Why MycoTechnology's ClearTaste made from powdered mycelia to block bitterness will kill you

“Others say there’s not enough data to predict what would happen down there. It’s very complex and difficult to say what the effect of an antagonist will be. But we do know that blocking won’t have the same effect in different tissues. And if the efficacy of the blocker is high it will shut down multiple pathways.”

Director of the Manitoba Chemosensory Biology Research Group, Dr Prashen Chelikani, commenting on biotechnology startup MycoTechnology and their product ClearTaste

Most food processors focus on increasing the amount of sugar in foods to make them more palatable.

This is causing certain health concerns, such as the possible link to an increase in lifestyle diseases as well as condition in children such as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) as argue in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “Why French approach to ADHD points to Sugars and Food Additives”. 

However, what if the solution was not to make things sweeter, but to mask the bitterness?

This seems to be the aim of the biotechnology startup MycoTechnology and their product ClearTaste which block bitterness as reported in the article “Magical Mushroom Powder Blocks Bitterness in Food”, published 19 august 2016 by Megan Molteni, Wired.

The product is made from cultured mycelia, a fungus that grows underground, somewhat like truffles, but grows in threadlike strands. MycoTechnology cultures the mycelia fungus in Erlenmeyer flasks, dehydrates and blast freezes them and then processes the fungi into a powder.

A small dash of the mycelia fungus is enough to block the twenty five (25) T2Rs bitter receptors that are triggered by everything from Asparagus, coffee and yes certain types of bitter roots.  MycoTechnology claims that the mycelia fungus works universally for all twenty five (25) T2Rs bitter receptors for all molecules that cause the taste of bitterness, blocking these bitter receptors at a molecular level.

MycoTechnology has sold ClearTaste to alternative sweetener producer GLG Life Tech Corp who can potentially sell it to food processors such as Archers Daniel Midland. This use of their product via third-party sellers means that the powdered mycelia fungus may be an additive in your food already and you may not know it is there.

Alas, albeit this is a naturally sourced food additive, it’s STILL a food additive, like sugar as noted in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “How to Spot Hidden Sugar and How to Avoid Eating Too Much”.

So albeit it might be able to block bitterness in foods universally, is this safe for human consumption?

MycoTechnology and ClearTaste - Powdered mycelia fungus to block bitter receptors will get you killed

Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus. It grows in colonies looks a lot like a fibrous network of thread-like strands or hyphae.

Fungi usually grow mycelium in colonies and use this network of Mycelia to extract nutrients from the soil via diffusion and active transport. The mycelia secretes enzymes that break down food into monomer molecules, effectively making them dentritovores, as fungi mainly feed on dead organisms.

My main concerns is if this fungus can grow inside of you once consume it in food. After all its subterranean in origin; putting it into the body, which is moist, dark and airtight may be what it needs to grow rapidly and aggressively take over your body.

Then there is the whole matter of blocking bitterness.

Yes, it will make foods tastes less bitter but not necessarily sweeter by default, as humans are addicted to added sugars. Bitterness also serves a purpose; it was our body about food that may be poisonous, since most poisons do have a bitter taste.

In fact these T2Rs bitter receptors are located in other parts of the body aside from the tongue:

1.      Stomach

2.      Lungs

3.      Brain

Scientists are not sure why, but I'm willing to bet they act as poison or toxin detectors, being as our bodies have evolved over billions of years to be able to detect poisons based on their bitter reaction to these T2Rs bitter receptors. Mounting evidence is suggesting blocking bitterness may not be such a good idea.

In the lungs, relaxing and constricting of the airways, the possible means by which Garlic and Eucalyptus might work to relieve the symptoms of asthma as pointed out in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “How to use Alternative Treatments for Asthma and Bronchitis”. 

They are also responsible for digesting proteins, absorb nutrients and sense when we are full as Belgian Researcher discovered in 2015 while doing research on mice as published in the Journal PLOS in December 21^st 2015 under the heading The Gustatory Signaling Pathway and Bitter Taste Receptors Affect the Development of Obesity and Adipocyte Metabolism in Mice.

This suggests, quite simply, that powdered mycelia fungus can get you killed as it not only block bitter poisons, but it might possible make it difficult for the body to digest food properly, leading to malnutrition.