Not just adults, even babies aren’t a fan of kale

Human foetuses develop taste buds anatomically from 8 weeks and can detect tastes from 14 weeks onwards.

Pregnant women all over the world are exposed to a number of myths and superstition about food. From what kind of food to avoid to meal timings, to-be mothers are bombarded with advice and suggestions from everywhere.

But do the babies have a preference for what a mother eats?

A new study published in the journal of Psychology Science by the researchers at Durham University, England, have found that babies in the womb can not only detect flavours and smells but also express their preference through ‘laughter face’ or ‘cry face’.

The researchers analysed 4D ultrasound scans of 100 pregnant women who are 32 to 36 weeks along in their pregnancies from northeast England. They found that the foetuses exposed to carrot flavour showed ‘lip-corner puller’ or laughter-face’. While those exposed to kale flavour showed ‘upper-lip raiser’, ‘lower-lip depressor’ or ‘cry-face’.

A number of studies have suggested that babies can taste and smell in the womb, but they are based on post-birth outcomes while the current study is the first to see these reactions prior to birth.

Explaining the study, the lead researcher Beyza Ustun said in an email to The Hindu, “We were expecting to see different facial reactions to kale and carrot because these vegetables do not share the same flavour profile, kale is bitter, and carrot is non-bitter.”

The study also sheds light on the sensory abilities of the foetuses and their ability to display facial responses to different flavours.