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Foods People Hate: Which Ingredients Are The Most Widely Reviled?

Which Foods Are The Most Commonly Hated?
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It's mushy. You can't handle the smell. There's some unfortunate associations from your teenage years. Whatever the reason, everyone has some foods they just can't, and won't eat -- but the variation might not be as wide as you think.

In a recent survey in Britain entitled "The Fussy Food Nation," people revealed their least favourite foods, reports The Daily Mail. The top five on that list of hated items? The rather slimy seeming grouping of snails, tripe, oysters, squid and anchovies.

Food preferences are nothing new -- different cultures have always naturally gravitated toward particular dishes. Though sushi is now hugely popular in North America, a few decades ago, the Japanese practice of eating raw fish was considered vile. Meanwhile in parts of Asia, dairy is scarcely seen anywhere on menus, while we swallow grilled cheese and pizza by the plateful.

But for most of us in North America, the food world is our oyster -- or our avocado, depending on our particular culinary preference. And because of all these options, it means things tend to get eliminated from our personal menus, possibly to cut down on selection. The Washington Post pointed to a few other factors that could compel these choices, like texture, tastebuds and even nostalgia.

We took an entirely unscientific look at the foods most hated around the world, scanning sites like Chowhound and Serious Eats to discover just what it is people talk about when they talk about foods they despise.

SEE: The foods most commonly hated online. Is your most despised ingredients on there, or did we miss it? Let us know in the comments below:

Brie

The Most Hated Foods

Brie

Complaints about Brie include its runniness, the strange white rind no one knows what to do with (hint: you can eat it), and its general smell.

Cauliflower

With one commenter calling it the "poor man's broccoli" and others decrying its mealy taste and gross, brain-like look, cauliflower doesn't get a lot of love.

Onions

Usually most hated when they're raw, it could be the putrid breath left by eating onions that make them so reviled.

Tofu

People hate both the lack of taste and the texture of tofu, and interestingly, non-vegetarians seem to dislike it the most.

Cilantro

There's actually some science behind this one -- finding cilantro gross could actually be genetic, according to researchers at the University of Toronto.

Coconut

It's shredded coconut that takes the heat (coconut milk, on the other hand, seems almost universally loved), and it's likely the hard-to-chew texture causing the disgust.

Cooked Carrots

We're just going to ask this question -- is there anyone who likes cooked carrots? A bit slimy and tough to cut, they're acceptable in soups, but not really preferred.

Blue Cheese

It doesn't help that there's literal cultures of mould in the cheese, or that the common description of its smell is "dirty diapers," so it should be no surprise blue cheese was high on the list of gross food.

Ketchup

That's right -- the condiment most likely to be found in any kitchen is also really hated by some people, who are especially offended by the many, many foods onto which ketchup is poured, like macaroni and cheese, and steaks.

Anchovies

Eating something fishy sounds like part of the experience of eating fish -- but as it turns out, people don't really want their fish to smell that much. One science exhibit in San Francisco also pointed out that anchovies' interaction with other foods could create a distasteful combination.

Sweetbreads

Organ meats, perhaps for the pure 'ick' factor, came up a few times as gross items, but sweetbreads seemed to inspired a particular gag reflex in people. Perhaps it's the idea of an animal's throat ... in your throat?

Licorice

The strong, anise flavour of licorice tends to divide people into those who love allsorts, and those who don't, but as it turns out, all that flavour might not be good for you -- in fact, eating licorice more than twice a week could cause heart arrhythmias.

Olives

They're lauded for their long-life giving qualities, but others absolutely abhor olives for their saltiness, and the smell coming off those carts in the grocery store.

Lima Beans

Maybe it's the graininess, maybe it's the fact that they were vegetables forced upon you as a child, but lima beans -- above green beans, peas and other legumes -- are quite hated.

Goat Cheese

Creamy textures tend to be an issue for a certain kind of person, and goat cheese poses a problematic mouthfeel for just those folks. A massive discussion on Chowhound revealed some people find the cheese as hard to swallow as cilantro is for other.

Liver

As Delish.com put it in their analysis, "It's meant to capture toxins...and someone wants me to EAT this???"

Oysters

"Like eating the bottom of the ocean," some people say when describing oysters, which can be taken as a good thing -- or not. There's also the issue of the texture when oysters are raw, in which case they should never, ever tried to be chewed.

Mushrooms

When mushrooms go bad, they go really bad, with a slimy texture that would turn off even the biggest fungus lover. But even fresh mushrooms are vile to some, thanks to their texture, taste, and yes, the fact that they come right from the dirty ground.

Cottage Cheese

We won't regale you with some of the descriptions of cottage cheese in case you do in fact enjoy these cheese curds, but just know this -- people think it looks disgusting, it smells disgusting and it has absolutely no place in anyone's fridge.

Raisins

Raisins appear to be less offensive on their own, but people really, really hate when they suddenly crop up in the middle of, say, muffins or puddings. The lesson? Keep raisins confined to those cute little boxes.

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