# I just ate something. Should I worry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 10, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967 "2007-11-10T23:17:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/1 "2007-11-10T23:17:01Z")
I found some chicken livers in the freezer. Why not? I put som Cajun-style fish fry on them and popped them into hot oil. As I was munching away I bit into something unexpected. It burst like a juicy grape and there was an awful taste in my mouth. A sharp taste that hit the back of my tongue. Not acidic, but… have you ever accidentally got a taste of rubbing alcohol? Really bitter. First: What could possibly be in a chicken liver that would taste like that? Second: should I worry? Some of it did go down the back of my throat, though I did manage to regurgitate the top layer, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/2 "2007-11-10T23:22:51Z")
Wonder if it was a gall bladder or something? ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/3 "2007-11-10T23:22:52Z")
It’s possible that you only bit into a gall bladder that someone left on by mistake. But, there’s always the chance that something grew in the livers before you cooked them. Do you know how long they were in the freezer? Or where they were before they got frozen? On the plus side, if you fried them, odds are you killed whatever it might have been, if it was anything other than a gall bladder. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/4 "2007-11-10T23:26:25Z")
Not being an anatomist, is the gall bladder attached to the liver? Former roomie put them in the freezer with the intention of making paté at some point. They’d been there a while, but fully frozen. Other than that nasty burst-o-nastiness, they tasted fine. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2007, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/5 "2007-11-10T23:31:25Z")
Okay, I found a page that indicates the gall bladder and liver are together. > [@](#): > > 1. Bitter taste in the mouth. The liver produces bile, which is stored in the gall bladder prior to release into the small intestines via a duct. Excess heat in the liver can cause bile to overflow into the small intestines, where it back-flows into the stomach, mouth, burping bitter taste. Bile is bitter. This pathology is called liver heat (bile) attacking the stomach. And that explains the incredibly bitter taste. So it sounds as if I didn’t poison myself. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2007, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/6 "2007-11-10T23:34:21Z")
And I also found this on a recipe page: > [@](#): > > The liver on the right is pale in color (our favorite), and the one on the left is darker and still has the little green bag, the gall bladder, attached to it. This bag (next to the point of the knife) should be removed, because the liquid inside (the bile) is extremely bitter. Sometimes it breaks when it is removed, and some of the liquid runs on the liver and makes it green. Any greenish part of the liver should be removed, because it will be very bitter. Green, eh? I think I did see a flash of dark green when I put the livers in the oil, but I didn’t think anything of it. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2007, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/7 "2007-11-10T23:45:22Z")
Yeah, the gall bladder is right next to the liver. Bile allows you to digest fats. Bile is produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder (in species that have gall bladders) until it is released into the small intestine after a meal. That icky taste you get when you have the dry heaves is you tasting your own bile, brought up from your small intestine. The gall bladder doesn’t look anything like the liver, which is why it usually doesn’t get missed by the butcher. Usually. ETA: Yup, sounds like that’s what we’ve got. Good thing. There are some nasty parasites that I wouldn’t want to eat, even if they were dead and not infectious to humans anyhow. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2007, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/8 "2007-11-10T23:55:07Z")
I think the problem here is that you ate something called “chicken livers”…::hurk:: ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/9 "2007-11-11T00:19:01Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] And I also found this on a recipe page: Green, eh? I think I did see a flash of dark green when I put the livers in the oil, but I didn’t think anything of it. [/QUOTE] Still got that link? I’d be interested in seeing the pics. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/10 "2007-11-11T00:42:16Z")
I love that **Pullet** answered this. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/11 "2007-11-11T00:43:36Z")
[QUOTE=Oslo Ostragoth] Still got that link? I’d be interested in seeing the pics. [/QUOTE] Actually there weren’t any pics. But [Here’s](http://www.jacquespepin.net/members/recipes/chickenliversvinegar.html) the link. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/12 "2007-11-11T00:44:51Z")
[QUOTE=GingerOfTheNorth] I love that **Pullet** answered this. [/QUOTE] I did notice that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/13 "2007-11-11T01:17:50Z")
My chicken sense started tingling as soon as **Jonny L.A.** posted the thread. You should do that more often 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/14 "2007-11-11T01:18:39Z")
I thought it might have been your Super Vision. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/15 "2007-11-11T01:28:05Z")
I can think of nothing quite so disgusting as a chicken liver. Don’t eat chicken. Don’t eat liver. Where’s the puke smiley when you really need one? ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/16 "2007-11-11T01:33:37Z")
[QUOTE=Barbarian] I can think of nothing quite so disgusting as a chicken liver. [/QUOTE] Whereas you find chicken gall bladders a tasty treat? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/17 "2007-11-11T02:07:00Z")
I love chicken liver. I love beef liver. I love liver with or without onions, because I love the taste of liver. Mmmm… liver. Bile, on the other hand, is nasty. ---
**Author:** ![Spacegirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Spacegirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spacegirl)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/18 "2007-11-11T02:17:41Z")
I am officially grossed out… I can handle the zit threads…the big spider threads…the tmi threads. This, I cannot handle. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/19 "2007-11-11T02:20:01Z")
Well, the way the gall bladder burst it was kind of _like_ a giant pus-filled zit, only on a filtration unit. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2007, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967/20 "2007-11-11T02:24:40Z")
[QUOTE=Barbarian] I can think of nothing quite so disgusting as a chicken liver. [/QUOTE] You know how sometimes something will taste like how something else smells? For reasons I can’t explain, fried chicken livers taste like the way formaldehyde preserved dogs smell. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-ate-something-should-i-worry/425967.md?page=2)