Which food would the greatest fraction of the world population refuse to eat? To make the question interesting, focus on widespread food items, not „interesting” local specialties like surstromming, fermented shark, maggot cheese. My guess is that pork and beef would be the most widely refused, by Muslims and Hindus respectively. Meat in general is considered objectionable by more people than vegan dishes. Refusal of plant-based food is mostly due to allergies, so soy and wheat would be the least popular. In light of this, it is interesting that the main components of the British Airways snack box on 17 May 2020 were made of wheat and pork (Jamon Iberico and a spread made of 57% bacon and 18% pork jowl). The box replaced the usual airline meal. According to British Airways, the reason was to reduce food heating on the plane during the Covid-19 pandemic. I am not sure how reducing cooking is supposed to avoid infection, but even supposing that, the pork-based snacks do not seem optimal by any criterion.
Vegan food is generally cheaper, and among animal-source foods, chicken is the cheapest, followed by turkey. So price cannot be the reason for serving pork. Airlines may try to signal wealth or that they care about passengers by offering „premium” foods, e.g. meat, and not the cheapest kind. However, this signal is undermined by the plastic boxes for the meals, the sloppy mixture of foods in the main box and the small quantities. The goal is clearly not to feed people or to keep them healthy. It does not seem reasonable for the airline to expect that it will give passengers a good taste experience.
What causes food to be rejected by most people?
Thanks for sharing useful information