I’ll admit that I was a very picky eater as a child. Don’t believe me? Just ask my mom. I did not like many fruits and vegetables, and that was just the beginning. This, of course, did change with age. I still will not eat any fish. Well, here comes the science as to why adults can be picky eaters too.

    It’s not known how many severely picky adult eaters are out there. For one thing, food preferences run on a continuum and an official cut-off has not been established. Nor is the condition a recognized eating disorder, says Marcia Pelchat, research scientist at The Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.

    Pelchat has found that certain textures are an even bigger turn-off than tastes for many picky eaters. Take the tomato: “It has numerous offensive textural problems; the skin is slippery, the flesh is grainy and slimy, and the seeds are a big discontinuity,” she says. Others cringe at “inclusions,” such as nuts or raisins embedded in muffins—even if they enjoy eating such snacks in their pure form.