Hairy? SCARY
April 18, 2023 11:35 AM Subscribe
Christina Hartmann and Michael Siegrist at the Technical University of Zurich have discovered that people’s disgust concerning food can be broken into eight distinct scales. The factors that determine why people differ on the various triggers for food disgust are not well understood, but the authors hope their instrument will contribute to a greater mapping-out of individual differences in this regard.
There are many things to quibble about in this quiz.
PLEASE DO SO! Quibbling is almost the best part. (as long as it doesn't have mold on it. or no one else has taken a bite out of it yet. and isn't too soggy, doesn't need to be like, perfectly crisp quiz but y'know, reasonably fresh)
Also, the desktop and mobile interfaces are different. Mobile has color-coded thumbs up/down which can be confusing based on the questions. Desktop has a simple agree/disagree slider.
There are many things to quibble about in this quiz.
PLEASE DO SO! Quibbling is almost the best part. (as long as it doesn't have mold on it. or no one else has taken a bite out of it yet. and isn't too soggy, doesn't need to be like, perfectly crisp quiz but y'know, reasonably fresh)
Also, the desktop and mobile interfaces are different. Mobile has color-coded thumbs up/down which can be confusing based on the questions. Desktop has a simple agree/disagree slider.
I'm at 38% and Hygiene was by far my biggest thing.
Mold on hard cheese? No big deal. Mold on marmalade? Blech.
posted by grumpybear69 at 11:49 AM on April 18, 2023 [14 favorites]
Mold on hard cheese? No big deal. Mold on marmalade? Blech.
posted by grumpybear69 at 11:49 AM on April 18, 2023 [14 favorites]
Human Contaminants & Hygiene > Insects > Blasé
The generic seafood question kind of threw me off because I find sea bugs (all bugs) absolutely revolting, but I wasn't going to compromise my love of sashimi et al.
I think my responses make sense. I don't want to catch communicable diseases, which are spread by other people and by things other people touch, and also, to a lesser degree, by insect damage. The other options are things I can largely determine the safety of myself: cut off a bit of brown-ness, decide if the mould is tasty.
posted by seanmpuckett at 11:55 AM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
The generic seafood question kind of threw me off because I find sea bugs (all bugs) absolutely revolting, but I wasn't going to compromise my love of sashimi et al.
I think my responses make sense. I don't want to catch communicable diseases, which are spread by other people and by things other people touch, and also, to a lesser degree, by insect damage. The other options are things I can largely determine the safety of myself: cut off a bit of brown-ness, decide if the mould is tasty.
posted by seanmpuckett at 11:55 AM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
I suppose this is the "grossest meal at a restaurant" story I have:
posted by seanmpuckett at 11:57 AM on April 18, 2023 [17 favorites]
I ordered an Italian panini from a Pizza Hut once long ago and midway through it found myself chewing bubble gum.
posted by seanmpuckett at 11:57 AM on April 18, 2023 [17 favorites]
"Your food disgust is very low (13.38%)"
Yeah, that about tracks. There is very little I won't eat. I'm an entomologist, so bugs don't bother me at all.
I don't answer "should I eat it" AskMeFi questions because I know I am an outlier.
posted by fimbulvetr at 11:58 AM on April 18, 2023 [12 favorites]
Yeah, that about tracks. There is very little I won't eat. I'm an entomologist, so bugs don't bother me at all.
I don't answer "should I eat it" AskMeFi questions because I know I am an outlier.
posted by fimbulvetr at 11:58 AM on April 18, 2023 [12 favorites]
I scored way higher on insect contaminants than I think was accurate, and I think the swaying factor was the restaurant bathroom filled with bugs question.
The bathroom with bugs in it isn't a concern about bugs near the food so much as it's a general indicator of hygiene standards in the restaurant. I generally abide by the rule that the front of house toilet is cleaner than the back of house kitchen, so if the bathrooms are a disaster my food is probably being handled badly, too.
Unsurprisingly, it's the hygiene and human contaminants for me.
posted by phunniemee at 11:59 AM on April 18, 2023 [10 favorites]
The bathroom with bugs in it isn't a concern about bugs near the food so much as it's a general indicator of hygiene standards in the restaurant. I generally abide by the rule that the front of house toilet is cleaner than the back of house kitchen, so if the bathrooms are a disaster my food is probably being handled badly, too.
Unsurprisingly, it's the hygiene and human contaminants for me.
posted by phunniemee at 11:59 AM on April 18, 2023 [10 favorites]
18% (very low)
Gonna have to show this to my wife, because she will be at the complete opposite end of the scale.
posted by briank at 12:07 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Gonna have to show this to my wife, because she will be at the complete opposite end of the scale.
posted by briank at 12:07 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
My main trigger was hygiene, which tracks. A major quibble I had was with the conflation of different kinds of mould and different kinds of vegetable spoilage.
This also seems to be a very small subset of the possible types of completely irrational food-related disgust -- the model doesn't account for e.g. "avocado is gross because it's green and mushy, even though pea or spinach soup or wasabi or pistachio ice cream are all totally fine", or "raw tomato is gross even though it tastes fine, because the seeds are weird and slimy, and is still gross by association minus the seeds, but totally fine if it's cooked, even with the seeds", "cheese is supposed to be savoury, so sweet cheese is disgusting, and so is jam on cheese, but not chutney on cheese, because chutney is classified as a savoury condiment", and "raw or lightly grilled bell pepper is gross, but any kind of hot pepper is fine, but any kind of pepper has to be deseeded meticulously because feeling the seeds between my teeth is gross" (all of which are real food opinions I have).
I guess most of these are kind of textural, but not really, because in every case I will quite contentedly eat something else that has the exact same texture. I very firmly categorise some foods as either sweet or savoury, and feel revulsion when this boundary is crossed -- but I also have a long list of exceptions which can be either sweet or savoury (yoghurt, peanut butter, pineapple, lemons but not oranges -- lemon chicken? Great! Orange duck? Gross!).
I also like bananas, banana bread and freeze-dried banana chips, but hate banana in literally any other form, including peeled and cut and next to / on top of any other food. What did bananas ever do to me? I don't know.
posted by confluency at 12:08 PM on April 18, 2023 [7 favorites]
This also seems to be a very small subset of the possible types of completely irrational food-related disgust -- the model doesn't account for e.g. "avocado is gross because it's green and mushy, even though pea or spinach soup or wasabi or pistachio ice cream are all totally fine", or "raw tomato is gross even though it tastes fine, because the seeds are weird and slimy, and is still gross by association minus the seeds, but totally fine if it's cooked, even with the seeds", "cheese is supposed to be savoury, so sweet cheese is disgusting, and so is jam on cheese, but not chutney on cheese, because chutney is classified as a savoury condiment", and "raw or lightly grilled bell pepper is gross, but any kind of hot pepper is fine, but any kind of pepper has to be deseeded meticulously because feeling the seeds between my teeth is gross" (all of which are real food opinions I have).
I guess most of these are kind of textural, but not really, because in every case I will quite contentedly eat something else that has the exact same texture. I very firmly categorise some foods as either sweet or savoury, and feel revulsion when this boundary is crossed -- but I also have a long list of exceptions which can be either sweet or savoury (yoghurt, peanut butter, pineapple, lemons but not oranges -- lemon chicken? Great! Orange duck? Gross!).
I also like bananas, banana bread and freeze-dried banana chips, but hate banana in literally any other form, including peeled and cut and next to / on top of any other food. What did bananas ever do to me? I don't know.
posted by confluency at 12:08 PM on April 18, 2023 [7 favorites]
18% The presence or absence of mold would not affect my shunning of marmalade.
This seems like of push poll-y. Not that there aren't people who would find this or that scenario disgusting, but the phrasing in many of the questions is so strong.
posted by emelenjr at 12:09 PM on April 18, 2023 [8 favorites]
This seems like of push poll-y. Not that there aren't people who would find this or that scenario disgusting, but the phrasing in many of the questions is so strong.
posted by emelenjr at 12:09 PM on April 18, 2023 [8 favorites]
I scored very high on insect contaminants, which is funny if you know what my kitchen looks like, but low on fish, even though I don't like fish or seafood in general.
