Eggs, sugar, grated bones: colour-based food preferences in autism, eating disorders, and beyond

Abstract

In 1913, eccentric French composer Erik Satie wrote a fragmentary, diary-like essay where he depicted a strikingly rigid diet consisting solely of white foods: eggs, sugar, coconuts, rice, cream cheese, fuchsia juice and so on. Satie’s brief essay has later been used as one of many puzzle pieces in attempts to retrospectively diagnose him with autism spectrum disorder. With Satie’s white meal as a starting point, this paper explores colour-based food preferences and selective eating in clinical and non-clinical populations, with a special focus on autism spectrum disorder and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). General colour preferences and their causes as well as the impact of colour on taste and food identification are also explored. Selective eating during childhood is immensely common and does not generally lead to disordered eating in the long run, although subgroups may experience rigidity around food of a more enduring nature. Problems related to eating were repeatedly described in Kanner’s original 1943 autism case series and continue to be common in autism. Most studies on eating and sensory sensitivity in autism show that the texture and consistency of the food are the most common factors behind selective eating. In contrast, colour-based food preferences appear to be relatively rare, although numerous anecdotal reports exist. Foods that are white or colourless may be particularly appealing or tolerable for individuals with sensory hypersensitivity, which can occur in autism or ARFID. Ultimately, in the case of Erik Satie, this paper concludes that his description of a strictly white diet should not be read as an autobiographical account but rather as an ironic take on contemporary symbolist literature, with the famously decadent all-black dinner party in French novelist Joris-Karl Huysmans’ À Rebours (1884; also known as Against Nature) as an obvious source of inspiration.

Atypical sensory functions and eating behaviors among adults on the autism spectrum: One‐on‐one interviews

“…Among visual cues of food or beverage items, specific colors or shapes were found to be favorable to autistic participants, even though there was no consensus. Previous studies have found the visual appearance of foods to drive liking for autistic children (Sharp, Jaquess, & Lukens, 2013; Zampollo, Kniffin, Wansink, & Shimizu, 2012), and some autistic individuals tend to limit their food preferences based on the colors and shapes of food items (Hubbard, Anderson, Curtin, Must, & Bandini, 2014; Provost, Crowe, Osbourn, McClain, & Skipper, 2010; Strand, 2021).…”

The Use of Optical Coherence Tomography and Electrophysiological Tests in the Early Diagnosis of Inflammatory Changes in the CNS in children with ASD—A Review of Contemporary Literature

“…A further cause of the atrophy of CN II is the deficiency of vitamin B12, which may be preceded by a gradual decrease in visual acuity [ 39 ]. Vitamin deficiencies are a frequently observed phenomenon in children with ASD due to the adherence to selective diets resulting from behavioral disorders and sensory sensitivities, in which children eat only color-selected foods [ 40 ]. In contrast to the aforementioned ideas, there are contrary articles in literature that do not indicate any deviation from normal fundus detail [ 18 , 34 , 41 , 42 , 43 ].…”

What's the Story With Blue Steak? On the Unexpected Popularity of Blue Foods

“…Of course, as well as any literal crossmodal associations between colors and flavors (presumably based on associative learning) which may guide our flavor expectations, it is also worth noting that the visual appearance of food can take on a more symbolic meaning. This is perhaps especially clear in the case of the achromatic colors white and black, linked to purity/cleanliness and mourning, respectively (e.g., see Huysmans, 1884Huysmans, /1926Weineck, 2006;Carter, 2011;Harris, 2011;Spence and Piqueras-Fiszman, 2014;Piepenbring, 2016;Spence, 2018dSpence, , 2020aStrand, 2020). Furthermore, there is also a growing literature on the existence of more abstract crossmodal correspondences between color patches, or combinations of colors, and basic tastes and aromas (e.g., see Wan et al, 2014b;Spence et al, 2015;Spence, 2020b).…”