# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/62 "2026-01-13T21:12:24Z")
This was a Factual Question OP. > [@themapleleaf](#): > > Is there any biology at play behind different people’s food preferences or is it just as subjectively influenced as whether one prefers Impressionist or abstract art? The factual answer is unambiguously that there is biology behind different people’s food preferences in addition to the psychological and “subjectively influenced” ones. There are variants of taste receptors and olfactory receptors as well. These are not rare. We literally experience different compounds differently. There is entraining to tastes that get into amniotic fluid and then breast milk. And then there is learning based on experiences through childhood and adulthood both. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/63 "2026-01-13T21:17:17Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > One egg > 4 crisp bacon > 2 Canadian bacon > 4 sausage links or 2 patties > 2 or 4 turkey links > Tennessee Country ham > sugar cured ham steak > pork chops > chopped sirloin steak > country fried steak > New York strip steak > corned beef hash > toasted bagel w cream cheese > toast or English muffin > 2 biscuits > homemade pastry > oatmeal > grits > home fries > hashbrowns > tomato slices > banana cup > mixed fruit cup > strawberry cup > fruit plate combo No yogurt? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/64 "2026-01-13T21:19:29Z")
And two hard-boiled eggs! ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/65 "2026-01-13T21:22:02Z")
I don’t know what kind of diners you go to - I will eat eggs for breakfast occasionally but not every day and I never have a problem finding something other than toast. Every place I’ve ever been has at least one of pancakes/french toast/waffles and most places have at least some of the follwing items - muffins, bagels( with or without lox) , danishes, fruit , yogurt and cereal( hot and cold). Even if you won’t eat the pancakes,waffles and french toast because egg is an ingredient, there’s still plenty of other choices. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/66 "2026-01-13T21:25:08Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I suspect that it’s a lot less physical than it is mental. I mean there are plenty of people I know who got sick and puked after eating one dish or another and now can’t stand the smell or taste of it. I’m sure the taste buds and olfactory receptors are working just fine, but it’s how the brain interprets those signals that determines how it’s perceived to taste. That is called “The Garcia Effect.” If you vomit after eating something, even from a virus or chemo, you may not be able to eat it again-- or at least for a long time. This is one of the reasons managing nausea during chemo is so important-- it’s no good to survive cancer if there is nothing you can eat again. It’s built into our DNA-- people who vomited up something they shouldn’t have eaten, and never touched it again survived to have more offspring. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/67 "2026-01-13T21:33:21Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Go to any Denny’s for breakfast. Every item on the breakfast menu is “two eggs any style and …” Does Denny’s near you not have the build your own slam, where you choose any 4 ( I think) items - or is that what you mean by putting together something out of the sides? ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/68 "2026-01-14T02:19:00Z")
Many many years ago during my first ever visit to the US, I was in Florida (visiting the Cape to watch a shuttle launch) and the only place for breakfast was a Denny’s. It seemed impossible to order anything that wasn’t either intended to feed the 5000, or did not include a side of pancakes. Or both. Always enough pancakes to feed a family. Eventually I worked out that they would let me order a bowl of oatmeal and explicitly delete the attached pancakes. The oatmeal was still vastly too big, but was at least an approximation to what I would ordinarily have for breakfast. My impression was that, in general, you needed to pay seriously more money at a much higher end joint to get food with servings of a sane size. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/69 "2026-01-14T02:56:30Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > 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. I hate cilantro. It reeks of stink bugs and overwhelmingly ruins the flavor of things it’s in. The taste also lingers, like bad artificial sweeteners do. There is no way I can see me getting “used to its taste.” Some people say adults sometimes like foods they hated as children because the sense of taste weakens with age. When I was in elementary school sweet potatoes tasted so bad to me I’d want to vomit if I tried to choke down a bite. Now at 65 they just taste bad. I still don’t like them but the taste doesn’t make me want to puke. Cilantro? I first tried the fresh herb (vile weed) in my forties and it tastes just as vile now! I first read on this board that “an acquired taste is Stockholm Syndrome for the taste buds.” Since there are no rewards from ingesting enough cilantro to get used to it (unlike coffee or beer), I’m not going to try. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/70 "2026-01-14T03:34:06Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > because the sense of taste weakens with age. Changes. Not necessarily weakens. Details and more on the physiological bases for taste variations here: > **[Ontogeny of taste preferences: basic biology and implications for health](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916523049997)** > > Health initiatives address childhood obesity in part by encouraging good nutrition early in life. This review highlights the science that shows that c… ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/71 "2026-01-14T03:37:48Z")