I saw a cockroach crawling on the wall of my of my local burrito joint while waiting in line, and thought, "Well, I'm never coming back here again". But I still got my burrito and ate it (not in the restaurant though). I never went back there again.
posted by meowzilla at 12:09 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I saw a cockroach crawling on the wall of my of my local burrito joint while waiting in line, and thought, "Well, I'm never coming back here again". But I still got my burrito and ate it (not in the restaurant though). I never went back there again.
posted by meowzilla at 12:09 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
All fruit is disgusting to me, so any questions about fruit contamination are basically noise.
posted by Going To Maine at 12:10 PM on April 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Going To Maine at 12:10 PM on April 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
completely irrational food-related disgust
I will fight you
posted by Going To Maine at 12:10 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
I will fight you
posted by Going To Maine at 12:10 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
"My food disgust is average", but I'm a vegetarian and scored real high on meat and fish related disgust. IDK if that's fair.
I also sometimes kinda like to ham it up. Like if they mess up my order and give me a burrito with carnitas in it instead of a vegetarian one, it amuses me to say something like "I found a dead animal in my food!" Though I would only say that to my friends; to the server I would say something suitably polite, like "Excuse me, there seems to have been an error with my order - I asked for the vegetarian one".
posted by aubilenon at 12:11 PM on April 18, 2023 [7 favorites]
I also sometimes kinda like to ham it up. Like if they mess up my order and give me a burrito with carnitas in it instead of a vegetarian one, it amuses me to say something like "I found a dead animal in my food!" Though I would only say that to my friends; to the server I would say something suitably polite, like "Excuse me, there seems to have been an error with my order - I asked for the vegetarian one".
posted by aubilenon at 12:11 PM on April 18, 2023 [7 favorites]
I'm at 47%. I'm not an adventurous eater, but a lot of things are okay with me. But something that does trespass for me somehow can really ruin my appetite entirely.
I thought this was interesting but not overly illuminating?
posted by hippybear at 12:11 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
I thought this was interesting but not overly illuminating?
posted by hippybear at 12:11 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
Gonna have to show this to my wife, because she will be at the complete opposite end of the scale.
21% same as above. My wife is also the opposite, often throwing just washed dishes back into the dishwasher and throwing away food days before the 'best before date".
I think I've even had food poisoning before, but don't even care. It happens.
Also the type of bug really matters to me. Ants/flies/crickets? Whatever. Roaches? Far more disgusting.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:11 PM on April 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
21% same as above. My wife is also the opposite, often throwing just washed dishes back into the dishwasher and throwing away food days before the 'best before date".
I think I've even had food poisoning before, but don't even care. It happens.
Also the type of bug really matters to me. Ants/flies/crickets? Whatever. Roaches? Far more disgusting.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:11 PM on April 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
Some of the stuff in the quiz was definitely in the "it's a matter of degree" category for me. Drink out of a glass that someone else has already drank out of? Who drank out of it? My husband? Sure. A stranger? How desperately thirsty am I in this situation?
And the bug one... I mean, bugs in a bathroom are one thing. And is it one bug? Some mosquitos during mosquito season? Some kind of fly primarily found on yucky things? What kind of worm was in the other side of the apple? Is the whole apple gross, or is it just a tiny spot? Like, it really depends!
Overall, I scored quite low, which I'm not surprised. I'm loath to throw out a slightly shriveled and bendy carrot if it can be thrown in a sauce. Overripe fruits can get thrown in apple sauce or baked goods. And mold on cheese I've cut away without hesitation. Mold on bread... I've accidentally eaten a mold spot and while I don't necessarily want to do that on the regular (does not taste nice), I'd rather pick the spot off my sandwich than toss the sandwich if the spot is only small. If food waste were a country and all that...
posted by eekernohan at 12:12 PM on April 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
And the bug one... I mean, bugs in a bathroom are one thing. And is it one bug? Some mosquitos during mosquito season? Some kind of fly primarily found on yucky things? What kind of worm was in the other side of the apple? Is the whole apple gross, or is it just a tiny spot? Like, it really depends!
Overall, I scored quite low, which I'm not surprised. I'm loath to throw out a slightly shriveled and bendy carrot if it can be thrown in a sauce. Overripe fruits can get thrown in apple sauce or baked goods. And mold on cheese I've cut away without hesitation. Mold on bread... I've accidentally eaten a mold spot and while I don't necessarily want to do that on the regular (does not taste nice), I'd rather pick the spot off my sandwich than toss the sandwich if the spot is only small. If food waste were a country and all that...
posted by eekernohan at 12:12 PM on April 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
Average.... Mold/Insect/Fish > Hygiene.... everything else low, animal flesh == 0 (not sure what that tells about me).
It's missing the texture aspects, that's a major component of why I don't eat some foods.
posted by WaterAndPixels at 12:12 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
It's missing the texture aspects, that's a major component of why I don't eat some foods.
posted by WaterAndPixels at 12:12 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
Huh, I scored very low (15%), but I think I'm probably easily in the middle of the road among family and other people I know. I know lots of people who should definitely score lower than I did.
posted by ssg at 12:12 PM on April 18, 2023
posted by ssg at 12:12 PM on April 18, 2023
It's missing the texture aspects, that's a major component of why I don't eat some foods.
Yeah, like the avocado question one... I dislike avocados intensely whether there's any brown on them or not, and that's mostly texture for me. Same with sliced tomatoes -- okay on sandwiches, but to eat a tomato? Urg. Texture.
posted by hippybear at 12:14 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yeah, like the avocado question one... I dislike avocados intensely whether there's any brown on them or not, and that's mostly texture for me. Same with sliced tomatoes -- okay on sandwiches, but to eat a tomato? Urg. Texture.
posted by hippybear at 12:14 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
63.38! My food disgust apparently is thus: animal flesh, human hygiene, human contaminants.
I guess that scans? My best friend knew that I definitely loved my husband because I let him drink out of the same glass as me. "She never lets anyone drink from the same glass as her!" she proclaimed. (And she's right. I resolutely never let anyone drink from my beverages.)
The animal flesh thing is something that was instilled in me as a kid and likely explains why I'm a vegan. My distaste for animal flesh is the flavour and texture, and any chance one could have had of me being a omnivore was ruined by my stepmother's insistence that I eat ALL the gristly bits with whatever meat she served or I couldn't leave the table. (I sometimes fell asleep at the table because I didn't want to eat fatty bits etc.) Obviously the vegan option didn't exist for a 8 year old kid but it carried over into my adulthood when I would not eat meat, or at least eat very little and that depended on texture. (My veganism is only partly animal rights; it's mostly texture and flavour based, tbh.)
posted by Kitteh at 12:21 PM on April 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
I guess that scans? My best friend knew that I definitely loved my husband because I let him drink out of the same glass as me. "She never lets anyone drink from the same glass as her!" she proclaimed. (And she's right. I resolutely never let anyone drink from my beverages.)
The animal flesh thing is something that was instilled in me as a kid and likely explains why I'm a vegan. My distaste for animal flesh is the flavour and texture, and any chance one could have had of me being a omnivore was ruined by my stepmother's insistence that I eat ALL the gristly bits with whatever meat she served or I couldn't leave the table. (I sometimes fell asleep at the table because I didn't want to eat fatty bits etc.) Obviously the vegan option didn't exist for a 8 year old kid but it carried over into my adulthood when I would not eat meat, or at least eat very little and that depended on texture. (My veganism is only partly animal rights; it's mostly texture and flavour based, tbh.)
posted by Kitteh at 12:21 PM on April 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
Scored low: 38.75% mainly worried about hygiene, human contamination, and mold.
The thing about cutting away mold is that you are mainly cutting away the fruiting bodies of the mold, but the mycelium usually extends much farther into the food
posted by jamjam at 12:24 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
The thing about cutting away mold is that you are mainly cutting away the fruiting bodies of the mold, but the mycelium usually extends much farther into the food
posted by jamjam at 12:24 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
My big thing is "don't remind me of vomit." Don't show me sauerkraut, or wet oatmeal, or anything like that stuff.
I also think shrimp look pretty gross. I'll only eat them if they are chopped up or otherwise disguised so I don't have to look at their little nasty too pale pink gross embryo visuals.
I apparently find a lot of stuff gross according to this test, though.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:25 PM on April 18, 2023
I also think shrimp look pretty gross. I'll only eat them if they are chopped up or otherwise disguised so I don't have to look at their little nasty too pale pink gross embryo visuals.
