Why does milk taste like benzene sometimes?
July 1, 2022 9:51 AM Subscribe
For as long as I can remember, milk sometimes leaves me with a chemical aftertaste that I can only compare to the smell of a now-banned spot remover that probably contained benzene or toluene or some other nasty solvent.
Some extra data: It is not present 100% of the time, but frequently enough that I have basically given up recreational milk consumption. It has happened with fancy organic milk, cheap crappy milk, all percentages, milk at various levels of processing/homogenization, and today with fancy-pants plain yogurt that I frequently find delicious. I've never noticed it in heavy cream or generally in cheeses/sour cream/cream cheese. To my knowledge I'm not lactose intolerant (though thinking this might be a sign, I discovered instead that I'm one of the small fraction of people who can't tolerate... Lactaid).
I am definitely a bit of a weird taster in that I am bothered by things that I've learned many other people are unaware of (eg the taste of aluminum scraped up by a metal fork in a metal takeout container).
Is this a known thing? Because there are whole classes of processing errors that can make milk taste bad to everybody, and an industry dedicated to minimizing that, searching has been extremely challenging.
Some extra data: It is not present 100% of the time, but frequently enough that I have basically given up recreational milk consumption. It has happened with fancy organic milk, cheap crappy milk, all percentages, milk at various levels of processing/homogenization, and today with fancy-pants plain yogurt that I frequently find delicious. I've never noticed it in heavy cream or generally in cheeses/sour cream/cream cheese. To my knowledge I'm not lactose intolerant (though thinking this might be a sign, I discovered instead that I'm one of the small fraction of people who can't tolerate... Lactaid).
I am definitely a bit of a weird taster in that I am bothered by things that I've learned many other people are unaware of (eg the taste of aluminum scraped up by a metal fork in a metal takeout container).
Is this a known thing? Because there are whole classes of processing errors that can make milk taste bad to everybody, and an industry dedicated to minimizing that, searching has been extremely challenging.
Is this milk that you're drinking from a single-serve container? Or have you transferred it to a glass/mug, from a larger container? If the latter, does the benzene taste affect all of the milk in the larger container?
posted by unknowncommand at 10:02 AM on July 1, 2022
posted by unknowncommand at 10:02 AM on July 1, 2022
I, too, am wondering if it's any of these things: silverware/flatware that have reacted to dishwasher water/detergents; serving bowls with a finish that accumulates such things, mugs or enamel or ceramic cups, something wonky in the refrigerator at times (a reaction between serving container and food that spreads odors?; tin foil/acids) a change in dishwasher detergents or dish soap; if you hand wash what type of scrubby thing do you use, and how often do you clean it or get rid of it?
I can taste stuff like this, it's usually, for me, something from the above-- something metal that is reacting to something else, and that metal comes in contact with my food.
Dairy products are particularly susceptible to picking up off-odors in a fridge, which is why it's good to keep the milk eggs butter away from garlic onions etc. Could be.
Very interested to hear other opinions.
posted by winesong at 10:56 AM on July 1, 2022
I can taste stuff like this, it's usually, for me, something from the above-- something metal that is reacting to something else, and that metal comes in contact with my food.
Dairy products are particularly susceptible to picking up off-odors in a fridge, which is why it's good to keep the milk eggs butter away from garlic onions etc. Could be.
Very interested to hear other opinions.
posted by winesong at 10:56 AM on July 1, 2022
I'm not sure what benzene tastes like (luckily), but I have noticed that I can taste the difference between organic milk and milk from cows treated with (I think) antibiotics.
posted by amtho at 11:04 AM on July 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by amtho at 11:04 AM on July 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
It is possibly cleaner that is left in the tanks/pipes of the milk equipment. We had a case of water once with a heavy chemical taste and smell and they attributed it to periodic cleaning of there equipment. With milk it is probably more frequent as the equipment is probably cleaned more often and comes from hundreds or thousands of sources for a particular brand. Equipment with elaborate piping systems might not purge all the cleaner, but any residual will get diluted down to where you may still be able to taste it a bit.