I did not know about the differences between tasters, whether they were homozygous or heterozygous. FWIW, I’m a PTC nontaster who does not like coffee. I do like cilantro. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/72 "2026-01-14T05:03:33Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > This was a Factual Question OP. > > > [@themapleleaf](#): > > > > Is there any biology at play behind different people’s food preferences or is it just as subjectively influenced as whether one prefers Impressionist or abstract art? > > The factual answer is unambiguously that there is biology behind different people’s food preferences in addition to the psychological and “subjectively influenced” ones. > > There are variants of taste receptors and olfactory receptors as well. These are not rare. We literally experience different compounds differently. > > There is entraining to tastes that get into amniotic fluid and then breast milk. > > And then there is learning based on experiences through childhood and adulthood both. I think that’s a lot is biology behind learned tastes, too. That is, i think you are more likely to like a good you first tasted when you were hungry, more likely to hate a food that you felt queasy after eating, and are more likely to develop a taste for flavors that your body associates with nutrition. I read an interesting study where they gave some kids a strawberry shake and other kids a grape shake. And some of those kids were given a full-fat version and others a low-far version. And a few hours later, they gave the kids the other one (different flavor and different amount of fat).They asked the kids which they liked more. Then they invited the same kids back a week later, and gave them a choice of shakes. The first time, the kids reported liking the strawberry and grape shakes about the same, and didn’t report any preference for the low or high fat shakes. But when the kids came back, a solid majority requested the flavor that had been full fat on their first visit. It takes time for our bodies to analyze the nutritional value of a food, but we learn to like foods with available nutrients. That’s biological, IMHO. When i was in Japan, they told me that natto was a learned preference, and that you have to try it about 5 times to learn to like it. I didn’t think that’s “Stockholm syndrome”, i think that’s a food with a difficult flavor and texture that is really nutritious. And eventually, your gut convinces your tongue that you want it. Beets taste like dirt, and also are sweet and rich. I like beets. Cilantro tastes like soap, and also tastes fresh and green. I hate cilantro. But i bet i could learn to like it. And i hate peppers. My mother says i liked them as a kid. But i realized recently that strong exposure to pepper makes me obviously physically ill. I suspect i learned to hate the flavor because even in small quantities it makes me slightly ill. I dunno if there are biological reasons for sensitivity to textures, but it’s common for autistic people to be very picky about the texture of their food. So there’s probably something biological there, too. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/73 "2026-01-14T09:49:58Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I dunno if there are biological reasons for sensitivity to textures, but it’s common for autistic people to be very picky about the texture of their food. So there’s probably something biological there, too. I don’t know whether autistic people taste less, but people who are **not** autistic, but had dulled sense of taste for various reasons, usually after surviving a very bad infection (from a study I read long before COVID, but may be equally true of long COVID survivors) judged the enjoyment of food largely by its texture and “mouthfeel,” and for everyone, “mouthfeel” affects perceived taste. If nutrition was a factor in choosing food, no one would eat an Oreo twice. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/74 "2026-01-14T13:40:36Z")
Interesting. For me, I cannot stand olives but I love olive oil. It’s like they have completely different flavors. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/75 "2026-01-14T13:55:20Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > If nutrition was a factor in choosing food, no one would eat an Oreo twice. An Oreo had lots of easy-to-digest sugar and fat. That’s nutrition. We evolved in a world of nutritional scarcity, not nutritional abundance. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/76 "2026-01-14T14:13:47Z")
What about the weird taste cravings and revulsions pregnant women so famously acquire? Surely, there must be a hormonal (and therefore empirical) component to taste? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/77 "2026-01-14T14:18:00Z")
That’s apparently partly a reaction to iron deficiency. It’s apparently a thing for people who are low on iron to eat weird stuff, like dirt. But also, pregnant women are a little nauseated a lot of the time, and that leads to food aversions. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/78 "2026-01-14T14:25:03Z")
I wonder how many childhood food aversions might also be shaped by peer pressure. (If all your friends hate spinach, do you really want to be the one weird kid who likes it?) ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/79 "2026-01-14T14:31:13Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > which is on the paper they give you in biology class, What paper is that? ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/80 "2026-01-14T14:53:55Z")
Ha, as you are a Chef I am somewhat surprised. I made pickled shelled boiled eggs in beetroot with my my kids (then 7 and 9) and they happily ate them twelve months later, even though the outside of the eggs were very much purple. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/81 "2026-01-14T15:01:00Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > That is called “The Garcia Effect.” If you vomit after eating something, even from a virus or chemo, you may not be able to eat it again- It took some training to get me back on tequila, and involved chillis. I think I mentioned it upthread. But essentially I would vomit immediately with tequila, but chilli infused tequila was fine. I think (I am neither a dietician or a doctor) that the shock of capsicum overwhelmed any other response, and I am used to my capsicum reaction. [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=3) [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=5)