Neophobia: the extreme avoidance of anything novel or unfamiliar. It can be applied to any situation or experience deemed “risky” by the individual. More specifically, food neophobia (FN) is a phenomenon typically seen in omnivores in which the individual is reluctant and even unwilling to consume novel foods on the basis that it could be potentially poisonous (Pliner & Salvy, 2006). Not to be confused with food “pickiness” or an eating disorder, FN is a personality trait in which the individual displays a pattern of unwillingness to consume new foods that can result in nutritional problems (Capiola & Raudenbush, 2012). From a scientific point of view, the degree of neophobia is measured by taking the average willingness to taste novel foods
