Describing certain foods in a foreign language reduces aversion

New research shows people are more likely to eat foods they're averse to if presented in a foreign language, like calling snails "escargot." Restaurateurs apparently know what they're doing when they offer "escargot" on a menu rather than "snails." New research shows that people are more willing to eat foods that they find disgusting if those foods are presented in a foreign language. That's the conclusion of a recent set of studies co-authored by a UChicago postdoctoral scholar in psychology, which could help win acceptance for environmentally sustainable foods that many people are unwilling to try. Americans and Europeans are generally averse to eating insects or artificial meat, for example. Likewise, drinking water made by purifying wastewater has been a tough sell. "In people's minds, once in contact (with a disgusting entity), always in contact," said Janet Geipel, a postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Prof. Boaz Keysar and the lead author of "No matter how good your technology is, it will not convince these people. So we need psychology to nudge sustainable consumption.