The study is based on the behavior of 14,000 adult men and women surveyed from May 2006 to April 2007 for the Foodborne Disease Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet). The aim of the study was to determine their eating habits, including high risk foods such as undercooked meat and eggs.
"There was such a variety of data, we thought it would be interesting to see whether there were any gender differences," said Beletshachew Shiferaw, a lead researcher on the study.
"To our knowledge, there have been studies in the literature on gender differences in eating habits, but nothing this extensive, " the lead researcher added.
Researchers found that men go after meat and poultry especially duck, veal and ham and some shellfish such as shrimp and oysters.
Women, on the other hand, prefer vegetables such as carrots and tomatoes and fruits especially strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and apples.
When compared to the men, the women in the study opted for dry foods, such as almonds and walnuts, and were more likely to consume eggs and yogurt.
Some exceptions to the eating habits were: the male participants' preference of asparagus and Brussels sprouts more than their female counterparts enjoyed the vegetables.
Researchers also found out that regarding high risk foods, men consumed more undercooked meat and eggs than women, while more women prefered to eat alfalfa sprouts.
The research was presented at the 2008 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, Georgia, in America.
