# Is there any empirical reason behind why a food tastes good to one person and bad to another? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 12, 2026, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590 "2026-01-12T09:27:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/22 "2026-01-12T14:32:19Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > There evidently are many people whose experience of eating is dominated by texture, not flavor. This describes me and my relationship with eggs. I’m fine with any sort of scrambled egg (alone or in an omelette, quiche, frittata, etc.), but it needs to be well done (dry). Any sort of isolated yolk and I’m out - no fried eggs, poached eggs, boiled eggs. If faced with one I will eat the whites and leave the yolk. Partly texture (just thinking about the texture of an egg yolk is giving me the willies), partly psychological. Don’t think it’s taste… ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan\_myers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@aruvqan\_myers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan_myers)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/23 "2026-01-12T14:36:25Z")
Ginger ale and fruit salad taste the same both directions - probably why it tends to be one of the first post wake up snacks in hospitals. When I was doing radiation and chemo I was really careful to avoid any food I actively loved like artichokes or anything really strongly flavored so I would not train my body to respond with nausea and vomiting to my favorite foods. [ate a lot of plain white rice, baked potatoes and cream of chicken soup] I still have issues with eating, though I control it by only one solid food meal a day and baryatric fusion meal replacement for the rest of my needs [16 oz whole milk, 4 scoops of mix, a double portion as it were] because I have gastroparesis now and if I try to eat the classic 3 meals of solid food a day, I start vomiting because my body wants my stomach contents OUT and it does not care if it processes through my guts or gets vomited out. Sigh. So, ‘breakfast’ in our house is dinner because my husband works nights, and ‘dinner’ for me is shake or occasionally a can of cream of creature soup [chicken with herbs is a favorite] ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/24 "2026-01-12T15:31:48Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > Then again, Japanese kids chug down Natto for breakfast, and that defies comprehension. Even there, I think there must be something genetic. Even in Japan, it’s not a universally loved food. It’s definitely not the Japanese equivalent of cheeseburgers or chicken nuggets. When I was trying (and failing) to learn how to eat natto, the videos I watched on that subject seemed to have reached the consensus that something like half of Japanese people hate natto. I think it’s one of those things that some people can learn to love if exposed at a young age, and other people will never like no matter how they are introduced to it. ETA: FWIW, for me the problem I had was with the texture, not the taste or smell. I can’t stand stringy / slimy food. It’s the same reason I don’t like (most) pizza. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/25 "2026-01-12T15:40:43Z")
Part of determining taste preferences is clearly learned, but a large part is genetic. For example, there are several genes related to tasting bitterness of different kinds. My personal tastes include loving Brussels Sprouts, but having a hard time with the bitterness of coffee. Usually I have to dilute normal coffee to ½ its normal strength to be able to drink it. My wife is just the opposite; no Brussels Sprouts, but loves strong black coffee. We both grew up in homes where both of these items were commonly served, so we were experienced in their consumptionl It may be partly due to being a super taster - a person with a heighted sense of taste due to an increased number of taste buds, but it seems to be additionally a matter of specific genetic differences in the ability to taste certain molecules that create the different tastes in foods. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/26 "2026-01-12T15:45:32Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#): > > But mayo is something I find absolutely disgusting. A rancid condiment that overpowers whatever it’s put on. Nothing like a helping of mayo to ruin an otherwise good sandwich. It’s one of my big pet peeves. But my opinion seems to be shared by very few people. If it makes you feel any better, I’m exactly the same about this ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/27 "2026-01-12T15:46:24Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > North Americans insist that every breakfast include eggs Some do, but no nearly all of them. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/28 "2026-01-12T15:48:08Z")
