Try biting into a chili pepper and not tasting the hotness of it. Sounds impossible right? If you said yes, think again. According to the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) 25% of Americans are non-tasters. That means they can’t taste any food they eat.
“I wish I could have different flavors to taste so it is not so boring to eat. Although, it is fun to ‘taste’ certain foods,” Said Sophomore *Emily James.
Although James can’t actually ‘taste’ food she has other ways to see if she likes what she is eating.
“I have a texture taste system,” James said.
So instead of tasting food she focuses more on the texture. If she likes the texture of the food that would be something she like to eat.
Along with not being able to taste, James is also apart of a 2% statistic for Americans who can’t smell according to NIDCD. But not smelling isn’t a bad thing. In our world there is a lot that doesn’t smell good. The bad outweighs the good.
“Although I can taste a little bit, though it is mainly extremes like sour and/or spicy. I can handle a lot more intense flavor than other people.” James said.
*Names have been changed
