Enjoying international cuisines makes people more tolerant, UK study finds

Whether it is the kedgeree of the British Raj, the Victorian “penny lick” ice-creams of Manchester’s Little Italy, or the battered fish brought to the UK by Sephardic Jews, international influences on the country’s food are longstanding, diverse and many.

Now, research has revealed that eating international food does not merely spice up the diet – but makes people more tolerant.

Research from the University of Birmingham and the University of Munich has found that frequently enjoying a greater number of international foods reduced the likelihood of perceiving immigrants as “cultural or economic threats” by a tenth.

The study focused on more than 1,000 white British adults, measuring attitudes towards immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean, Asia and the rest of Europe; people’s likelihood of voting for politicians who would cut immigration and apply stricter rules to settlement and access to public funds; their enjoyment of six cuisines – Indian, Turkish, Chinese, Thai, Caribbean, and Spanish – and how often they ate them.

The research found enjoyment of these foods – and frequent consumption of them – was “positively and significantly correlated” with “pro-African-Caribbean immigrant, pro-European immigrant, and pro-Asian immigrant attitudes”, and a “decreased likelihood of voting for anti-immigrant politicians”.

Crucially, the research found the correlation between enjoying international food and a positive attitude towards immigrants was not simply because diners were more open in the first place. Rather, “tolerant attitudes” were “largely explained by increased positive contact with individuals from different cultures” and the positive associations created by the sensory experience of eating good food.

The country’s first Indian restaurant – the Hindoostane Coffee House – was opened in 1810 by Dean Mahomed, a British Indian writer, surgeon and entrepreneur. Meanwhile, Chinese cuisine was first sold in the UK in the Victorian backstreets of Liverpool and Limehouse, east London, by venues catering to Chinese sailors, before it went mainstream with the opening in 1907-08 of the Cathay restaurant in the West End.

The Windrush generation brought Caribbean bakeries specialising in hardo bread and patties (in turn influenced by Cornish pasties) to the UK, along with curry goat, rice and peas and jerk chicken. And from the kebab to Vietnamese pho, the diversity of Britain’s food scene has accelerated through the decades.

Dr Rodolfo Leyva, from the University of Birmingham and the lead author of the study, said: “Restaurants or food stalls tend to offer welcoming environments that facilitate natural, friendly interactions with people from immigrant communities.

“Unlike museums or concerts, which may require prior knowledge or interest in another culture, everyone eats, and food is one of the most accessible and enjoyable ways to experience cultural diversity.”

The research found the frequency of consuming international foods was the “second strongest predictor of pro-European and pro-Asian immigrant attitudes after education” and was “tied with education and the number of non-white friends [respondents had] in having the strongest negative effect in the likelihood of voting for anti-immigrant politicians”.

The report described how food vendors facilitated “boundary-crossing”, adding: “Arguably, these commercial settings also enable in-group members to directly observe and experience the friendliness and strong work ethic of out-groups, possibly making it easier to recognise and relate to their shared humanity.

“Food consumption is not only a sensory pleasure but also a symbolic entry point into a foreign culture. Such sensory experiences can evoke positive emotions, subtly shifting attitudes.”

The Labour government is working on a social cohesion strategy. The researchers suggested food could be used to create more “inclusive communities” through measures such as food tastings in schools, grants and tax incentives for food businesses, and tourism campaigns that highlighted “culinary diversity”.

The study, entitled Breaking Bread: Investigating the Role of Ethnic Food in Potentiating Outgroup Tolerance, drew on “intergroup contact theory”. This is a social psychology concept that posits that interactions between different social groups are likely to decrease prejudice if individuals in contact are of equal status, required to cooperate and share common goals, and the contact is supported by institutions.

The study added: “It is also possible that individuals predisposed to openness or cultural tolerance are more likely to engage with [international] cuisines. However, the associations remained robust after controlling for three distinct measures of rightwing political preferences, suggesting that food engagement exerts an effect even among individuals likely to be lower in openness.”