Well, the human palate is a weird thing. Certainly what I cannot tolerate, others think is mild. One friend thought that they had put 1/10 amount of Coriander. Yet, the moment I walked into the kitchen - I could smell it and it was overpowering, it was 10/10. Yet, Coriander is a herb not a spice!
Without bothering you with too much further detail, the best example of the way that British foods have changed is the use of spices and pepper (+ others). They say it's to add zing and flavour and various other
PR rubbish, I think a lot of it is to perk up poor quality ingredients! And fashion is a big part of it. There is a well know manufacturer of Pasties and they changed the recipe by increasing the black pepper, so I no longer buy them. I even found a supplier of sandwiches to a well known petrol chain that adds black pepper to 'Egg & Cress' sandwiches. So even buying a sarnie in the departure lounge is a problem as I would have to open and sample it!
The core of the problem is the ingredients that they do NOT mention on the menu (like pepper) because it is considered 'normal' and not the kind of thing people will react badly to. I have often had to send restaurant meals back to the kitchen because the lavish description in the menu omitted the words 'features cracked black peper'. Yet, when the meal is served I can SEE the pepper in the food.
I have met many other people with a similar reaction to spice and I repeat, there are more things that I eat than I do not but even walking past an Indian restaurant in the street - with the smell coming from it - makes my stomach churn.