Accounting for tastes: do low-income populations have a higher preference for spicy foods?

The Journal of Chinese Sociology

Table 1 Economic conditions and indexes of the preference for spicy foods

	Sichuan	Hunan	Hubei	Beijing	Shanxi	Anhui	Jiangsu	Shandong	Zhejiang	Shanghai	Fujian	Guangdong
Per capita GDP/10,000 yuan	3.25	3.68	4.26	9.32	4.27	3.17	7.46	5.63	6.85	9.01	5.79	5.85
Per capita disposable income/10,000 yuan	2.24	2.34	2.29	4.03	2.29	2.31	3.25	2.83	3.79	4.39	3.08	3.31
Indexes of the preference for spicy foods	151.0	59.0	29.2	26.1	24.7	19.9	17.4	15.9	13.5	11.5	11.2	8.8

It should be noted that the index data and the economic data were collected in the 1970s and 2013 respectively. Since preferences of tastes did not significantly change over the past 30 years, the negative correlation between economic conditions and the preference for spicy foods should still exist. The data of indexes of the preference for spicy foods is quoted from Lan (2001). The data of per capita GDP and per capita disposable income is quoted from China Statistical Yearbook 2013