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 - linalo

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.