MOTHERS frequently believe that their babies are born liking what they ate
while pregnant. It now turns out that they are right.
Benoist Schaal and his colleagues at the European Centre for Taste Science in
Dijon, France, compared the babies of mothers who had eaten anise—the
predominant flavour in aniseed—during pregnancy with those who had not.
The anise babies turned towards anise odour in the first four days of life,
while babies new to anise either ignored it or turned away (Chemical
Senses, vol 25, p 729).
It’s the first time this has been shown in people. “The evidence in humans…
