Food neophobia and its relation with olfaction

Food neophobia, that is the reluctance to try novel foods, is an attitude that dramatically affects human feeding behavior in many different aspects among which food preferences and food choices appear to be the most thoroughly considered. This attitude has an important evolutionary meaning since it protects the individual from ingesting potentially dangerous substances. On the other side though, it fosters an avoidance behavior that can extend even to useful food elements. A strong link exists between food neophobia and both the variety in one person’s diet and previous exposures to different foods. In this review, the main findings about food neophobia reported by the literature will be shortly described. Given the suggested connection between the exposure to different foods and food neophobia, this review will focus on the relation between this attitude and human chemosensory abilities. Olfaction, in particular, is a sensory modality that can work as an alerting system, preventing the individual to ingest potentially detrimental substances. Therefore, the latest evidences about its relation with food neophobia will be discussed along with the applied and cognitive implications.