Food neophobia levels of Lebanese and American college students

Abstract

Food neophobia, defined as the reluctance to eat novel foods, is a personality trait that influences everyday human food choices. The objectives of this work were first, to compare food neophobia levels among American and Lebanese college students (n = 1122), second to assess the effect of personal variables such as country of residence, socio-economic status (SES) on food neophobia levels, and third to examine the effect of food neophobia levels on the familiarity and willingness to try ratings of familiar and novel foods. Average food neophobia scale (FNS) score for all respondents was 33.1 ± 11.3. Differences on FNS scores were obtained between American (29.8) and Lebanese (36.4) students (P < 0.05). Number of trips taken outside the country, frequency of eating ethnic foods and history of sickness after eating a new food were significant (P < 0.05). Food neophilic subjects had higher familiarity and willingness to try scores for familiar and novel foods.

Introduction

Food neophobia, defined by Pliner and Hobden (1992) as the ‘reluctance to eat and/or avoidance of novel foods’, is a personality trait that influences everyday human food choices. In fact, food neophobia has been shown to affect willingness to try novel foods, expected-liking and sampling behaviour for these foods (Raudenbush & Frank, 1999). The food neophobia scale (FNS) which consists of 10 statements that are rated on a 7-point scale with descriptors ranging from “disagree strongly” to “agree strongly” assesses a person’s food neophobia level as well as his/her willingness to try novel and/or familiar foods (Pliner & Hobden, 1992). The results of three validation studies indicated that FNS scores predicted behaviour in relevant situations (Pliner & Hobden, 1992). In fact, subjects’ expected-liking of novel foods was highly correlated to their FNS scores. Pliner and Hobden (1992) found that food neophobia correlated negatively with familiarity with novel foods. Moreover, the authors concluded that food knowledge and experience influence interest in trying new foods.

One of the many variables that bear some influence on the level of food neophobia is socio-economic status (Flight, Leppard, & Cox, 2003). Recent literature has suggested that gender, age, education and living area (urban vs. rural) relate to a person’s response on the FNS. Furthermore, this literature indicated that women were less food neophobic than men, with older subjects showing higher food neophobia levels and subjects possessing a higher level of education being less food neophobic (Tuorila, Lähteenmäki, Pohjalainen, & Lotti, 2001). Flight et al. (2003) found that exposure to diverse cultures and higher socio-economic status (SES) may increase knowledge of a wide variety of stimuli, including food, and be negatively associated with food neophobia. Similarly, findings by MacNicol, Murray, and Austin (2003) seemed to indicate that lower socio-economic status is associated with an increased tendency to possess a fussy/picky attitude toward food and higher food neophobia levels.

The influence of urbanization on food neophobia is also of significance. Tuorila et al. (2001) conducted a study in Finland which indicated that the level of food neophobia decreases with an increased level of urbanization. Flight et al. (2003) measured food neophobia among rural and urban Australian high school students. Rural adolescents had a higher mean FNS score than urban adolescents indicating a higher level of neophobia among the rural adolescents. In addition, participants with a rural identity showed a greater level of suspicion toward novel foods compared to those with an urban identity (Bäckström, Pirttilä-Backman, & Tuorila, 2004).

For Martins and Pliner (2005), the familiarity of the food (novel vs. familiar) and its origin (animal vs. non-animal) determine the factors that best predict willingness to try familiar and novel animal and non-animal foods. In a study by Arvola, Lähteenmäki, and Tuorila (1999), 92 females rated the expected and actual taste pleasantness of two familiar and two unfamiliar cheeses, and ratings were lower for food neophobics (FNPho) for all cheeses, except for the most familiar cheese. Moreover, familiarity with and willingness to try ratings for novel foods were higher for food neophilics (FNPhil), with lower familiarity ratings of several familiar foods being given by neophobes, compared to neophiles (Raudenbush & Frank, 1999). Furthermore, Tuorila et al. (2001) found that less food neophobic subjects, that is those with lower FNS scores, tend to taste and eat foods, whether familiar or novel, more frequently. Findings by Flight et al. (2003) indicated that urban subjects were significantly more familiar with different foods and more willing to try unfamiliar foods than rural students.

The study of food neophobia is of particular importance because food neophobia can impact food preferences (Raudenbush and Frank, 1999, Tuorila et al., 2001). Understanding the factors influencing food preferences is essential for the implementation and promotion of positive changes in the food habits of any society, especially with the prevalence of obesity, which is becoming a growing concern in both developing and developed countries, and hence the associated need for creating healthier eating habits. For instance, the tendency to avoid new foods is often associated with a tendency to eat the same types of food repeatedly and, thus, have a more restrictive diet (Tuorila et al., 2001).

Several studies have focused on factors influencing neophobia levels in children (Falciglia et al., 2000, Galloway et al., 2003, Hursti and Sjöden, 1997, MacNicol et al., 2003, Rigal et al., 2005). Though researching food neophobia with children is an important and needed activity, it would be interesting to assess food neophobia levels with young adults, that is college students who should have more stable food neophobia levels and a high level of education.

There is great need for more cross-national studies because these studies can help researchers pinpoint any cultural and national variables that influence everyday food choices and the willingness to try novel foods in particular. In fact, Ritchley, Frank, Hursti, and Tuorila (2003) developed a six-item FNS scale and used confirmatory factor analysis to compare FNS scores between subjects of the USA, Finland and Sweden. The study revealed that both American and Finnish adults were equally food neophobic, but were more food neophobic than Swedish adults. Accordingly, it is safe to expect FNS scores to differ cross-culturally and cross-nationally. Information obtained from cross-national studies can further our understanding of the variables of influence on food neophobia in different countries and thus possibly help in the development of programs aimed at promoting dietary change. Studies by Pliner, Pelchat, and Grabski (1993) and Loewen and Pliner (1999) have shown the positive effect of prior exposure to good-tasting novel foods on food neophobia. Rigal et al. (2006) reported an increase in mean food liking scores of a population of obese adolescents enrolled in a 9-month residential weight program (WRP) that encouraged the consumption of a wide variety of foods.

The objectives of this work were first, to compare food neophobia levels among American and Lebanese college students, second, to assess the relationship between personal variables such as place of origin, socio-economic status, education and exposure to other cultures, and food neophobia levels, and third, to examine the effect of food neophobia levels on the familiarity and willingness to try ratings of familiar and novel foods.