Beyond any genetic differences, my take is that responses to particular tastes (and smells) are often learned, based in part on early childhood experiences and how our parents/relatives/siblings react to them. I knew that cilantro would be brought up right away in this thread. Remember that the science behind the supposed genetic link to dislike of the herb is the product of limited research, and the qualifiers “may” and “suggestive” apply. Once a suppedly landmark study was released, it was promptly accepted as gospel, especially by those who saw an untouchable justification for their tastes beyond “well, I just don’t like the flavor”. > [@](#): > > ## CAN I DISLIKE CILANTRO WITHOUT THE GENE? > > It’s not all genetic. There’s an ethnocultural component to whether someone dislikes cilantro. People from cultures that frequently use cilantro in food, like Mexican and Indian, have far fewer people that say cilantro has this soapy taste. The soapy cilantro opinion is more likely to come from someone of European descent, the 2012 paper found. > > It’s also a matter of exposure to the leafy green. For example, someone might be born with this specific olfactory reception cluster, but if they’re raised on meals flavored with cilantro, they could overcome what seems like an innate dislike. On the other hand, if somebody doesn’t like cilantro, it doesn’t mean they’re genetically predisposed to dislike it; it could mean they’re not used to its taste. > > The team from [a 2012 study published](https://flavourjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2044-7248-1-22) in the journal _Flavour_ calculated that genetic variants determine less than 10 percent of cilantro responses. > **[Is that soapy cilantro taste genetic? Why the answer is still elusive](https://www.inverse.com/science/cilantro-soapy-taste-genetics-mystery)** > > Why is cilantro loved by some but also hated by many? A food scientist breaks down how genetics and other factors contribute to why you love or hate the herb. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/29 "2026-01-12T17:30:31Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#): > > For example, I’ve mentioned this on this board before: I don’t really like eggs. I can force myself to eat them in some forms, but generally don’t like them. Admittedly it’s not only about taste but also about their texture and consistency. Still, when not processed into another food, I find eggs a bit putrid. That’s me to a “Tee”. Even when I do eat them ( if they’re hard and not slimy ) I bury them in pepper and kind of hold my breath while eating so as to minimize the taste signature. > [@themapleleaf](#): > > Then there’s mayonnaise,which is mostly made of egg. Like I said, I can sometimes force myself to eat egg. But mayo is something I find absolutely disgusting. A rancid condiment that overpowers whatever it’s put on. Nothing like a helping of mayo to ruin an otherwise good sandwich. Me three. I find the sight, the smell and the taste absolutely revolting. Taste, texture, appearance: trifecta of misery. Other than that I’m a _very_ adventurous eater. In fact it’s just those two food items that are the exception. ( except asparagus, which I find has a sickening texture and kinda’ squeaks when you bite into it, and has the appearance of what looks like some kind of alien bacteria that’s been highly magnified ) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/30 "2026-01-12T17:47:15Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > People who respond to phenylthiocarbamide are called “tasters.” That’s probably me. I’m a very adventurous eater but I am also a very picky eater. I’ve been in some kind of remote places for work and loved trying the local food. Some of the engineers only ate burgers in the hotel but a few of us were up for anything and it was fun as hell. I love uni, stinky cheeses, olives and other things that some people seem to dislike. Then again… There is a certain texture that I can’t stand. Squishy/crunchy like apples, water chestnuts, lettuce spines and carrots. But I love apples in pie or pastry and carrots cooked in a stew for example. Cilantro is unpleasant but cucumber tastes just vile to me plus it has the texture mentions above. If you dipped a slice of cucumber in a glass of water and pulled it out, the water would be completely unpalatable. I love pickled eggs and asparagus but not regular pickles. I think it’s a bitter thing but I’ve never been able to figure it out. Do you know anyone else who hates the taste of all alcoholic beverages, chocolate and coffee? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/31 "2026-01-12T18:06:30Z")
Yeah, I’ve found mayo to be a fairly common food aversion. I like the stuff (I really don’t have any food aversions), but I have a few friends who gag at the merest suggestion of mayo. It probably the second most common aversion among my group of friends next to cilantro. I always ask about those when cooking for a group. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/32 "2026-01-12T18:11:20Z")
My ex-wife and I are foodies and profess to hate mayo. Once after a great meal she pointed out that while we hate mayo we somehow loved the dish that included aioli. We had a good laugh at ourselves and it still comes up as an inside joke decades later. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/33 "2026-01-12T18:17:51Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > People who don’t like cilantro report it as having a variety of tastes. Some say it’s soapy. Some say it’s mildewy. Some say it tastes like dirt. Some say it tastes like bugs. Some say it tastes burnt. To me, it just tastes bitter. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/34 "2026-01-12T18:28:18Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I’ve never understood why North Americans insist that every breakfast include eggs. The spam egg sausage and spam hasn’t got much egg in it. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/35 "2026-01-12T19:16:48Z")
