Some folks' sense of taste (including smell perception, reactions of trigeminal nerve in back of throat that helps detect "hot" (spicy) foods, and so on) is hyper sensitive, others have hypo sensitivity in that modality.
I'm excessively sensitive to flavors, and can't stand spicy/hot tasting foods-thus I don't eat any sort of peppers.
So a person with an ASD-and/or sensory issues/differences-could be more or less sensitive/reactive to certain stimuli compared with any other person. Also, people just have different attractions (and aversions) as to flavors (and textures, mouthfeel, and chewiness, etc.) that appeal to (or repel) them, for reasons beyond our scientific understanding.
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*"I don't know what it is, but I know what it isn't."*