Disgust

Disgust is a complex emotional response, often directed toward foodstuffs and usually resulting in their rejection. One of the six “discrete” or basic human emotions (anger, fear, sorrow, joy, surprise, and disgust), disgust has been less studied historically than the other so-called moral emotions of fear and anger. However, since the 1990s, disgust has been the focus of a number of studies, often considering food as the subject of these feelings.

Disgust may arise for a number of different reasons, including personal distaste for a particular food (I myself don’t like it); a perception of danger from a food (e.g., it is—or seems—rotten); and cultural ideas of inappropriateness (no one here eats that; no one should eat that). It has thus been described as having a ...