I apparently find a lot of stuff gross according to this test, though.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:25 PM on April 18, 2023
I took this yesterday and was around 20% with most of my points in "animal flesh". I've been pescetarian almost 30 years now, so that tracks.
posted by potrzebie at 12:29 PM on April 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by potrzebie at 12:29 PM on April 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
6.25%, probably because what I find truly disgusting is people wasting food. Also because being brought undone by gut issues is super rare for me.
posted by flabdablet at 12:36 PM on April 18, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 12:36 PM on April 18, 2023 [6 favorites]
My partner would score even lower than me. We both came from struggling households. You didn't throw away edible food. You just cut off any unfortunate bits and continued on, and in general didn't fuss. I think there's probably room for discussion about how picky you were allowed to be as a child, and how much guilt you got for throwing food away.
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:37 PM on April 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:37 PM on April 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
I scored way higher on insect contaminants than I think was accurate, and I think the swaying factor was the restaurant bathroom filled with bugs question
This is a good point -- I live in a very temperate place where there's a decent chance a restaurant might keep a small bathroom window open, so when I read that question my brain just filled in "like gnats or something," which is not great but does not especially bother me. I might've answered differently if that weren't my context. (Also, I answered that I would be willing to try a bug snack, which is true, except that whenever I have the opportunity to I don't. I don't feel disgusted by it, but I don't find the thought appetizing enough to try them?)
posted by grandiloquiet at 12:38 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
This is a good point -- I live in a very temperate place where there's a decent chance a restaurant might keep a small bathroom window open, so when I read that question my brain just filled in "like gnats or something," which is not great but does not especially bother me. I might've answered differently if that weren't my context. (Also, I answered that I would be willing to try a bug snack, which is true, except that whenever I have the opportunity to I don't. I don't feel disgusted by it, but I don't find the thought appetizing enough to try them?)
posted by grandiloquiet at 12:38 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Other variables to account for:
- Have you lived in a tropical region with unavoidable insect incursions? I don't like roaches but after living in Honolulu, my tolerance for inside insects went way up.
- Did you grow up in a culture where restaurant eating is default "family style" with lots of shared dishes, e.g. Korean galbi restaurants often bring out a tiny stew (gratis) and everyone will just put their spoons in directly.
Like I am not at all worried about human contaminants (saliva, hair). I was surprised and amazed when I went to a Cantonese restaurant with primarily Chinese American coworkers and everyone turned around their chopsticks when grabbing more food from the shared dishes (I was just using the same ends of the chopsticks I put in my mouth).
posted by spamandkimchi at 12:40 PM on April 18, 2023
- Have you lived in a tropical region with unavoidable insect incursions? I don't like roaches but after living in Honolulu, my tolerance for inside insects went way up.
- Did you grow up in a culture where restaurant eating is default "family style" with lots of shared dishes, e.g. Korean galbi restaurants often bring out a tiny stew (gratis) and everyone will just put their spoons in directly.
Like I am not at all worried about human contaminants (saliva, hair). I was surprised and amazed when I went to a Cantonese restaurant with primarily Chinese American coworkers and everyone turned around their chopsticks when grabbing more food from the shared dishes (I was just using the same ends of the chopsticks I put in my mouth).
posted by spamandkimchi at 12:40 PM on April 18, 2023
Jonathan van Ness did a vlog episode about eating bugs and I watch in quiet horror. I think my partner would have been into it. I miiiii-i-i-i-i-i-iiiiight try something cricket based if it was extremely cooked and didn't look at all like bugs and couldn't be picked apart to see bug pieces and definitely (gags) didn't have any kind of bug-related texture, like crunch-gooshing or legs or wings or anything.
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:41 PM on April 18, 2023
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:41 PM on April 18, 2023
Also not accounted for in this quiz is tolerance for pet contaminants. The cats often jump on top of the fridge and occasionally leave tufts of fur that drift down into the freezer when I open it. I'm pretty mellow about fur in my food at this point but I do NOT like getting ice cubes frosted with fur.
posted by spamandkimchi at 12:43 PM on April 18, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by spamandkimchi at 12:43 PM on April 18, 2023 [4 favorites]
36% here.
Mold was the highest. I really don't like Bleu Cheese, not because it's moldy, but because I don't like the flavor (I think this is why my results were biased against mold?). I don't care about cutting mold off, or eating something that had mold on it somewhere, but I usually stop at bread - food poisoning sucks.
Vegetables is definitely a texture thing for me. Soft veggies = gag reflex.
Animal flesh was the third highest, but I don't get it. Maybe I didn't go to extremes on my answers...I don't typically have any issues with animal flesh...but I do care about how it's cooked.
Human contaminants/hygeine is moderate, I mean, I'll take a sip of someone's beer from their glass, but of course I want people to wash their hands and be hygeinic. If someone passes me a piece of bread at dinner, I'm not going to freak out...
Fish, insects and fruit are all really low...
Specific flavors and texture are the things that I'm most affected by. I'm careful how I handle food, but the results of this quiz seem to be out of line with the things that actually disgust me.
posted by Chuffy at 12:50 PM on April 18, 2023
Mold was the highest. I really don't like Bleu Cheese, not because it's moldy, but because I don't like the flavor (I think this is why my results were biased against mold?). I don't care about cutting mold off, or eating something that had mold on it somewhere, but I usually stop at bread - food poisoning sucks.
Vegetables is definitely a texture thing for me. Soft veggies = gag reflex.
Animal flesh was the third highest, but I don't get it. Maybe I didn't go to extremes on my answers...I don't typically have any issues with animal flesh...but I do care about how it's cooked.
Human contaminants/hygeine is moderate, I mean, I'll take a sip of someone's beer from their glass, but of course I want people to wash their hands and be hygeinic. If someone passes me a piece of bread at dinner, I'm not going to freak out...
Fish, insects and fruit are all really low...
Specific flavors and texture are the things that I'm most affected by. I'm careful how I handle food, but the results of this quiz seem to be out of line with the things that actually disgust me.
posted by Chuffy at 12:50 PM on April 18, 2023
I would be willing to try a bug snack
Give me the fuckin' moving chips
posted by flabdablet at 12:50 PM on April 18, 2023
Give me the fuckin' moving chips
posted by flabdablet at 12:50 PM on April 18, 2023
65.75 Which probably explains my ultra-processed diet.
posted by maxwelton at 12:51 PM on April 18, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by maxwelton at 12:51 PM on April 18, 2023 [4 favorites]
Y'all, I dislike crustaceans mostly because they are giant bugs, imo. The stripey bodies of shrimp/prawns remind me of giant pale mosquitos. And their feelers. (Goosebumps). At the same time, I feel cultural guilt for not liking insects given that silkworm pupae are a standard Korean drinking snack and that multiple older relatives have super fond memories of summer time snacking on roasted grasshoppers.
P.S. Apparently a fave Mariners ballpark snack is chapulines: "Yes, since 2017, one of the best-selling concession items at T-Mobile Park has been the chapulines, toasted grasshoppers served in four-ounce cups with savory chili-lime salt seasoning."
posted by spamandkimchi at 12:55 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
P.S. Apparently a fave Mariners ballpark snack is chapulines: "Yes, since 2017, one of the best-selling concession items at T-Mobile Park has been the chapulines, toasted grasshoppers served in four-ounce cups with savory chili-lime salt seasoning."
posted by spamandkimchi at 12:55 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
My food disgust is low (34.63%), mostly on hygeine.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:03 PM on April 18, 2023
posted by kirkaracha at 1:03 PM on April 18, 2023
Low at 33.75, altho the numbers might be different if I was allowed to react to "I would lose my appetite if I found a little snail in my salad" with the scope of extreme repulsion I truly felt rather than be limited by a 'full agree'. I'll eat all kinds of bugs, but slugs (and snails are just slugs with hats) can go die forever in a hell.
posted by FatherDagon at 1:04 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by FatherDagon at 1:04 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I was wondering why there were 30something responses to a seemingly innocuous post. Internet quizzes strike again.
And since I am in no way immune to this: 29% with mostly hygiene and human contaminants.
I feel like if I were to roleplay a couple of my friends I think I can get it into the 60-70% range.
posted by Sphinx at 1:05 PM on April 18, 2023
And since I am in no way immune to this: 29% with mostly hygiene and human contaminants.
