It's not as bad as all that, kinda. The soft-style breads you get in US supermarkets often have crusts that are very bitter to the highly sensitive bitter receptors children have, and which die off as you finish adolescence. It's the basis for the idea of foods being an "acquired taste" and why children are so often portrayed as hating vegetables, to the perplexity of adults. The adult palate shifts sensitivity away from sweet and bitter flavours to umami and saltiness, and no longer finds things like kale or coffee or beer or brussel sprouts (yes I know about the new species no they aren't less bitter) to be offensively flavoured. These things exist (intentionally or not) as a result of that largely culturally unknown shift and are an alright compromise for children particularly sensitive to their regional breads to have at least some portable calories in a sandwich format.

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 26 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Looks like the studies back you up. Also explains why there is so much sugar in children's foods. It says in the article that it's because it helps you avoid poison, but aren't some poisons sweet?

In spite of these reductions, however, children’s intake of sugar remains higher than that recommended by health organizations worldwide. In contrast to sweet taste, children dislike and reject bitter taste, which protects them from ingesting poisons. Although variation in bitter taste receptor genes such as TAS2R38 accounts for people’s marked differences in perceptions of the same bitter-tasting compounds, basic research revealed that these genotype-phenotype relationships are modified with age, with children of the same genotype being more bitter sensitive than adults and the changeover occurring during mid adolescence.

In this article, we review findings from basic, experimental research in children that suggest the liking of sweet taste and the dislike of bitter taste are not solely a product of modern-day technology and advertising, but are reflective of children’s basic biology.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4654709/

[–] Revan343@lemmy.ca 9 points 19 hours ago

Some poisonous things are sweet, but a lot of natural poisons (and drugs) are bitter; alkaloids in general are bitter.

[–] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 17 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (2 children)

Glad I'm not forgetting things in my dotteringly old age!

The reasoning for why this is, as I remember it, is that most poisons found in flora are deterrents "designed" to dissuade mammals from consuming whichever part is poisonous, and are not outright deadly. That's why many fruits are perfectly edible even when the rest of the plant is toxic (yew berries, for example); it's beneficial for the plant to have it's seeds spread, but eating the stems / leaves / roots are all extremely harmful to the plant. Children, with their much lower body mass and tendency to stick everything into their mouths as a first reaction, are much more likely to be killed by a small amount of a poisonous plant and as a result need to be far more sensitive to trace amounts of a toxic substance in order to survive. Since sweet poisons tend to be manufactured rather than naturally occurring, they wouldn't have had an impact on the evolution of this trait.

(edit: Don't eat yew berries. While the seeds will usually pass through your digestion without releasing toxins, if you chew a seed accidentally you're gonna have a really unpleasant experience. They are, however, extremely delecious. Don't eat them though. Even though they're amazing. Don't do it. God, I can almost taste them right now. But you can't, because you've never tried them. Which is good. Eating yew berries is something you should not do.)

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

do they taste like anything so i can imagine it?

[–] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

They taste quite sweet and oaky, without being overpowering. I've heard them compared to sweet fir tips too, which is not a bad comparison. Joking aside they're pretty damn tasty but they aren't really worth the risk of eating a seed. While just one won't kill an adult they will make you super sick, and can really mess up a kid.

[–] MonkeyTown@midwest.social 7 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Instructions extremely unclear..

Died.

Shit this one doesn’t even work for that does it?

[–] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 7 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

No but really don't do it, you'll shit and vomit yourself into a coma (literally) and that is just no fun for anyone. Almost worth it, god they're tasty. But not quite worth it. It's close, though.

[–] Ganbat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago

Hm... Interesting. I'm in my thirties and those things haven't really changed for me. I still can't stand the taste of beer or coffee without a lot of additives, and the crust on breads is still very bitter to me. I actually brought up bread crust being bitter to some friends a while back because I was musing about why adults are just meant to suck it up and eat this despite the taste, and they had no idea what I was talking about.