Foods contribute to the emotional status of the consumers, which may have broader significance in consumer behavior as they play an important role on product choice. This study aimed at identifying foods associated with positive and negative emotions by Brazilian consumers from different socio-economical classes, in order to provide insights for the development of a tool to assess the emotions associated with foods. Three hundred consumers of different economic status participated in the study. In an online questionnaire, consumers were asked to list four foods associated with positive emotions and four foods associated with negative emotions. Data were analyzed using content analysis by triangulation. The categories mentioned by more than 5% of participants were considered. Twelve categories of food associated exclusively with positive emotions were identified (chocolate, pasta, ice cream, coffee, bean, salad, finger food and sandwich, rice, cake and sweet pie, pizza, bread, and sweets), and six categories were associated exclusively with negative emotions (innards and giblets, sausages and smoked, spice, fat, exotic meat and frying). Seven food categories were associated with both positive and negative emotions, such as vegetables, culinary dishes, fruits, fish and seafood, dairy products, nonalcoholic beverage, and meat. However, the specific products differed within the mentioned categories. For example, in the category named vegetables, carrots, potatoes and beets were associated with positive emotions, while scarlet eggplant, cucumber and chayote were associated with negative emotions.The categories identified in this study will help us to understand the influences of emotions on selection of food and it will contribute with the development of a new questionnaire.