Disgust is a disease avoidance mechanism, helping humans avoid unsuitable foods. Visual perception is usually the first interaction with food. So far, little is known about how colour, a visual feature, influences disgust perception. Thus, this exploratory study investigated how individuals' perceived disgust and attractiveness differ depending on the food colouring. For this, 234 participants completed an online survey and rated four food items (milk, chocolate, toast, and tomatoes) for disgust and attractiveness. Participants were assigned to either a green or a red condition. In the green condition (n = 120), they were presented with two natural and two green coloured foods. Participants in the red condition (n = 114) were presented with two natural and two red coloured foods. Individuals rated the green items as more disgusting than the red or natural items. Moreover, individuals' disgust perception was influenced by their disgust sensitivity, that is, individuals with higher levels of disgust sensitivity evaluated the foods as more disgusting than individuals with lower disgust sensitivity. Our exploratory study is among the first to show that disgust sensitivity seems to be particularly predictive of disgust perception judgments when the presented foods are coloured in green.