I feel like if I were to roleplay a couple of my friends I think I can get it into the 60-70% range.
posted by Sphinx at 1:05 PM on April 18, 2023
11%, I go mushroom hunting/foraging. If bugs and overripe stuff bothered me I wouldn't be very successful. I also spent years cutting meat and fish in various restaurants so that's all clinical to me.
posted by Ferreous at 1:07 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Ferreous at 1:07 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yeah, this doesn't catch what I would call categorical cross-contamination. Like, I have no problem with gelatin products generally but can't drink boba/tapioca tea because the chewy bubbles in a sweet liquid are just wrong (that one may be from growing up in a working-class household that used powdered milk...there is nothing more disgusting than clumps in milk).
My appetite's been a little screwy for several months now, and it's made me realize what a fucking weird thing it is to eat food. Putting something once alive in your mouth, mashing it around with teeth and tongue, and then using muscles to propel it down your throat? Ew. Good thing we invented hunger.
posted by praemunire at 1:07 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
My appetite's been a little screwy for several months now, and it's made me realize what a fucking weird thing it is to eat food. Putting something once alive in your mouth, mashing it around with teeth and tongue, and then using muscles to propel it down your throat? Ew. Good thing we invented hunger.
posted by praemunire at 1:07 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
2.38% and that's just because I don't particularly like rubbery cucumbers. I'm generally willing to eat anything that can't escape so I'm not surprised by the result. As mentioned variously above, the test doesn't seem to distinguish personal preference (e.g. vegetarianism) from actual disgust/revulsion very well. And the random change in left/right correlation to the like/disgust dimension nearly caught me out a few times, which must further distort their results somewhat.
Still, all good fun. Seeing the results the rest of my family get helps me understand how I'm getting so fat on their leftovers :/
posted by merlynkline at 1:17 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Still, all good fun. Seeing the results the rest of my family get helps me understand how I'm getting so fat on their leftovers :/
posted by merlynkline at 1:17 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
according to the test, I've got "low food disgust". But it didn't ask me about eggs. I cannot do eggs. And this has always been the case. One of my earliest memories is sitting in an airport cafeteria watching two pilots eat scrambled eggs. I was fascinated, but no way would I have let that stuff anywhere near my plate!
I'm not allergic to them. I eat many things with egg in them. But if I can taste the egg, I'm just saying no. Breakfast can be difficult.
posted by philip-random at 1:17 PM on April 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'm not allergic to them. I eat many things with egg in them. But if I can taste the egg, I'm just saying no. Breakfast can be difficult.
posted by philip-random at 1:17 PM on April 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
Average, but off the charts on meat and fish, and (like Kitteh above) I'm vegetarian in large part due to disliking meat and fish liek whoa.
I was pretty easygoing on everything else.
posted by humbug at 1:17 PM on April 18, 2023
I was pretty easygoing on everything else.
posted by humbug at 1:17 PM on April 18, 2023
We watch a lot of Korean and Chinese cooking and eating shows (eating shows in particular are a Korean thing) and I do okay with almost everything they're munching on except live octopus. I ... really just don't want anything to fight back on the way down.
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:22 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:22 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
> made me realize what a fucking weird thing it is to eat food.
> Putting something once alive in your mouth
And how amazingly complex our metabolism is that we can only really eat things that were once alive - we are not (yet) able to synthesize anything much of use in any kind of lab, let alone industrial, process.
posted by merlynkline at 1:22 PM on April 18, 2023
> Putting something once alive in your mouth
And how amazingly complex our metabolism is that we can only really eat things that were once alive - we are not (yet) able to synthesize anything much of use in any kind of lab, let alone industrial, process.
posted by merlynkline at 1:22 PM on April 18, 2023
This study smells a culturally limited and little p-hacked to me, I guess that's my new dimension of disgust; metadisgust if you will. They shoehorned in a separate 'fruit' and 'vegetable' scale, even though two of their vegetable questions are about fruits (avocados and cucumbers). And even though they have a higher correlation between the allegedly completely different fruit and vegetable dimensions than between half of the elements on their 8-question short version and the dimensions they represent on the longer questionnaire. They have similar issues with the fish and meat scales, which are also highly correlated.
It's pretty apparent they only talked to Swiss respondents to develop this; the assumption that 'meat' can be a single undifferentiated category where there are a huge variety of meats that are more or less common in different parts of the world -- including between culturally similar areas to Switzerland; I've bought Canadian made horse jerky in a Swiss train station, but you could never get that in Canada. I'm reminded of a comment by cendawanita talking about a Southeast Asian Muslim group in Glasgow putting together a halal meal for a visiting delegation from Afghanistan; the meal was halal but had a lot of seafood, which the land-locked Afghans just wouldn't touch. The question about a pig on a spit would I'm sure appall a lot of people from the Arab world, even if they aren't similarly fazed by the strong regional food tradition involving whole roast lambs or other animals.
If they wanted a lot of dimensions of disgust, they could have cast their net a little wider and included a much more multicultural sample, which would in turn provide more valid dimensions and a better understanding of which dimensions are culturally related.
posted by Superilla at 1:23 PM on April 18, 2023 [13 favorites]
It's pretty apparent they only talked to Swiss respondents to develop this; the assumption that 'meat' can be a single undifferentiated category where there are a huge variety of meats that are more or less common in different parts of the world -- including between culturally similar areas to Switzerland; I've bought Canadian made horse jerky in a Swiss train station, but you could never get that in Canada. I'm reminded of a comment by cendawanita talking about a Southeast Asian Muslim group in Glasgow putting together a halal meal for a visiting delegation from Afghanistan; the meal was halal but had a lot of seafood, which the land-locked Afghans just wouldn't touch. The question about a pig on a spit would I'm sure appall a lot of people from the Arab world, even if they aren't similarly fazed by the strong regional food tradition involving whole roast lambs or other animals.
If they wanted a lot of dimensions of disgust, they could have cast their net a little wider and included a much more multicultural sample, which would in turn provide more valid dimensions and a better understanding of which dimensions are culturally related.
posted by Superilla at 1:23 PM on April 18, 2023 [13 favorites]
I think that's my major question about this quiz.
I don't consider myself a picky eater. I scored low (28.8%), mostly because I'll throw away food that's about to spoil or because I'll judge a restaurant's hygiene standards based on indicators like the chef tasting food with a dirty spoon.
But I don't have that visceral, gag-reflex reaction that my picky eater friends have to certain textures of food. Like, you describe it as you can't drink boba/tapioca because of the texture. I can eat stale bread with the mold cut off or food from a kitchen with roaches in it without feeling disgusted, I'd just prefer not to?
It seems like texture is just a really powerful thing for some people, so I was surprised that it wasn't really represented in this quiz except for with produce, where wilty/soft texture is actually an indication of the food's condition. There was nothing about a food's inherent texture.
Or that thing where a food violates expectations, like a savory dish being too sweet, or an ingredient used in an unexpected way.
Is it because the researchers think this is a different phenomenon? And is it, really?
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 1:24 PM on April 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
I don't consider myself a picky eater. I scored low (28.8%), mostly because I'll throw away food that's about to spoil or because I'll judge a restaurant's hygiene standards based on indicators like the chef tasting food with a dirty spoon.
But I don't have that visceral, gag-reflex reaction that my picky eater friends have to certain textures of food. Like, you describe it as you can't drink boba/tapioca because of the texture. I can eat stale bread with the mold cut off or food from a kitchen with roaches in it without feeling disgusted, I'd just prefer not to?
It seems like texture is just a really powerful thing for some people, so I was surprised that it wasn't really represented in this quiz except for with produce, where wilty/soft texture is actually an indication of the food's condition. There was nothing about a food's inherent texture.
Or that thing where a food violates expectations, like a savory dish being too sweet, or an ingredient used in an unexpected way.
Is it because the researchers think this is a different phenomenon? And is it, really?
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 1:24 PM on April 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
My score is low enough that I'm surprised I haven't had major food poisoning incidents by now.
I am very careful about chicken though (both cooked and raw) - the slightest hint of "off"-ness and it's in the trash. Although that's not from disgust at the smell per se, but knowing how sick spoiled chicken can make you.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:32 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I am very careful about chicken though (both cooked and raw) - the slightest hint of "off"-ness and it's in the trash. Although that's not from disgust at the smell per se, but knowing how sick spoiled chicken can make you.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:32 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I was hoping this would explain my aversion to big goopy things like whole tomates, peeled or big gloopy slices of tomatoes. (meanwhile I have zero problems with salsa, ketchup, pasta sauces, sundried tomatoes, etc)
Unsurprisingly, I scored low in terms of aversions. I'll eat pretty much anything. I grew up poor, I ate everything.
posted by drewbage1847 at 1:34 PM on April 18, 2023
Unsurprisingly, I scored low in terms of aversions. I'll eat pretty much anything. I grew up poor, I ate everything.
posted by drewbage1847 at 1:34 PM on April 18, 2023
I got a score of average, but it's likely not terribly accurate because as noted above, the quiz doesn't take into account texture issues or irrational dislike. There were several questions like the brown avocado question that I found myself reinterpreting: "Okay, so if I like avocado/banana/etc, would I be okay with signs of ripeness/oxidation?" This probably skewed some of my fruit and vegetable results - there are a lot of fruits and vegetables I either have texture issues with or am irrationally weirded out by.
