Spice use is a cultural adaptation against food-borne pathogens

Evidence

Several lines of evidence indicate that spicing may represent a class of cultural adaptations to the problem of food-borne pathogens. Many spices are antimicrobials that can kill pathogens in foods. Globally, the common spices are onions, pepper, garlic, cilantro, chili peppers (capsicum), and bay leaves. Here’s the idea: the use of many spices represents a cultural adaptation to the problem of pathogens in food, especially in meat. This challenge would have been most important before refrigerators came on the scene. To examine this, two biologists, Jennifer Billing and Paul Sherman, collected 4578 recipes from traditional cookbooks from populations around the world. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 368

Categorization

• XREF: Directly exemplifies the content-biased/group-functional adaptation framework in which conformist-bias discussion sits. — connects to: Seasoning inadvertently forged new Black culture rather than erasing identity — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project: A New American Origin…, 169; Culture-driven cooking let natural selection shrink gut tissue to fund bigger brains — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 233; Culture is a genetically evolved consequence of social learning adaptations. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 139
• SHARE: The 4,578-recipe cross-cultural study and its three patterns are a great specific fact for anyone into evolutionary food anthropology.

Broader Connections

• Culture is a genetically evolved consequence of social learning adaptations. #qualifies (0.80) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 139
• Culture-driven cooking let natural selection shrink gut tissue to fund bigger brains #expands (0.75) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 233
• Seasoning inadvertently forged new Black culture rather than erasing identity #exemplifies (0.72) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 169