Viral 'food disgust' test identifies picky or adventurous eaters

Do you throw away bruised or over-ripe fruit? Is raw fish your culinary nightmare? Does dirty cutlery disgust you?

If you answer yes, you may have a high "food disgust" average. More specifically, the Food Disgust Test is an online quiz that aims to determine people's tolerance to certain food and preparation scenarios.

It is based on a scale and research developed by scientists Christina Hartmann and Michael Siegrist from ETH Zurich, a research university in Switzerland.

It divides “disgust” into eight different scales — animal flesh, hygiene, human contaminants, mould, fruit, fish, vegetables and insect contaminants — and participants answer each question based on how much it does, or doesn't, trigger “disgust”.

The scale will “not only help improve the understanding of how food disgust shapes people’s food behaviour in a functional and dysfunctional way, but will also help enhance the understanding of consumer acceptance of new foods and food technologies”, Hartmann and Siegrist wrote in a 2018 paper.

The Zurich research was first released in 2017. However, it has been gaining traction online after a link to the 32-question test was recently posted on Twitter comparing it to the Myers–Briggs personality indicator.

“This is ten thousand times more fun than the Myers–Briggs. Please post yours,” the user said in the tweet, which has now been viewed more than 9.3 million times.

This is ten thousand times more fun than the meyers briggs pls post yours https://t.co/eDwBFs67XS

The test, which is available on the IDRLabs website, is simple. Users rate their feelings towards 32 scenarios and receive a pie chart showing the eight triggers and their average “food disgust” percentage.

The higher the score is, the more sensitive someone is about eating specific foods.

I’m good with bugs just no human contact, please pic.twitter.com/hgEZinCxhT

The test explains each trigger. It describes hygiene as “the inclination to feel disgusted when the sanitary conditions regarding one’s food intake are not ideal”. One question that gauges this category relates to using dirty or stained plates and utensils.

Some Twitter users have questioned the cultural implications of the test. One said it is “American white-centric”, saying that raw fish, for example, is a staple in many Asian cultures.

This “Food Disgust Test” is pretty racist? Or at least American white-centric. Like the first question was about seeing whole pig on a spit, and also like fish is a staple in many cultures diets but it’s a whole category of disgust after one question about raw fish and one other https://t.co/X92GZEpjkT pic.twitter.com/OzDoLGZgs0

The explanation section at the end of the test addresses this, explaining that “of all the food disgust triggers, animal flesh is thought to have the most cultural basis".

The test involves questions about mould and decaying fruits and vegetables. This alludes to the original research's definition of disgust, saying it is a “regulatory human emotion” that drives people to avoid certain health threats.

It explains that humans instinctively tend to spit out bitter foods, which are not only “unpalatable” but could also come from “potentially toxic material”.

The research also recognises the differences in cultures, especially between the East and the West, and admitted that these nuances were not part of it.

Instead, the scale is based on “cues that might symbolise hazardous items and cues that are not pathogen-related that may evoke a non-morally based disgust reaction”. For example, colour, texture, smell and taste.