I have a weird egg aversion. I love scrambled, poached, over easy, etc. eggs. However, when I was a teenager, my mom was on a hardboiled egg diet (eat minimally, but all the hardboiled eggs you want) and had a big tupperware full of hardboiled eggs in the fridge. I came home one day and wanted a snack. I realized I had ready made snacks in my mom’s hardboiled eggs. Great! I had never had a hardboiled egg (not outside of moderate inclusion in salads), but I had seen people eat them with a little salt, so I grabbed a couple eggs and a salt shaker and settled down in front of the TV. I peeled an egg, salted it, and took a hefty bite. Instantaneous gag reaction! I couldn’t get close to swallowing. I had to spit out the egg and rinse my mouth out with water before I stopped gagging. Since then I avoid hardboiled eggs and large chunks of hardboiled egg in dishes (but not small, well distributed inclusion in dishes), on general principle. I still enjoy cooked eggs, particularly with runny yolks. I also have no problem with the egg whites of hard cooked eggs. The best I can figure is that I have some sort of extreme sensitivity to something in the chemical changes in the yolk when it is heated to solidification. I can’t imagine any psychological component, given my mindset when I bit into that first egg. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/36 "2026-01-12T20:07:37Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > There evidently are many people whose experience of eating is dominated by texture, not flavor. That’s me, pretty much. There’s tastes I don’t _like,_ but it’s almost always texture that leads to disgust and nausea. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/37 "2026-01-12T20:10:14Z")
Beets are another food that, like cilantro, people seem to have hard-wired responses to. While there are definitely some people who just don’t care for them, there’s a subset for whom beets taste like a mouthful of dirt. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/38 "2026-01-12T20:11:30Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > olives and other things that some people seem to dislike. Olives are a weird one for me. I don’t “hate” the flavour, but I generally avoid olives because I find their flavour overwhelms everything else in the food. Even a few olives, and that’s all I can taste. On the other hand, I’ve tasted some things that other hate, and it’s at best “Well, that doesn’t taste _great_, but I’m not going to was lyrical about how awful it is.” Malort, for example. Chicago prides itself on how awful it is, but it wasn’t that bad for me. But at the same time, I don’t like the peaty or smoky whiskeys. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/39 "2026-01-12T20:11:44Z")
I’m not the biggest fan of hard boiled eggs, but if they’re overcooked, they will become sulfurous and the yolk’s texture gets grainy. My mom, for all her cooking skills, always overcooks her hard boiled eggs, such that they have a grey-green ring around the yolk. I still eat them if they’re part of another dish (like we have some soups that are served with hard boiled egg), but I won’t be happy about it. What really irritates me is when this happens at a restaurant. No chef should send out eggs that have that dark ring around them. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/40 "2026-01-12T20:29:31Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > > [@themapleleaf](#): > > > > but also about their texture and consistency. > > There evidently are many people whose experience of eating is dominated by texture, not flavor. In many of the “fussy eaters” threads over the years it’s clear that there are many, many people who find common food textures disgustingly offputting. > > So there’s a whole 'nuther dimension of diversity whose underlying “why”'s haven’t really been explored. Texture is a very important aspect of food that everyone experiences. The moniker “texture eater” refers to those for which it’s an extreme. I don’t think I’m that extreme, but I recently discovered that I enjoy the “fish” part of fish and chips more if I ignore the directions and bake the fish hotter and slightly longer than directed so that the crust really firms up. The best fish and chips in the world is served out of a converted school bus in a small town in northern Ontario, on the shore of Georgian Bay where the fish is delivered to them by fishing boats that dock nearby. I don’t know how they prepare it but it has a smooth crispy exterior that is not obviously “breaded” but is absolutely delectable. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/41 "2026-01-12T20:37:07Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > that I enjoy the “fish” part of fish and chips more if I ignore the directions and bake the fish hotter and slightly longer than directed so that the crust really firms up Fish and chips without a crispy exterior is sad. ☹ The joy is in that textural contrast between crispy shell and flaky soft fish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590.md?page=3)