Lekker vieze dingen eten: Is walging af te leren

Disgust is a primary emotion that chiefly affects food intake, that is, it is the main reason for food refusal. Like other primary emotions, disgust is a pan-cultural or universal experience, but the foodstuffs people find disgusting are far from uniform. What specific foods function as a trigger for disgust, tends to vary between cultures and even individuals. Specific food aversions are typically acquired through associative learning, or conditioning, and, once conditioned, disgust is notoriously difficult to unlearn. But food disgust does not always need to have a conditioning history. Unknown, novel foods or dishes are also typically found to evoke some disgust, rooted in food neophobia. Such unconditional novel food disgust may be subject to habituation when repeatedly exposed to new foods. Voluntary exposure to (including tasting of) disgusting foods may sound improbable, but disgusting food is rarely just disgusting. It is also amusing and fascinating and seen as a challenge. This is both relevant and hopeful considering the current nutrition transition promoting a flurry of sustainable food innovations to mitigate pollution and climate change.