Otherwise, turns out I am concerned about hygiene and mold but happy to eat basically any animal, which seems correct. Nearly all my picky food stuff is about plants, rather than animal products. (Except eggs. Eggs are not for me.)
posted by darchildre at 1:47 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Otherwise, turns out I am concerned about hygiene and mold but happy to eat basically any animal, which seems correct. Nearly all my picky food stuff is about plants, rather than animal products. (Except eggs. Eggs are not for me.)
posted by darchildre at 1:47 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
my aversion to big goopy things like whole tomates, peeled or big gloopy slices of tomatoes.
My son was (still is?) the same way. He absolutely refused to eat raw tomato, cooked summer squash/zucchini, etc. He was fine with tomato sauce, ketchup, zucchini bread, etc. but the "goopy" texture put him off.
Bonus: George Carlin - "Fussy Eater" (as usual, NSFW language)
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:54 PM on April 18, 2023
My son was (still is?) the same way. He absolutely refused to eat raw tomato, cooked summer squash/zucchini, etc. He was fine with tomato sauce, ketchup, zucchini bread, etc. but the "goopy" texture put him off.
Bonus: George Carlin - "Fussy Eater" (as usual, NSFW language)
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:54 PM on April 18, 2023
My food disgust is low. But before I left this IDRlabs site I clicked the Types tab, which took me to a Personality Types page featuring the familiar 4-by-4 Myers-Briggs matrix of sixteen types (which I now view as an expansion of twelve astrological signs, so useful). Just so we know where we're coming from.
posted by Rash at 2:10 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Rash at 2:10 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
70.63%, which is unsurprising I guess as an autistic vegetarian (significantly due to disgust at eating flesh as well as ethical preferences) raised by people who got extremely grossed out by human food contamination.
Scored very high on meat, fish, insects, hygiene & human contamination, and very low on mould, fruit & vegetables, which also tracks because for the foods I do happily eat without disgust I'm surprisingly laissez-faire about age and quality (up to a point).
posted by terretu at 2:16 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Scored very high on meat, fish, insects, hygiene & human contamination, and very low on mould, fruit & vegetables, which also tracks because for the foods I do happily eat without disgust I'm surprisingly laissez-faire about age and quality (up to a point).
posted by terretu at 2:16 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
merlynkline: And the random change in left/right correlation to the like/disgust dimension nearly caught me out a few times
Do I agree/disagree or am I disgusted lots-to-little ???
posted by k3ninho at 2:16 PM on April 18, 2023
Do I agree/disagree or am I disgusted lots-to-little ???
posted by k3ninho at 2:16 PM on April 18, 2023
(also having fun realising that this is yet another area of life where I have an extremely spiky profile...)
posted by terretu at 2:16 PM on April 18, 2023
posted by terretu at 2:16 PM on April 18, 2023
cooked summer squash/zucchini, etc. He was fine with tomato sauce, ketchup, zucchini bread, etc. but the "goopy" texture put him off
Your son is 100% correct, except I'm not sure how you get non-rotten tomatoes so soft they resemble zucchini in texture.
posted by praemunire at 2:21 PM on April 18, 2023
Your son is 100% correct, except I'm not sure how you get non-rotten tomatoes so soft they resemble zucchini in texture.
posted by praemunire at 2:21 PM on April 18, 2023
I think living in South Florida has re-calibrated my bug tolerance. I don't want to EAT a bug, though I'm not disgusted at the thought of others doing so, but if I refused to eat in a building where I'd seen a bug I'd never eat again (and that certainly includes my own home.) A lot of the questions were weird though - I don't like any kind of seafood, but I'm not disgusted by it the way I would be by the eating challenges on "Fear Factor" or whatever. I am disgusted by rot and mold (though not blue cheese - as long as it's meant to be blue!)
posted by Daily Alice at 2:30 PM on April 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Daily Alice at 2:30 PM on April 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
Your food disgust is elevated (69.75%). Insect contaminants, human contaminants, fruit mainly. Surprised that it wasn't higher. As I age I get more picky.
posted by Splunge at 2:31 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Splunge at 2:31 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Low disgust, highest on hygiene, which is a fair cop. But it misses out on a couple of other axis, in particular texture, some of which I have a bit of a problem with, usually exacerbated by my Chinese MiL. Whole fish broght to the table, no problem. When my MiL eats the eyeballs with great relish? Feeling a tiny bit queasy. So also: chicken feet.
posted by kjs3 at 2:36 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by kjs3 at 2:36 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Interesting to see fruits and veg distinguished. Agreeing with Superilla.
posted by doctornemo at 2:51 PM on April 18, 2023
posted by doctornemo at 2:51 PM on April 18, 2023
I'm thinking of how wildly my scores would have changed over my life.
Before 34 I was a happy meal and animal product eater, yet had no experience with growing food or raising animals in that setting.
Next, we set up shop in a remote Vermont spot 1/2 off the grid and tried to do all of that. Raising animals: goats, chickens, ducks, turkeys. Trying to grow just about everything, from potatoes to the Three Sisters to tomatoes and fruit trees. That experience pushed my disgust-o-meter way down.
Then I switched to a vegan diet when COVID began. Now the quiz kinda forces me to react with disgust to all the meat and animal product examples.
Changes changes.
posted by doctornemo at 2:54 PM on April 18, 2023
Before 34 I was a happy meal and animal product eater, yet had no experience with growing food or raising animals in that setting.
Next, we set up shop in a remote Vermont spot 1/2 off the grid and tried to do all of that. Raising animals: goats, chickens, ducks, turkeys. Trying to grow just about everything, from potatoes to the Three Sisters to tomatoes and fruit trees. That experience pushed my disgust-o-meter way down.
Then I switched to a vegan diet when COVID began. Now the quiz kinda forces me to react with disgust to all the meat and animal product examples.
Changes changes.
posted by doctornemo at 2:54 PM on April 18, 2023
So I was low on disgust overall which would surprise zero people who know me IRL. But I was surprised that the second-highest concentration (after hygiene) is "vegetables"? I don't recall answering any of the vegetable based questions with a strong disgust reaction--I think the only thing was I agreed I probably wouldn't eat an apple that had a worm actively in it. So now I think I probably screwed up the little toggle thing and totally invalidated the whole deal.
I can eat stale bread with the mold cut off or food from a kitchen with roaches in it without feeling disgusted, I'd just prefer not to?
Yes, this was an impression I came away with as well. In general it takes a lot to truly gross me out, but I still try to maintain pretty high standards for food quality, because why not. Like I'm not going to go out of my WAY to eat a wilted salad? Why would I do that? But if it's the only thing I have available, sure.
That said, my father worked in food service for much of his life and told me two things: 1) every restaurant has roaches. 2) if a restaurant's roach problem is bad enough that you can see one, you should absolutely not eat there.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 3:03 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
I can eat stale bread with the mold cut off or food from a kitchen with roaches in it without feeling disgusted, I'd just prefer not to?
Yes, this was an impression I came away with as well. In general it takes a lot to truly gross me out, but I still try to maintain pretty high standards for food quality, because why not. Like I'm not going to go out of my WAY to eat a wilted salad? Why would I do that? But if it's the only thing I have available, sure.
That said, my father worked in food service for much of his life and told me two things: 1) every restaurant has roaches. 2) if a restaurant's roach problem is bad enough that you can see one, you should absolutely not eat there.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 3:03 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
My score is low enough that I'm surprised I haven't had major food poisoning incidents by now.
I mean, none of these are actually bad for you? (I scored 0%)
posted by coffeecat at 3:34 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I mean, none of these are actually bad for you? (I scored 0%)
posted by coffeecat at 3:34 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I really don't like Bleu Cheese, not because it's moldy, but because I don't like the flavor (I think this is why my results were biased against mold?).
