NEW STUDY: There’s a scientific reason that so many people hate coriander

Apparently it really does taste like soap! - by Amy Sinclair

When it comes to coriander, people tend to have very firm opinions.

While many love it, others absolutely hate it - with an estimated 14% of people vehemently disliking the taste of the herb.

NEW STUDY: There’s a scientific reason that so many people hate coriander

Even top US chef Ina Garten likened coriander to ‘passive-aggressive people’ in her list of most hated things in the world.

Well now it seems there might actually be a scientific reason why so many people dislike the herb - and believe it tastes like soap.

SciShow - a science show on YouTube - did a study of 30,000 people and asked what coriander tasted like to them. And the results showed a surprising common thread between those who hated it. ‘Subjects who said that cilantro made salsa taste like bubble bath had similarities in a cluster of smell receptor genes that–surprise–detect the smell of soap,’ says Sci Show host Hank Green.

Image: Getty

Image: Getty

‘They tended to share one gene in particular which codes for the receptor that picks up the scent of aldehyde chemicals....There is more than one aldehyde responsible for giving cilantro its distinctive smell and they also happen to be a byproduct of soap making.’

And while not everyone who has the gene dislikes coriander, scientists say it’s a surprising result. We couldn’t agree more. Now, who wants some soap on their taco?!

Amy Sinclair

Amy Sinclair is the editor of New Idea Food. She is a former weekly magazine editor who loves all things food, cooking and eating - especially the eating! When she's not looking after her three children, you'll find her in the kitchen or busily hiding online shopping purchases from her husband.