they are very susceptive to suggestion. Which is a dangerous thing, PBS’s Nova just had a special on the implantation of memories and it followed this exact formula. Suggest something plausible and convince/repeat it at a later date. In truth I think its an impossible question to answer. Back to the lecithin example, the two most common responses is raisins or wheat bread. So I believe we all smell differently and often reject smells we dont like until we associate it with some sort of pleasure. Fear is a base emotion and often the initial response to unknown stimulus ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-people-react-to-the-smell-of-food-theyve-never-had-before/824527/25 "2018-11-17T18:58:16Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Other staff threw a hissy fit. Same thing with cooking popcorn. Is there any snack in this world that’s more delicious? But, some of our finicky staff objected, Strongly! At the Mayo Clinic, where so many people are on medical fasts for a test, microwave popcorn is banned from the building. I don’t think it’s because of disgust, though; quite the opposite. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-people-react-to-the-smell-of-food-theyve-never-had-before/824527.md?page=1)