4 ms·

"harmless toxin" is an oxymoron...

• danielheath 6y ago
  "Toxin present at harmless concentrations" might be more to your tastes.
  • deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  • cratermoon 6y ago
    Arguably the concentration of alcohol in many cocktails and beverage exceeds "harmless" levels.
• nicklecompte 6y ago
  I was being a bit pithy - the bitter tastebuds are giving a “false positive” and identifying something as poisonous when it isn’t (not to humans anyway - linalool, the major flavor oil in cilantro, is an insecticide, and not very healthy for many other mammal species). Possibly there is a dangerous chemical out there found in berries/leaves/etc which is structurally similar to linalool, enough to fool certain types of bitter tastebuds.