Taste Aversion is a conditioned and learned association between the taste of a particular food and an illness that is then associated with that food even if it had no relationship to the illness. If individuals are unwell after eating a certain food, they often develop a response and sensitivity to it and will therefore avoid eating it in the future. Taste aversion is very common in humans and is often used to control predators. For example, if you poison the meat a predator eats like a dead carcass, they will tend to avoid future consumption. The appeal of the flavor decreases, and it becomes undesirable if the meal results in sickness. This taste will now discourage consumption and discourage acts of predation. The new unpleasant taste will penalize the animal for attacking and biting its prey the next time it encounters that prey. This type of conditioning is unique in that it can happen in a single trial, even when there is an hour-long gap between the taste and poisonous stimuli, and it is not easily eliminated.
I have experienced taste aversion before. While I was traveling with my family in Pittsburg, we all went out to dinner. I ordered French onion soup. It was my first time trying this dish, but when we got back to our hotel, I ended up puking all my dinner up. Of course, it left a taste of the French onion soup in my mouth. As a result, I have not had French onion soup ever since because I know associate eating this soup with sickness. I do not know if the sickness was a result of eating the soup or a flu. However, I now can’t even look at or smell the soup without cringing. After all these years, the association of French onion soup with sickness is still prevalent with me today. This real life example shows how prevalent taste aversion can be.