Are all people with autism picky about food

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When I was a little kid I was both picky and adventerous. Loved Chinese food. But I couldnt stand butter on things. Even on bread. And since butter isnt particularly good for you that is good.

Gradually I caved into the crowd to conform in my adolescence ...started putting a little butter on corn cobs, like everyone else, for example.

But even now I like just a hint of butter. Not a heavy butterized taste to things like mashed potatoes.

Hate most cheese burgers . Probably because fast food places use those squares of highly processed cheese. Though I do like blue cheese that they put on burgers in gourmet places.

Like butter on, or in, potatoes though.

When I was a kid there were different kind of food that I really didn't like, but I never really had a choice but to eat what was served. You could say that I learned the hard way not to be picky about food. When it comes to pain and fatigue I am to a large extent able to in the same way override it and carry on. For the record I have some autistic friends that, like naturalplastic, don't like butter on the bread.

Theoretically I don't think I'd describe myself as "picky". There are a few foods I don't like and as long as something doesn't have one of those in it, I'm perfectly willing to try it.
In practice, however, this is not what happens. My biggest issues are with tomatoes and mushrooms, and somehow that alone eliminates 90% of the average restaurant's menu. Usually I'll have one thing, or sometimes two, that I always order at a given restaurant.
I will eat tomato sauce as long as there are no tomato chunks in it, but there's no way of knowing that until it's too late.
I don't think there are that many foods I won't eat, but somehow those few foods are in almost everything.

I wouldn't say that I'm necessarily picky with what food I eat (although there are certainly are some foods I'd have no interest in ever trying), but I am picky with how my food is arranged on the plate (and, if my food is on multiple plates, the way I have the plates themselves arranged) and the order I eat it. (To give a basic example: if I decide to make myself a cheeseburger and fries for dinner, I need to have the burger on the right side of the plate and the fries on the left side and the way I eat the food is I take one bite of the burger and then I eat a fry [taking a drink when necessary] and alternate like that)

I have legitimately spent like 5-10 minutes rotating a tray with a TV dinner in it because there was no way I could have the tray positioned where the food would be arranged the way I need it to be and I'd end up eating the meal while thinking 'This is wrong, this isn't the way my food needs to be arranged'.

I was very picky. Now I will eat most things but I'd still rather my food didn't touch. I forget what it was people would always mix together, green beans and macaroni maybe?

It confused me then. Still confuses me. I want my flavors to be clear and distinct.

I also prefer to eat foods one at a time. But my grandma tends to ask me how things taste, so I break my order and go back to it after.

Since I moved to the group home, I been eating stuff I don’t like, I need to stop eating it. The people here can put different stuff on the plate,cut up bananas, chicken nuggets, potato fries & ketchup, other times, it were weird stuff & papaya, I tried it, I spit it out in my napkin, they make alot of stuff with beef, they give us beef hot dogs, I don’t eat beef too much, I should stop eating beef, red meat is bad for psoriasis, but I love spaghetti. I didn’t eat the beef hot dogs. I don’t like their cereal either, I don’t drink cow milk. I only love the eggs & some dinner food, alot of the time I don’t really care about the food they made, I been eating it, I don’t want to starve. I hate eggplant.

I like to eat all kinds of food. I am unable to relate to many experiences on this forum. I honestly feel that most autistics are picky in some form or another. What I don’t like is mixing food together like a fried egg on a pancake or bacon on a hamburger. Combinations like that are odd to me but I don’t count it as being picky.

I’ve never been picky about food. For a long time, I was a vegetarian, but it wasn’t because I didn’t like meat. My son is also on the spectrum and has never been picky, either. He’s gone through phases when he wanted one particular food a lot - like mushrooms when he was 3. Once, when we were going somewhere and I wanted to grab fast food on the way, he said: “No! I’m only eating mushrooms.” Apart from those phases, he’s always eaten anything. (He still loves mushrooms.)

All people with autism? Nah. I was though. Still am to a degree, though not as bad as before. I met the criteria for ARFID for a lot of my life. I've also come close to meeting the criteria for orthorexia as well. Food and I have a complicated relationship, but as of the last five to ten years or so it's gotten a lot healthier. I'm still a bit picky about food, but it's not a problem in my life these days.

I'm pescatarian (vegetarian who eats fish), don't eat gluten because it makes my chronic fatigue worse, and have a mild allergy to cabbages, so I end up being a difficult eater though I don't want to be and it's kind of embarrassing. I was never a picky eater as a child.

I hate any kind of meat, dairy typically stinks IMHO, I can't stand anything with onions or garlic, I have a weird reaction to any cruciferous vegetable, aka broccoli, cabbage or cauliflower, I detest any junk food, so yes, I'm very picky.

I'm picky because of my sensory sensitivities about food and whatever interoceptive hypersensitivities do to me, not because of some systematic issue (no idea if I have some sort of food allergy yet).

But if it had to be purely sensory, it's more about textures.
My olfactory sense is the weakest, somewhat indirectly affects my overall sense of flavor.


While I have certain issues about flavors, it's more like to do with my upbringing and expectations around food.

Not as simple as being autistic -- thus, like with noise intolerance, my goal is to acquire as much types of food as possible.
And like anxiety, I refuse to just be satisfy with the idea of only having 'safe foods'.


I have no issues with mixing food and other food touching another food.

So yeah, I'll take coconut oil flavored spicy leafy veggie on rice, mixed with hotdog and tuna.
Top it with mayo, ketchup, salad dressings and drench it with salt if one had to.

In fact, the ability to take food better with something mixed in it mitigates some of my issues around certain foods and acquire certain flavors...


I consider anyone who can't do this count as 'picky'. Because it's sort of the same class around rigidity and flavor issue...

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I’ve never been picky about food but early on I recognized how rude it was to reject food with prejudice.

I feel internally like I’m picky with food and I view food that I don’t care for or eat often as a way to vacation or break from the regular. I never blame the ingredients or cuisine, only the cook; I will always try and evaluate every restaurant as a unique experience.

I'm usually pretty good about food as long as it's not fish or fish-related.

And turnips. And parsnips. And boiled cabbage. And mashed potatoes.

But I think a lot of people who are NT don't like those foods either, except maybe mashed potatoes.

Is it only autistic to hate a food that most people in your culture really like, such as pizza or chocolate?

Because I personally don't see life without those things all that worth living.