The ‘chicken ick’: why we suddenly become disgusted by foods we used to like

By Lorenzo Stafford, Associate Professor in Psychobiological Psychology, University of Portsmouth

Have you ever suddenly gone off a food you used to love? This is something people on social media have been talking about – specifically when it comes to chicken.

Users report suddenly becoming disgusted by chicken, sometimes even mid-bite – despite having been able to eat the food just fine previously. The phenomenon is commonly referred to online as the “chicken ick”.

My research is centred on how our sensory system (mainly smell and taste) affects our behaviour. When it comes to the “ick”, it’s all about how we deal with our disgust response.

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