From Frances Bell
Writers of detective fiction should update their poisoning scenarios following the introduction of “bitter blocker” powder (10 January, p 36). Instead of the murderer having to slip the poison into a strong cup of coffee and deflect comments about the strange taste, in new novels the murderer will be able to use any food or drink as long as a pinch of the AMP powder is mixed in with the poison.
Many harmful molecules – cyanide in apricot kernels, the sedative sesquiterpene lactone in wild lettuce and medicinal drugs – taste bitter not by chance but because evolution has developed this response to them. It prevents us from eating them and protects the plants.
I am horrified that our basic sense of taste is going to be interfered with in the name of greater profits for the food industry. We judge if food is fit to eat by several clues, but the final and vital one is: “does it taste OK?” Coffee tastes bitter so we don’t drink it by the gallon. Medicines don’t taste like food so we treat them warily. If the clues are no longer there, how can we avoid possibly fatal confusion?
Penrith, Cumbria, UK
