Aversive agents are unpleasantly flavored substances added to poisonous
household goods
Household goods are goods and products used within households. They are the tangible and movable personal property placed in the rooms of a house, such as a bed or refrigerator.
Economic role
Businesses that produce household goods are categ ...
to discourage children and animals from consuming them. Aversive agents are not intended to be harmful, only unpleasant. For example, to prevent children from consuming poisonous
anti-freeze, which has a sweet flavor due to the
ethylene glycol
Ethylene glycol ( IUPAC name: ethane-1,2-diol) is an organic compound (a vicinal diol) with the formula . It is mainly used for two purposes, as a raw material in the manufacture of polyester fibers and for antifreeze formulations. It is an o ...
, an aversive agent is added, which gives the anti-freeze an unpleasant taste. There are two primary classes of aversive agents:
bitterant
A bitterant (or bittering agent) is a chemical that is added to a product to make it smell or taste bitter. Bitterants are commonly used as aversive agents to discourage the inhalation or ingestion of toxic substances.
Examples of use
*The add ...
s, chemicals producing a bitter flavor, and pungent agents, chemicals producing an unpleasantly pungent flavor.
See also
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Denaturation (food)
The word denature means to render food unpleasant or dangerous to consume, it is denatured by adding a substance known as a denaturant. Aversive agents—primarily bitterants and pungent agents—are used to produce an unpleasant flavor. For ex ...
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Adulterant
An adulterant is caused by the act of adulteration, a practice of secretly mixing a substance with another. Typical substances that are adulterated include but are not limited to food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, fuel, or other chemicals, that ...
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Denatonium
Denatonium, usually available as denatonium benzoate (under trade names such as Denatrol, BITTERANT-b, BITTER+PLUS, ''Bitrex'', and ''Aversion'') and as denatonium saccharide (BITTERANT-s), is the most bitter chemical compound known, with bitterne ...
References
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Food additives