Diet Differences

Most everyone has experienced a change of heart for a food or beverage you may have once hated as a kid.  The alteration of taste preferences remains one of the most observed but misunderstood modifiable behavioral phenomena within science.

We know that dietary experience can alter taste preferences.  For example, different cultures prefer the types of food that are native to their region, but when one moves to another country, they slowly adjust to the diet of the new area.  Just as animals adapt to their environment, over time we, too, can learn to accept foods that we don’t care for.

Photo from TEDxSydney Video: The First Taste

Physical Properties 

An article published by kcet.org reports that scientists at UC Santa Barbara tested the theory of dietary experience altering taste preferences in an effort to see what physical changes take place with our evolving taste perceptions.  In thestudy, USCB professor of Neuroscience Craig Montell and his team of researchers focused on a food additive called camphor, which has been used as a main ingredient in flavoring many desserts.

When fed foods containing camphor over a long period of time, the fruit flies learned to consume the food they previously wouldn’t touch.  The study reports that long term exposure (which for fruit flies only equals a few days) caused a reduction in the response by the Transient Receptor Potential-Like (TRPL) channel, a channel that mediates a variety of sensations in the body, such as temperature and different kinds of taste.

As the TRPL sensations were dulled and the synaptic connections decreased, the memories of negative experiences with the food began to disappear, and the flies took to the new flavor.  The article notes, “For humans, this might translate to mean that repeated exposure to disliked food over a period of weeks or months may result in the eventual acceptance of that food.”

Therefore, if you have a certain food or beverage you wish you could enjoy, don’t give up!  Trying the product multiple times could eventually lead to a gradual liking of the flavor.

What do you think of the dietary experience theory of taste preference alteration?  Do you agree that with time, we can learn to like foods that were once displeasing to us?  Share your taste evolution with us to see what flavors commonly require a building appreciate for.

The Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association of the United States (FEMA) was founded in 1909 and is the national association of the U.S. flavor industry.  FEMA’s membership is comprised of flavor manufacturers, flavor users, flavor ingredient suppliers, and others with an interest in the U.S. flavor industry.  The association is committed to ensuring a safe supply of flavor ingredients used in foods and beverages enjoyed by billions of men, women, and children around the world.