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Fear of new food

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Fear is sometimes good. It can save one from danger. Yet, when taken to extreme levels, it can stop one from living life to the fullest. We all need to take a measure of risk in our daily lives.

One particular fear is neophobia, the fear of anything new. This fear can be persistent and abnormal. People with this sort of phobia are unwilling to try new things or break from routine. In many children and adults, one form of this fear is the fear of eating new or unfamiliar foods. This is called food neophobia.

People with food neophobia generally are unwilling to try new things and take risks. In fact, they have closure when it comes to food that is new. Therefore, they lose out on valuable food that is necessary for their well being. On the other hand, food neophobes might have an advantage: they might prevent themselves from getting food poison.

Take the quiz below to see if you have any degree of food neophobia. If you score 5 and above, you are probably a food neophobe.

  • Question of

    I am constantly sampling new and different foods

    • I agree
    • I disagree
  • Question of

    I don’t trust new foods

    • I agree
    • I disagree
  • Question of

    If I don’t know what is in a food, I won’t try it

    • I agree
    • I disagree
  • Question of

    I like foods from different countries

    • I agree
    • I disagree
  • Question of

    Ethnic food looks too weird to eat

    • I agree
    • I disagree
  • Question of

    At dinner parties, I will try a new food

    • I agree
    • I disagree
  • Question of

    I am afraid to eat things I have never had before

    • I agree
    • I disagree
  • Question of

    I am very particular about the foods I will eat

    • I agree
    • I disagree
  • Question of

    I will eat almost anything

    • I agree
    • I disagree
  • Question of

    I like to try new ethnic restaurants

    • I agree
    • I disagree

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Fearfood neophobeneophobe

Written by Nnaemeka

12 Comments

    • Thanks for taking the quiz. I hope you get to try out new food often; you’ll love it. Closing your heart to new food means you might be missing out on necessary nutrients they contain. And also the adventure.