Taste aversion is the concept that human beings have a tendency to have an aversive response towards certain foods that have made them sick before. I have experienced taste aversion when I was eight years old, and now my younger sister is experiencing it.

I was always nervous to try cheeseburgers when I was little because I had not particularly acquired a taste for cheese. The thought of burgers had also never really appealed to me. My family and I would always go to my grandparents’ house for dinner at least twice a week. It was a Wednesday night when we went this one time when I was in first grade. My grandmother was making hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and hot dogs. I always loved hot dogs, but I had not ever tried a cheeseburger. That night I decided to just go ahead and try one for the first time. Unfortunately, I got very sick after eating it and became extremely nauseous.

The next day, my mother told me that I had caught a stomach virus. She said that the virus was not from eating the cheeseburger, but I was convinced that this was the reasoning behind me getting sick. I could not get the thought out of my head that it was the cheeseburger that made me sick. Years later, I still could not stand the smell or sight of a cheeseburger. Whenever someone around me would eat or cook one I could not even sit near them. This was because of my taste aversion that I developed towards cheeseburgers. Finally, a few years ago I had a cheeseburger for the second time in my life. I discovered that I did not get sick that night because I ate one.

I also mentioned that my younger sister is now experiencing taste aversion just like I did. She recently caught a stomach virus the night after she ate from Chipotle. Every time someone in my family gets food from Chipotle, she refuses to eat it or even sit at the table with us while we eat. I can relate to how she felt because taste aversion occurs after becoming nauseous from eating a certain food. I just recently got over my taste aversion towards cheeseburgers, so I think it is going to be a while until she is able to eat Chipotle again.