Associations between food neophobia and responsiveness to “warning” chemosensory sensations in food products in a large population sample

Differences in liking, however, do not seem to be mediated by high food neophobics' superior taste functioning but rather by higher levels of arousal when eating food and/or drinking beverages that are perceived as unpleasant and potentially dangerous. Finally, the effect of food neophobia was evident not only for unusual items in the Italian food context, but even for items that might be considered highly familiar.