Same. I almost clicked on the "I'd happily eat bleu cheese" option because I knew that saying I'd avoid it would skew the results (since I dislike the taste, not the visible mold). I scored "low" at 31%, but mold should have been lower. Mostly I scored as high as I did because I hate the texture and too-sweetness of overripe fruit.
In real life I'm inconsistent about food hygiene and pickiness. At home I'm super particular about food hygiene and freshness, but at someone else's house or at a restaurant I'll eat just about anything with no concern. It's like once I've given up the control of no longer being in my own kitchen, I'm willing to just abide by a completely different set of standards.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:38 PM on April 18, 2023
Same. I almost clicked on the "I'd happily eat bleu cheese" option because I knew that saying I'd avoid it would skew the results (since I dislike the taste, not the visible mold). I scored "low" at 31%, but mold should have been lower. Mostly I scored as high as I did because I hate the texture and too-sweetness of overripe fruit.
In real life I'm inconsistent about food hygiene and pickiness. At home I'm super particular about food hygiene and freshness, but at someone else's house or at a restaurant I'll eat just about anything with no concern. It's like once I've given up the control of no longer being in my own kitchen, I'm willing to just abide by a completely different set of standards.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:38 PM on April 18, 2023
I'm not sure how you get non-rotten tomatoes so soft they resemble zucchini in texture.
It was the "larval stage" (as Carlin put it) part of the inside of the tomato that turned him off. Even if that was all removed to leave only the solid "meat" of it.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:42 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
It was the "larval stage" (as Carlin put it) part of the inside of the tomato that turned him off. Even if that was all removed to leave only the solid "meat" of it.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:42 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I got a score of average (48.5%) but it would have been higher if there had been questions about eating traditional dishes like haggis or tripe or black pudding. Just the thought of it, because in fact all these things when done right taste delicious but ugh the idea.
Also let me just add that as soon as I got to the question about blue cheese I started singing in my head "blue cheese has mold in it"
posted by bitteschoen at 3:50 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Also let me just add that as soon as I got to the question about blue cheese I started singing in my head "blue cheese has mold in it"
posted by bitteschoen at 3:50 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I was thinking about George Carlin's "Fussy Eater" routine while reading this thread. (I'm also squicked by raw tomatoes)
Been nodding along with most of the comments. A lot of the questions could be interpreted broadly, as others have been pointing out, and there were many factors it didn't seem to consider.
For example, my discomfort with the roast pig stems from my Jewish upbringing.
posted by cheshyre at 3:55 PM on April 18, 2023
Been nodding along with most of the comments. A lot of the questions could be interpreted broadly, as others have been pointing out, and there were many factors it didn't seem to consider.
For example, my discomfort with the roast pig stems from my Jewish upbringing.
posted by cheshyre at 3:55 PM on April 18, 2023
I got 52.5%, with animal flesh being really high, then hygiene, then insects. Fruit and fish were surprisingly the lowest. I was a vegetarian/pescetarian for close to 15 years, so the flesh thing tracks. When I cook at home, I have a really hard time touching raw meat. I am great at using a small pair of tongs as an extension of my hands to combat that. I buy pre-made meatballs and burger patties.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 4:00 PM on April 18, 2023
posted by Sparky Buttons at 4:00 PM on April 18, 2023
There's probably some overlap between ritually impure foods and disgust, though, right? I'm not trying to disparage anyone's religious beliefs as pre-rational, but if you've always been taught from childhood that, e.g., pork is unclean, that's going to contribute to a sense of disgust over it in at least some people's brains, no?
("raaaaaaaaanch is good")
posted by praemunire at 4:25 PM on April 18, 2023
("raaaaaaaaanch is good")
posted by praemunire at 4:25 PM on April 18, 2023
I'm disgusted by the order of the Next and Back buttons.
posted by srboisvert at 4:57 PM on April 18, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 4:57 PM on April 18, 2023 [9 favorites]
90.75%. I do like eating though, really!
posted by remembrancer at 5:02 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by remembrancer at 5:02 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
praemunire, doesn't even have to be a religious belief. Apparently, it's now relatively safe to eat pork that's closer to medium/medium rare - I know this, but nonetheless I still have a disgust reaction to the idea of eating pork that's not well done.
posted by darchildre at 5:05 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by darchildre at 5:05 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I scored average (35%), but I think my mold score was exaggerated (I don't like bleu cheese because of mold, but just because I don't like stinky cheeses).
Bonus question for Torontonians: "Would you eat from a local restaurant that once had rats cavorting in its front window?" (Umm, yes, right after they reopened, because the rats were probably scared away for a while and the dumplings are REALLY good.)
posted by maudlin at 6:33 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Bonus question for Torontonians: "Would you eat from a local restaurant that once had rats cavorting in its front window?" (Umm, yes, right after they reopened, because the rats were probably scared away for a while and the dumplings are REALLY good.)
posted by maudlin at 6:33 PM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I scored average at 41% but maxed out on mold disgust which is no surprise because I really really can’t handle mold or decay in general.
My grandmother (a product of the Great Depression) once tried to get me to eat port wine cheese spread (which I love) that has some mold removed from the top and I could absolutely not even contemplate it.
I’ve been trying to be less strict about best by dates and things, but I recently food poisoned myself with bad tofu. I’m back to just tossing anything I’m not sure of.
posted by jeoc at 7:47 PM on April 18, 2023
My grandmother (a product of the Great Depression) once tried to get me to eat port wine cheese spread (which I love) that has some mold removed from the top and I could absolutely not even contemplate it.
I’ve been trying to be less strict about best by dates and things, but I recently food poisoned myself with bad tofu. I’m back to just tossing anything I’m not sure of.
posted by jeoc at 7:47 PM on April 18, 2023
Bonus question for Torontonians: "Would you eat from a local restaurant that once had rats cavorting in its front window?" (Umm, yes, right after they reopened, because the rats were probably scared away for a while and the dumplings are REALLY good.)
That's nothing, man, this used to be my local Taco Bell.
posted by praemunire at 9:08 PM on April 18, 2023
That's nothing, man, this used to be my local Taco Bell.
posted by praemunire at 9:08 PM on April 18, 2023
(Link not recommended for those of you with the hygiene disgust...)
posted by praemunire at 9:10 PM on April 18, 2023
posted by praemunire at 9:10 PM on April 18, 2023
In high school I worked as a part-time janitor on weekends at the local Mr. Donut. I noted on my first day that all the floor edges and corners were literally rounded off with accumulated compacted gunk, and even the floor itself probably wasn't its original color despite how much mopping I did. I told them there was simply no way I could catch up and keep up with the daily cleaning effort a donut shop requires in the few hours they gave me, even if that was extended to include weekdays after school, and that they really should hire a full-time janitor. But they insisted I was doing fine and my current 16 hours a week were adequate to meet their standards. I made some minor inroads into the general filth, but gave up in disgust after a few months and neither I nor my friends ever ate their donuts again.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:45 PM on April 18, 2023
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:45 PM on April 18, 2023
"Your Food Disgust Sensitivity is elevated (69%)"
Well, SURE!
1) I spent a career working in public health;
2) I have GONE OUT TO LUNCH IN RESTAURANTS with Sanitarians & Inspectors
...So, much like the replicant said:
"I've heard stories you people wouldn't believe..."
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 11:02 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
Well, SURE!
1) I spent a career working in public health;
2) I have GONE OUT TO LUNCH IN RESTAURANTS with Sanitarians & Inspectors
...So, much like the replicant said:
"I've heard stories you people wouldn't believe..."
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 11:02 PM on April 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
I think my mold score was exaggerated (I don't like bleu cheese because of mold, but just because I don't like stinky cheeses)
Me too.
posted by flabdablet at 1:43 AM on April 19, 2023
Me too.
posted by flabdablet at 1:43 AM on April 19, 2023
61%. I like how people with low scores say that they were raised to be satisfied with what they were given. That's how it was in my house growing up, too, but the result was that I was underweight until I left home at 18. I almost always was hungry after the evening meal and when I went to sleep. And there weren't really snacks — that's just not how it was. My sister, ten years younger, growing up in the 80s for some reason had available both snacks and substitutes. It's partly economic; we were lower middle-class when I was born (my mother was 18, father 21) but my parents were more affluent later. My father grew up very poor in a large family. My mother grew up well-off.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:02 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:02 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oh, I forgot. I have my own specific and illogical food issues, but I am completely perplexed that there are people who are disgusted by "leftovers", and can't find any rhyme or reason in what prepared sandwich ingredients or forms of multi-stage food preparation they classify as "leftovers" or magically not "leftovers".
