The Sandwich Condiment Preferred By Over 50% Of People Might Surprise You

As a general rule, we think everyone will have a favorite food — whether it's ice cream or cake, salad or steak — and you're not likely to feel too strongly about what is being served one way or the other (unless you have dietary restrictions, that is). But there are also ingredients and condiments that can trigger a strong reaction, and to that list we would include licorice, pickles, olives, the pungent cilantro, the Australian spread Vegemite, pineapple (if they appear on a pizza), and the love-it-or-hate-it condiment, mayonnaise (via Spoon University). 

As in the case of cilantro, food science says there is a reason why mayo might trigger such a strong reaction in some folks. In the Journal of Folklore Research, author Michael Owen Jones suggests that things which are considered "slimy, oily, gooey, squishy, and which smell disagreeable" usually triggers disgust — and we have to agree that mayo ticks most, if not all, of those boxes for folks that belong in the I-hate-mayo club (via BuzzFeed).

So it may come as some surprise to those of you that think mayonnaise ruins everything, that there are plenty of folks out there who feel otherwise. In a global Mashed survey, 55 percent of you said you prefer having mayonnaise in your sandwich more than any other condiment available, including ketchup or mustard (32 percent), ranch dressing (5 percent), or any other add-on. 

To be fair, mayonnaise in a sandwich just doesn't come neat these days, and its fresh and funky iterations could very nearly change the minds of the most vocal mayo critics, including chipotle mayo, horseradish mayo, roasted jalapeno mayo, and wasabi mayo (via Food Gypsy) — which might explain its popularity with sandwich eaters around the world.

Unfortunately, flavored mayo isn't going to change the one strike against mayonnaise that University of Michigan law professor William Ian Miller, who wrote The Anatomy of Disgust, cites about the divisive condiment. He tells HuffPost that its texture is actually what makes mayonnaise such a deal-breaker: "It has the ability to wobble and does not sit inert, even though it is not animate. The inert taking on qualities of an animate object can create feelings of disgust."

We imagine 45 percent of our respondents would probably agree.