it is very typical for people to generally have a fear of new things and to prefer things that are familiar and common. most people experience food neophobia to a certain extent, though some people are more neophobic than others. a measure of individual differences in food neophobia is the food neophobia scale (fns), which consists of a 10-item survey that requires self-reported responses on a seven-point likert scale. there is also a separate scale geared towards children called the food neophobia scale for children (fnsc), in which the parents actually do the reporting for the survey.