posted by Short End Of A Wishbone at 11:18 AM on July 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Short End Of A Wishbone at 11:18 AM on July 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: In the most recent case that prompted this AskMe it was plain whole-milk yogurt eaten with a metal spoon direct from the plastic carton, but has also manifested in milk poured over cereal (ceramic bowl, metal spoon) or poured into a glass or drunk directly from a single-serve carton. The phenomenon has persisted across many variations in washing chemistry and technologies so I would be surprised if it was an interaction there.
posted by range at 12:02 PM on July 1, 2022
posted by range at 12:02 PM on July 1, 2022
I should have been more specific: some non-organic milk tastes bitter.
posted by amtho at 12:31 PM on July 1, 2022
posted by amtho at 12:31 PM on July 1, 2022
I once accidentally took a sip of some milk which had started going bad; I would definitely describe that flavor as "chemical-y".
You say that you've got an unusually sensitive sense of taste; maybe you're detecting milk that's starting to turn at an earlier point than other people would be noticing it?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:49 PM on July 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
You say that you've got an unusually sensitive sense of taste; maybe you're detecting milk that's starting to turn at an earlier point than other people would be noticing it?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:49 PM on July 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
The two dairy products you mention having this effect (milk and yogurt) contain much higher levels of lactose compared to the dairy products you say don’t have this effect (cheese, cream, sour cream, cream cheese). And in yogurt lactose starts diminishing from the day it’s made as the live culture consumes it for energy — so relatively fresh yogurt might contain much more lactose than older stuff that’s been sitting in the fridge for a while.
A possibility is that the unique microbiome in your mouth is producing this aftertaste as the bacteria consume lactose that’s left behind after you drink or eat something. This is one reason some people get sour breath after having dairy (gut bacteria in lactose-intolerant people can also cause this).
posted by theory at 3:31 PM on July 1, 2022 [5 favorites]
A possibility is that the unique microbiome in your mouth is producing this aftertaste as the bacteria consume lactose that’s left behind after you drink or eat something. This is one reason some people get sour breath after having dairy (gut bacteria in lactose-intolerant people can also cause this).
posted by theory at 3:31 PM on July 1, 2022 [5 favorites]
My eyes have been opened to the variation and plasticity of taste post-Covid. I am now hypersensitive to as-yet-unidentified things, and there’s no reason not to believe that many of us are born that way! Trace amounts of chemical cleaners, or even differences in the pipe / storage vessel materials, could be enough. Have you ever had something one day and found it ok, only to be repulsed by it on another occasion? Or is a bad product consistently and irredeemably bad?
posted by breakfast burrito at 4:57 PM on July 1, 2022
posted by breakfast burrito at 4:57 PM on July 1, 2022
You say aftertaste. From that I gather that it's not an odor that you can detect before tasting. And you don't find it it high fat products, which suggests that it's not fat soluble (which I think the organic compounds you mention would be). And it's a problem with milk which I assume you consume without any implements.
What does that leave? 1. Something unique to you, as described by breakfast burrito. 2. Something water soluble in the milk.
Anecdote: At a family gathering, a boy complained about the taste of his milk. It was passed to an uncle who was in the food business and who had worked in a dairy. The uncle said it could be a "feed taste" due to cows grazing on a patch of wild onions. So, that sort of thing is definitely possible.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:20 AM on July 2, 2022
What does that leave? 1. Something unique to you, as described by breakfast burrito. 2. Something water soluble in the milk.
Anecdote: At a family gathering, a boy complained about the taste of his milk. It was passed to an uncle who was in the food business and who had worked in a dairy. The uncle said it could be a "feed taste" due to cows grazing on a patch of wild onions. So, that sort of thing is definitely possible.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:20 AM on July 2, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by range at 9:52 AM on July 1, 2022