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Brussel sprouts have a notoriously bad press from British diners over the years. Or, at least they did, until now!
In a recent survey conducted by HelloFresh UK, olives are now heralded as the most unpopular food in the UK with more than a third Brits (37 per cent) taking part in the survey naming olives as their most disliked food.
Gherkins followed a close second at (33 per cent), then shellfish (29 per cent), Brussels sprouts have fallen into fourth at 21 per cent, tuna fifth and mushrooms were ranked sixth. Raisins, fish, chicken on the bone and red meat also feature in the top ten.
Perhaps more poignantly, of the 2,000 adults surveyed, only one in 10 said they were happy to eat whatever was put in front of them. As many as half admitted they’d write off certain foods before they’d even tried them and nearly half of those polled said food was going to waste because their partner wouldn’t eat what they’d cooked for them.
Is this a wake up call to get more adventurous when it comes to dining, or has the UK become a nation of fussy eaters? Andre Dupin, Head Chef at HelloFresh UK, said: “Dinner time should be an opportunity to expand food horizons, however our study shows half of adults completely disregard foods they don’t like and won’t give them a second chance."
HOW CAN WE EXPAND OUR FOOD HORIZONS?
Research suggests that fussy eating is both or either a genetic predisposition, a personality trait or simply a way of being brought up where taste buds may have been trained into certain foods, with picky child eaters also becoming fussy adult eaters.
Food writer Bee Wilson explains how to break the cycle in her book, First Bite: How we learn to Eat, describing a "flavour window" when infants can be introduced to new foods and flavours which can help shape the way they eat in later life. The Sapere movement is also a hands on way of introducing children to a varied diet and developing their taste.
HGC