(Like, I once saw a relationship advice post from someone who made tacos with chicken which had been cooked the previous day, and their SO absolutely lost it because the chicken was "leftovers" and therefore gross. As someone who cooks in bulk and freezes / refrigerates portions and components, and eats previously prepared food 95% of the time, I find this 100% bananas.)
posted by confluency at 3:33 AM on April 19, 2023
(Like, I once saw a relationship advice post from someone who made tacos with chicken which had been cooked the previous day, and their SO absolutely lost it because the chicken was "leftovers" and therefore gross. As someone who cooks in bulk and freezes / refrigerates portions and components, and eats previously prepared food 95% of the time, I find this 100% bananas.)
posted by confluency at 3:33 AM on April 19, 2023
Lol 14.13. Turns out I'm not disgusted, I'm disgusting.
posted by saladin at 3:51 AM on April 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by saladin at 3:51 AM on April 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
61%. Meat, fish, and mold mostly, and some hygiene concerns. Which fair enough! I'm vegetarian and people shouldn't eat mold!
It didn't include things I'm actually disgusted by though, like mayonnaise (can't watch people eating it it grosses me out so much) or the texture of onions in otherwise smooth sauce, or that time my husband put grated cheddar and pineapple jam on an English muffin. Or the texture of fish, or cooked spinach.
posted by stillnocturnal at 4:10 AM on April 19, 2023
It didn't include things I'm actually disgusted by though, like mayonnaise (can't watch people eating it it grosses me out so much) or the texture of onions in otherwise smooth sauce, or that time my husband put grated cheddar and pineapple jam on an English muffin. Or the texture of fish, or cooked spinach.
posted by stillnocturnal at 4:10 AM on April 19, 2023
75%, including total on seafood (they don’t do urea concentration… they live floating in a tiny perpetual cloud of slowly-released waste ammonia excretion; it is infused in every cell of them THAT MUST BE WHAT THAT WEIRD TANGY SCENT IS, IT MUST), mold, and near-total on meat.
Only meat exception: I love chicken / forever seek lifelong revenge on all chickens for barnyard rooster-related trauma in my early childhood. Hot wings are awesome and I prep my own chicken breast from raw every three weeks (6lbs to freezer, 3 to fridge) but it is a struggle every time. Triweekly chicken prep is the sole chore I immediately offload to a domestic partner as soon as feasible in exchange for doing any and potentially every other routine household chore/pet waste management - there is no realistic upper limit on what I will do for someone who enables me to avoid that one specific thing. I’ve seriously considered just hiring someone to show up every three weeks to meticulously remove every tiniest visible scrap of fat, vein, and tendon from 9lbs of free-range chicken breast.
Impossible Burger meat is fine - won’t bat an eyelash sinking my fingers into it. Real ground beef = fuck no. Real beef in general = could we not? Cows are nice and I am convinced just too big not to statistically contain some form of hidden parasite, somewhere. Pigs don’t pass the mirror test but do demonstrate object permanence so that’s an ethics “nope” (secret Christmas morning bacon guilt).
There needs to be a ninth category of “Vinegar” - salad dressing, mustard, mayo, almost anything with vinegar in it absolutely digusts me nearly as much as, and subjectively with the same “feel” as the ammonia tang of seafoods’ piss-infusion.
There is a weird exception to “Vinegar” centered around a very specific and narrow taste profile range: ketchup, Nacho-flavor Doritos, and “normal” hot wing sauces all pass without issue. Some kind of nullifying tomato/cayenne thing? All other detectable vinegar = automatic “this is long expired” Barftown reaction. It’s not seafood (nothing is *shudder*), but it is close.
posted by Ryvar at 5:12 AM on April 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
Only meat exception: I love chicken / forever seek lifelong revenge on all chickens for barnyard rooster-related trauma in my early childhood. Hot wings are awesome and I prep my own chicken breast from raw every three weeks (6lbs to freezer, 3 to fridge) but it is a struggle every time. Triweekly chicken prep is the sole chore I immediately offload to a domestic partner as soon as feasible in exchange for doing any and potentially every other routine household chore/pet waste management - there is no realistic upper limit on what I will do for someone who enables me to avoid that one specific thing. I’ve seriously considered just hiring someone to show up every three weeks to meticulously remove every tiniest visible scrap of fat, vein, and tendon from 9lbs of free-range chicken breast.
Impossible Burger meat is fine - won’t bat an eyelash sinking my fingers into it. Real ground beef = fuck no. Real beef in general = could we not? Cows are nice and I am convinced just too big not to statistically contain some form of hidden parasite, somewhere. Pigs don’t pass the mirror test but do demonstrate object permanence so that’s an ethics “nope” (secret Christmas morning bacon guilt).
There needs to be a ninth category of “Vinegar” - salad dressing, mustard, mayo, almost anything with vinegar in it absolutely digusts me nearly as much as, and subjectively with the same “feel” as the ammonia tang of seafoods’ piss-infusion.
There is a weird exception to “Vinegar” centered around a very specific and narrow taste profile range: ketchup, Nacho-flavor Doritos, and “normal” hot wing sauces all pass without issue. Some kind of nullifying tomato/cayenne thing? All other detectable vinegar = automatic “this is long expired” Barftown reaction. It’s not seafood (nothing is *shudder*), but it is close.
posted by Ryvar at 5:12 AM on April 19, 2023 [2 favorites]
As others have mentioned, this quiz doesn't well account for texture, which is by far my main gross-out, along with fermented things, which also weren't well-represented. I'm a stupidly picky eater but still somehow got 16% on this, which makes no sense. Some people here are grossed out by meat (and I'm real sorry for whoever it was whose stepmom made them eat all the gristly bits, that's just mean) but what really grosses ME out are all the fake meat substitutes that have gradually become more popular over the years. I cannot tell you how many times I've had to deal with a proselytizer trying to persuade me that no, THIS one is good, and it never is.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 5:31 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 5:31 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Impossible Burger texture is just not detectably different from the real thing for me. Great on taco night in particular. I believe you if you say it’s not doing it for you but I am surprised. Whatever that bioengineered / maybe-not-so-ethically-animal-tested fibrous protein chain they spliced into soy is, my brain is 100% fooled on texture and the slightly dank funk during the early prep stages fades pretty quick (and that is with the sharpest olfactory sense in nearly any/every room full of people).
Morning Star/Beyond are nothing like real meat, but for highly specific applications superior to the real deal anyway. All hail obviously fake breakfast sausage “bestitute,” basically. Agree with you fully otherwise on those.
posted by Ryvar at 5:45 AM on April 19, 2023
Morning Star/Beyond are nothing like real meat, but for highly specific applications superior to the real deal anyway. All hail obviously fake breakfast sausage “bestitute,” basically. Agree with you fully otherwise on those.
posted by Ryvar at 5:45 AM on April 19, 2023
and the slightly dank funk during the early prep stages fades pretty quick (and that is with the sharpest olfactory sense in nearly any/every room full of people).
I'm not going to argue with you about fake meat—everyone's got different grossout triggers, as this whole thread amply demonstrates—but I'll bet I could compete with you on sharpest olfactory sense: there have been many times where I've sniffed out someone being pregnant before they announced it. I've never been near fake meat in the prep stage, though, so now I'm going to have to check it out, because no matter how gross I think something is, I still have to sniff it.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 5:56 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm not going to argue with you about fake meat—everyone's got different grossout triggers, as this whole thread amply demonstrates—but I'll bet I could compete with you on sharpest olfactory sense: there have been many times where I've sniffed out someone being pregnant before they announced it. I've never been near fake meat in the prep stage, though, so now I'm going to have to check it out, because no matter how gross I think something is, I still have to sniff it.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 5:56 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yeah I too am reigning champion of the maternity ward smelling contest (Disclaimer: I have not actually been in one since birth).
Re: Impossible: you kind of have to pay attention to notice that it’s distinct from actual ground beef, but it’s there. Dissipates rapidly midway through a raw->medium cook, run the hood fan indoors and you’re good.
Absolutely all non-Impossible (Possible?) substitutes: agreed, no contest. Smell, taste, texture deltas are obvious, just beneficially so for breakfast sausage IMO. YMMV.
posted by Ryvar at 6:08 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
Re: Impossible: you kind of have to pay attention to notice that it’s distinct from actual ground beef, but it’s there. Dissipates rapidly midway through a raw->medium cook, run the hood fan indoors and you’re good.
