Taste the texture. The relation between subjective tactile sensitivity, mouthfeel and picky eating in young adults

One reason why people reject certain foods is because they do not like the texture. Several studies show that in children tactile sensitivity is related to pickiness in eating.

Children who do not like the feel of sand or of slimy substances with their hands also reject more kinds of food, presumably because the children are more sensitive to the mouthfeel of several food textures. There is however hardly any research on the role of tactile sensitivity in adult food acceptance. Two important questions therefore are: Is tactile sensitivity related to picky eating in adults and if so, does mouthfeel mediate the relation between tactile sensitivity and pickiness?