Chemical taste in canned/bottled foods

mushuy

mushuy

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I didn't know where to ask this, so I thought this might be a good place :)

Over the years I've come across canned and bottled food that has a chemical taste to it. It happens about once a year. I just opened a can of bamboo shoots that had it. It happens mostly with metal cans, which is why for awhile I thought it might be the metal, but then occasionally I come across the same taste with juice bottles. There were a couple times I bought multiple bottles of juice, the same juice/brand, and they all tasted like it.

I do notice some people can taste it and some cannot. It's particularly overpowering to me. No matter what type of food it's the same chemical taste and tastes almost like some oil that tuns the wheels at the factory got in the food lol. Not long ago I saw a food safe cleaning fluid for factory equipment and it said on the bottle, safe and no need to rinse. This was pretty shocking to read and I'm wondering if that's the taste I'm tasting?

Any info is greatly appreciated!
 
Welcome to CookingBites @mushuy. I can't say I've noticed a chemical taste but sometimes there is what I'd describe as a 'tinned' taste. I've found that particularly noticeable with tinned artichokes and tinned potatoes. Its a slightly metallic taste. Come to think of it I've also noticed that taste in artichokes preserved in a glass jar. We may not be talking about the same thing though.
 
Check the expiration dates, and make sure there are no dents. I store canned goods in the pantry (cool dark place) and not close to the stove or sunlight. Sometimes tomato sauce has a bit if an acidic taste.

Years ago, there used to be recipes for baking tomato soup cake in soup cans. Don't see those recipes around any more. Guess the metals or chemicals used in cans are different now than they were.
 
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Yep I always check the expiration date :) most of the stuff is newly bought at the store. What throws me is it is also in juice bottles and non canned items. It also tastes more like a chemical than metal.

In biology class we had a taste test where we put Phenylthiocarbamide on our tongues. It's supposed to test whether you can taste bitter or not. There are two forms of the gene, some people have one form to taste and some another to not taste it. Then there are a few who have a homozygous gene and can taste it very strongly. I was one of those who tasted it very strongly. It was almost like putting a battery on my tongue it was so strong.

I'm wondering if this chemical taste in food is bitter and why some cannot taste it. Maybe people who can taste it mildly don't really notice it and a select few can taste it strongly. I've only come across a few people that can taste it when I tasted it in food.
 
I know I'm resurrecting my old post, but I finally figured out what the taste was! All because I decided to make Turkish delights :)

All the ingredients I used tasted fine individually, but while heating for a long time I left the silicone coated whisk in the pot because I was routinely stirring it. The final product had the EXACT chemical taste I sometimes find in cans/jars/bottles.

I think it was the silicone coating on the whisk. Most food grade silicone is not 100% silicone, it has plastic mixed in and I'm guessing that is what I'm tasting. While I'm shocked it's not a cleaning agent, I'm also not surprised it was plastic. I'm also noticing the taste more and more these days in cans, jars and bottles bought from the store.
 
I don't like tinned foods for that same reason. There's a taste there that I dislike intensely, and I think it might be sodium benzoate, but I'm not sure.
I make artichokes from fresh and use only fresh mushrooms.
 
It is entirely possible you're sensitive to the taste of plastic.
Almost all cans are plastic coated to stop corrosion, the contents are after all wet and often acidic.
Glass jars also have their lids plastic coasted in case the food comes into contact with the lid.
Even a can of coke is sprayed with plastic.
This plastic is an incredibly thin layer but it still leaches plastic into the food.
 
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