A team from Kings College London reached this conclusion after comparing the eating habits of thousands of pairs of twins.
The researchers suggest that it is our genes rather than just our upbringing which possibly influences our food likes and dislikes.
Lead researcher Professor Tim Spector says identical twins have exactly the same genetic make-up as each other, so by comparing them to non-identical twins, it was possible to work out the likelihood that their characteristics are due to "nature" or "nurture".
It seems identical twins are far more likely to share the same dietary patterns such as a love of a particular food which suggests tastes may be inherited.
The researchers looked at a total of 3,262 identical female twins aged between 18 and 79, and worked out their broad preferences using five different dietary "groups"; these included diets heavy in fruit and vegetables, alcohol, fried meat and potatoes, and low-fat products or diets low in meat, fish and poultry.
Their results suggest that between 41% and 48% of a person love of one of the food groups was influenced by genetics.
Researchers at King's College London found that garlic lovers, coffee drinkers and fruit fanciers are likely to have inherited their tastes from their parents.
Professor Spector says it has always been assumed that our upbringing and social environment determine what we like to eat and the study has shown that in fact it is genetic make-up which influences dietary patterns.
The researchers say healthy eating campaigns, such as the British government's "five-a-day" fruit and vegetable initiative, might need a re-think in light of the findings, as people genetically "programmed" to eat less fruit and vegetables would be more resistant to health messages.
Experts say this in fact means that childhood food foibles might be harder to straighten out than previously thought.
Professor Spector says the findings could prove useful in the prevention of illness and disease because of the links between good health and diet.
The study is published in the journal Twin Research and Human Genetics.
Cigarette smoking and having a family history of alcoholism had different effects on sweet-taste perception and food cravings, said Julie A. Mennella, a senior researcher at Monell and coauthor of the study. Women who smoked cigarettes were less sensitive to sweet taste than women who never smoked. This means that women who smoke required higher concentrations of a sweet solution in order to detect sweet taste; we also found that the more years a woman has smoked cigarettes, the less sensitive she will be to sweet taste. Whether the reduced sensitivity for sweet tastes helps smokers control their weight is an important question that needs further study, she added.
According to Kampov, the second finding “ that women with a family history of alcoholism preferred higher levels of sweetness and craved sweet-tasting foods more often “ is also noteworthy He said it confirms earlier reports that hedonic “ or pleasurable “ response to sweet taste is associated with a genetic risk for alcoholism.
We may now use this knowledge to, one, identify individuals at high risk for alcoholism and two, study biological mechanisms involved in the development of alcohol-use disorders, said Kampov.
Mennella and Pepino recommended that future research on the effects of smoking on food habits and cravings should take into account family history of alcoholism, given its association with sweet liking and the increased likelihood of developing a tobacco-related disorder.
On a more practical level, Pepino warns that the negative effects of smoking are far-ranging. The study suggests that cigarette smoking dulls sweet-taste detection and is associated with increased food cravings, especially for starchy carbohydrates and foods high in fat, she said. We found that food cravings were associated with nicotine dependence the more intense the cravings for cigarettes, the more frequent the cravings for foods high in fat and carbohydrates.
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