Absolutely all non-Impossible (Possible?) substitutes: agreed, no contest. Smell, taste, texture deltas are obvious, just beneficially so for breakfast sausage IMO. YMMV.
posted by Ryvar at 6:08 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
56.5%. I am absolutely not OK with mould (it tastes and smells unpleasant, and even if you remove the part of the food that's visibly mouldy, the rest has already been tainted with the flavour), and I am very anxious about hygiene.
I also scored middling to high on the vegetable axis, but that's because most of the vegetable questions were about things that affect texture; and only middling on the insect axis, because I assumed the restaurant bugs had flown in through the window and I don't mind if a caterpillar walks across my apple. (Also, in principle I have no issue with intentionally eating food made from insects, but in practice I choose not to.)
Apparently I trust other humans not to contaminate my food, whether accidentally or deliberately, which seems a little strange given the hygiene concerns.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 6:13 AM on April 19, 2023
I also scored middling to high on the vegetable axis, but that's because most of the vegetable questions were about things that affect texture; and only middling on the insect axis, because I assumed the restaurant bugs had flown in through the window and I don't mind if a caterpillar walks across my apple. (Also, in principle I have no issue with intentionally eating food made from insects, but in practice I choose not to.)
Apparently I trust other humans not to contaminate my food, whether accidentally or deliberately, which seems a little strange given the hygiene concerns.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 6:13 AM on April 19, 2023
2) I have GONE OUT TO LUNCH IN RESTAURANTS with Sanitarians & Inspectors
I had a job once where I was able to tag along once a week with the local public health inspectors to go to restaurants, food stands, high-end hotels, slaughterhouses, etc. I found it fascinating but it didn't change my standards any except for cementing my lack of interest in organ meats. (Liver = gross; liver full of flukes = extra gross.) I saw a lot of imperfect food handling but nothing that was horrible or would give me serious pause. I was suspicious of buffet-line food before that and everything I saw at buffets confirmed that suspicion, but I'll still eat from them if I am at a hotel where that is the only option.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:22 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
I had a job once where I was able to tag along once a week with the local public health inspectors to go to restaurants, food stands, high-end hotels, slaughterhouses, etc. I found it fascinating but it didn't change my standards any except for cementing my lack of interest in organ meats. (Liver = gross; liver full of flukes = extra gross.) I saw a lot of imperfect food handling but nothing that was horrible or would give me serious pause. I was suspicious of buffet-line food before that and everything I saw at buffets confirmed that suspicion, but I'll still eat from them if I am at a hotel where that is the only option.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:22 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
This rat infested location is my neighbourhood Tim Hortons. My wife walks by it on her way to work every day, and can confirm that in the morning and evening rats are everywhere. It was closed for a while to renovate the interior of the store after that news came out, but no work has been done outside the building to deal with the rat nests.
We still occasionally get food from there. The location is convenient, ya know?
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:37 AM on April 19, 2023
We still occasionally get food from there. The location is convenient, ya know?
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:37 AM on April 19, 2023
when I worked in a restaurant the one thing the health inspectors harped on more than anything else was gloves for food that was going to customers without being cooked and it's extremely funny to me because wearing gloves only proves that you're wearing gloves, not that anything is sanitary. Good hand washing technique is far better overall vs the person wearing gloves who touches 8 contaminated surfaces while wearing the same pair of gloves.
posted by Ferreous at 9:06 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Ferreous at 9:06 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have absolutely been served soup in the Beijing suburbs with literal roaches in it (not the intentionally eaten "water bug" kind you sometimes run into in SE Asian cooking, just regular roaches, the whole place was crawling). I was hungry enough to just eat around them.
I don't think I have much food disgust.
posted by aspersioncast at 3:22 PM on April 19, 2023
I don't think I have much food disgust.
posted by aspersioncast at 3:22 PM on April 19, 2023
when I worked in a restaurant the one thing the health inspectors harped on more than anything else was gloves for food that was going to customers without being cooked and it's extremely funny to me because wearing gloves only proves that you're wearing gloves, not that anything is sanitary.
They’re all still haunted by the specter of Typhoid Mary.
Which I’m tempted to equate to generals preparing their armies to fight the previous war, á la the Maginot Line.
Except for a story a therapist I used to know told me about a client who baked cookies, cakes, and rolls almost obsessively, and constantly gave them away to usually very appreciative friends and acquaintances, including the therapist.
Then one day the client happened to take some OTC artemisinin, and things crawled out of her hands.
I have no information about whether that affected the habit of baking and giving the results away, unfortunately.
posted by jamjam at 12:23 AM on April 20, 2023
They’re all still haunted by the specter of Typhoid Mary.
Which I’m tempted to equate to generals preparing their armies to fight the previous war, á la the Maginot Line.
Except for a story a therapist I used to know told me about a client who baked cookies, cakes, and rolls almost obsessively, and constantly gave them away to usually very appreciative friends and acquaintances, including the therapist.
Then one day the client happened to take some OTC artemisinin, and things crawled out of her hands.
I have no information about whether that affected the habit of baking and giving the results away, unfortunately.
posted by jamjam at 12:23 AM on April 20, 2023
Low 31.13%, me. Almost all about other people.
jenfullmoon: My big thing is "don't remind me of vomit." Lunch at my grannie's always included tinned russian salad. We were a clean-plate family so I managed to gag down what I couldn't hide under my flatware.
After an over-catered Easter this year, my foodie 20something daughter and I were left home-alone for a tuthree days with a fridge full of left-overs. Thrifty me said we should go at the pre-furry stuff first. She, rightly I think, advised starting prefer-ry.
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:21 AM on April 21, 2023
jenfullmoon: My big thing is "don't remind me of vomit." Lunch at my grannie's always included tinned russian salad. We were a clean-plate family so I managed to gag down what I couldn't hide under my flatware.
After an over-catered Easter this year, my foodie 20something daughter and I were left home-alone for a tuthree days with a fridge full of left-overs. Thrifty me said we should go at the pre-furry stuff first. She, rightly I think, advised starting prefer-ry.
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:21 AM on April 21, 2023
Sorry, me again. As with so much, Charles Darwin has a view on disgust:
In The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animal, published in 1872, he recalled a moment from 40 years earlier on the other side of the world: In Tierra del Fuego a native touched with his finger some cold preserved meat which I was eating at our bivouac, and plainly showed utter disgust at its softness; whilst I felt utter disgust at my food being touched by a naked savage, though his hands did not appear dirty. A smear of soup on a man's beard looks disgusting, though there is of course nothing disgusting in the soup itself. I presume that this follows from the strong association in our minds between the sight of food, however circumstanced, and the idea of eating it.
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:34 AM on April 21, 2023
In The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animal, published in 1872, he recalled a moment from 40 years earlier on the other side of the world: In Tierra del Fuego a native touched with his finger some cold preserved meat which I was eating at our bivouac, and plainly showed utter disgust at its softness; whilst I felt utter disgust at my food being touched by a naked savage, though his hands did not appear dirty. A smear of soup on a man's beard looks disgusting, though there is of course nothing disgusting in the soup itself. I presume that this follows from the strong association in our minds between the sight of food, however circumstanced, and the idea of eating it.
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:34 AM on April 21, 2023
The valid "just so story" objection aside, it's my understanding that human pickiness about eating and the related disgust reflex about food may originate in the fact that humans are omnivorous with very extended ambulatory childhoods and so by default toddlers are very picky, very sensitive to the molecules most associated with toxins, often bitter, which reduces poisonings. Through culture, children are habituated to widely varying palates. So it's probably best to strongly encourage children to experiment — although speaking as a kid who was bullied by family about my pickiness (and, as a result, I have a huge amount of anxiety about social eating) there are good and bad ways of doing so.
Many animals, including my otherwise lovely cat, happily groom their buttholes by licking them clean and I always think, wow, what the fuck?
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 1:51 AM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
Many animals, including my otherwise lovely cat, happily groom their buttholes by licking them clean and I always think, wow, what the fuck?
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 1:51 AM on April 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
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Human Contaminants > Hygiene > Animal Flesh > Insect Contaminants > Vegetables > Fish > Fruit > Mold
Now let's fight about it.
posted by The Tensor at 11:46 AM on April 18, 2023 [1 favorite]