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(KSL News) -- If members of your family don't like broccoli or other bitter foods, blame their genes.
We first reported on this University of Utah research last November. In fact, our own Ed Yeates joined those who actually participated in the study. He and one other volunteer, named Whitney, bit into an apple treated with a bitter compound called PTC.
Their reactions suggested that it was a very bitter taste. But when a third volunteer, Elaine, bit into the same apple.
Elaine: "It's a nice, delicious apple."
Based on some 30-plus genes we inherit, about 75 percent of the population tastes foods like Whitney, 25 percent like Elaine.
Dr. Stephen Wooding and his colleagues found our sensitivity to bitterness - or not - may have something to do with our preference for fatty foods, saltiness, sweets, and whether we become smokers.
Animals, like chimpanzees, probably developed a sensitivity to bitterness to keep them away from toxic plants.
