Mennella

“Women are often advised to eat bland foods during pregnancy, but the way our food tastes is an important part of the world our children will be entering,” says Mennella.

Origins Annie Murphy Paul 2010

Mennella says she got the idea from dairy farmers, who in the 1960s and 70s were doing research on how the diet of the dairy cow impacted the flavor of the milk.

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In fact, Mennella says there isn't a single flavor they have found that doesn't show up in utero.

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"Things like vanilla, carrot, garlic, anise, mint - these are some of the flavors that have been shown to be transmitted to amniotic fluid or mother's milk," says Julie Mennella, who studies taste in infants at the Monell Chemical Senses Center.

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"Each individual baby is having their own unique experience, it's changing from hour to hour, from day to day, from month to month," says Mennella.

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Julie Mennella, who studies taste in infants at the Monell Chemical Senses Center

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Mennella says this had already been observed in rabbits, so she decided to test it in human babies - with carrots.

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"And just like the European rabbit, the babies who had experienced carrot in amniotic fluid or mother's milk ate more of the carrot-flavored cereal," says Mennella.

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But Mennella says that not only is the amniotic fluid and breast milk in humans flavored by food just like cows, but memories of these flavors are formed even before birth.

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This makes a lot of evolutionary sense, says Mennella.

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