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healthier individuals by others could spread spice use rapidly through a society. Also, families that used
appropriate spices would rear a greater number of more healthy offspring, to whom spice-use traditions had
been demonstrated, and who possessed appropriate taste receptors.
H. Another question which arises is why did people develop a taste for spicy foods? One possibility
involves learned taste aversions. It is known that when people eat something that makes them ill, they tend
to avoid that taste subsequently. The adaptive value of such learning is obvious. Adding a spice to a food
that caused sickness might alter its taste enough to make it palatable again (i.e.it tastes like a different
food),as well as kill the micro-organisms that caused the illness, thus rendering it safe for consumption. By
this process, food aversions would more often be associated with un-spiced (and therefore unsafe) foods,
and food likings would be associated with spicy foods, especially in places where foods spoil rapidly. Over
time people would have developed a natural preference for spicy food.
I. Of course, spice use is not the only way to avoid food poisoning. Cooking, and completely
consuming wild game immediately after slaughter reduces opportunities for the growth of micro-organisms.
However, this is practical only where fresh meat is abundant year-round. In areas where fresh meat is not
consistently available, preservation may be accomplished by thoroughly cooking, salting, smoking, drying,
and spicing meats. Indeed, salt has been used worldwide for centuries to preserve food. We suggest that all
these practices have been adopted for essentially the same reason: to minimize the effects of harmful, food-
borne organisms.
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