# Why Is Earwax So Bitter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 6, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557 "2004-04-06T15:11:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/1 "2004-04-06T15:11:13Z")
What causes the taste of earwax to be so bitter? Obviously there is some bitter-tasting compound present in the earwax that causes this, but is the bitterness just a coincidence, or did human evolution somehow preferentially select for bitter earwax?? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/2 "2004-04-06T15:37:49Z")
I don’t know about you, but I certainly have no idea how earwax tastes, nor have I any interest in finding out! ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/3 "2004-04-06T15:42:57Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I don’t know about you, but I certainly have no idea how earwax tastes, nor have I any interest in finding out! Don’t be a baby. Anyway I don’t think earwax taste is a thing that is likely to be selected for. I mean, why would it be? BTW cats seem to love it. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji_Kitakyusho)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/4 "2004-04-06T15:43:01Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > What causes the taste of earwax to be so bitter? Obviously there is some bitter-tasting compound present in the earwax that causes this, but is the bitterness just a coincidence, or did human evolution somehow preferentially select for bitter earwax?? > > Thanks. You’re not supposed to eat it. That said, whatever it’s made of, I highly doubt that its bitterness was a driving force in the evolution of the ear system. ---
**Author:** ![peasea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc79bd/32.png) [@peasea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peasea)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/5 "2004-04-06T16:06:42Z")
Perhaps most bugs dislike earwax because of its taste/smell/texture. At least, I hope so. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/6 "2004-04-06T16:15:29Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t know about you, but I certainly have no idea how earwax tastes, nor have I any interest in finding out! - - - Side story: the ex of a guy at work bought their 4-yr old son a box of jelly beans one day, and the kid kept spitting out just about every other one. When dad wondered why and looked at the box he found that it was the Harry Potter jellybeans, with a few regular flavors you’d expect as well as new yummy ones like **earwax** , vomit, boogers and dirt. -I didn’t get suckerred into eating any but apparently they do taste like what they’re named. ~ ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/7 "2004-04-06T16:52:32Z")
If you can taste earwax, you probably should move a little further away from the person you’re addressing. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/8 "2004-04-06T17:30:48Z")
> [@DougC](#): > > - > - > - Side story: the ex of a guy at work bought their 4-yr old son a box of jelly beans one day, and the kid kept spitting out just about every other one. When dad wondered why and looked at the box he found that it was the Harry Potter jellybeans, with a few regular flavors you’d expect as well as new yummy ones like **earwax** , vomit, boogers and dirt. -I didn’t get suckerred into eating any but apparently they do taste like what they’re named. > ~ Ahh yes, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. I, at the delighted insistence of my darling children, have tried them. All of them. They do indeed taste like the things they claim to be (well, I can’t vouch for the earwax, because that is something I’ve ever tasted). (Although, the pepper ones, I rather enjoyed). Little monsters squealed everytime I pulled a face. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Brother\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_brother_1/32/3513_2.png) [@Little\_Brother\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Brother_1)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/9 "2004-04-06T17:48:36Z")
> [@Eternal](#): > > Don’t be a baby. > > Anyway I don’t think earwax taste is a thing that is likely to be selected for. I mean, why would it be? BTW cats seem to love it. – I don’t know the answer, but I’ve wondered about this too. Perhaps a deeper question is what “earwax” is, exactly. It only remotely resembles actual wax, by which I suppose I mean beeswax. I suppose it’s some sort of glandular secretion that somehow protects the delicate ear canal. But why? Especially since it gets all crusty and cloggy, etc. ad nauseam. Does it provide some useful waterproofing capacity as well? – In any case, Brother Cadfael is taking his vow of chastity way too seriously. P.S.: _Your_ earwax, or the _cat’s_ own earwax? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/10 "2004-04-06T18:09:32Z")
Earwax is bitter so vegemite tastes good by comparison. IMO. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/11 "2004-04-06T18:23:05Z")
> [@peasea](#): > > Perhaps most bugs dislike earwax because of its taste/smell/texture. At least, I hope so. You nailed it, **peasea**. Otherwise, the ears would make lovely nesting places for vermin! ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/12 "2004-04-06T18:27:47Z")
Yes **Eternal** do your cats like your earwax or their own earwax? **Quadgop** do people suffer from vermin if the lack the ability to create ear wax? What sort of vermin, do you know a source of scary pictures of the sorts of creatures that would be living in our ears if it weren’t for the bitterness of our earwax? ---
**Author:** ![kinoons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a698b9/32.png) [@kinoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kinoons)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/13 "2004-04-06T18:44:45Z")
My cats seem to love eating my earwax. One morning I awoke to find a cat (one of mine, of course) sitting on the pillow next to me, licking inside my ear to get to the wax…silly cat… ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/14 "2004-04-06T18:51:21Z")
Your cat’s breath smells like earwax? Also, does earwax make for good candles? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/15 "2004-04-06T19:15:31Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > You nailed it, **peasea**. And here I thought that the sweet earwax gene was selected against in early man when people having the gene spent so much time poking sticks in their ears and licking off the sweet goo that they abraded their ear canals and died of horrible infections. ---
**Author:** ![fervour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@fervour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fervour)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/16 "2004-04-06T19:41:07Z")
I found my cats liked earwax too. I first discovered this years ago with a curious cat. She came over and gave me a what-are-you-doing look. So I showed her the wax from my ears, and to my surprise she gobbled it down then. Since then, it’s been like an experiment for me. I meet a new cat and offer it earwax. A few times, the cat’s have been like “eww that’s gross”, but I usually continue to offer ( sorta like “try it–go ahead just try it”). They usually do and give me “WOW! this stuff is great! Where’d you get it” sort of behaviour. The vast majority of cats need no prompting at all. (I have nothing to add about the OP. Sorry) ---
**Author:** ![ThatGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e5b9ba/32.png) [@ThatGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThatGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/17 "2004-04-06T19:46:33Z")
Those of you who claim to not know that earwax tastes like…be sure to try the bertie botts earwax flavor, it tastes exactly like that:) While most of those “bad” flavors are horrid, i actually LIKE the dirt flavor…probably to do with eating so much dirt as a kid…ok i’m hijacking, sorry. Back to the topic at hand. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/18 "2004-04-06T19:54:17Z")
An icky question-how much ear wax is too much? Because the insides of my ears get REALLY itchy, to the point I have to scratch-and then I get an entire q-tip coated with the stuff. I tried the Debrox or whatever once, but that just made it worse. Any advice other than having my ears flushed every so often? ---
**Author:** ![alaricthegoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alaricthegoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alaricthegoth)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/19 "2004-04-06T20:05:15Z")
I didn’t know it was bitter… ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/20 "2004-04-06T20:22:57Z")
Can’t vouch for the taste, BUT earwax is fun to play with. Next time you get a good sized bit of earwax, don’t throw it away! Put in on a flat surface and gently roll it with your fingers. Keep rolling. You’ll find that you can make an incredibly thin and long string of wax by rolling it. I’ve made earwax strings about 3 inches before they break up [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557.md?page=2)