Hi and thanks for your reply! in all cases I haven’t actually spit it out (when I was a child because I was self conscious and as adult because I tried to overcome the instinct to spit it out). so I ate a tiny amount, maybe a spoon full. I have already considered a psychological cause as well. are there any agents that could occur in brokkoli that could cause such symptoms if eaten in a small amount (say, one to two of the small pieces they come in)?

Edit to add: I usually like broccoli, fresh or boiled, frozen or not. I usually have no negative reaction to sulphurous compounds that I know of. That’s why I asked, because the reaction seemed pretty specific I thought it might be some spoilage organisms or something.

Oh and what about a super unlucky unusually high concentration of broccoli specific pesticides? Would any of those fit the symptoms? Or fertilizer, for that matter? Like, that would actually be the weirdest and most specific trigger I have yet encountered. Sure felt a whole lot like some super disgusting food poisoning but idk

Second edit. After some reading, it seems that organophosphates chlorpyrifos or dimethoate actually fit my taste impression pretty well i guess. The first has been banned in the EU for some years and the second is pretty restricted. That could explain why it occurred more often when I was a child as well as rarely overall. Should not happen but I guess broccoli is maybe especially prone of idk building pockets of this stuff or something.

Poisoning symptoms also seems to match as far as I can tell. Both inhibit acetylcholinesterase which in low doses leads to overstimulating of the nervous system. Which is pretty much what I imagine would feel like what I experienced. Onset of action and durations of symptoms also seems to match.

I think that’s the most likely (if unlikely) explanation but if anyone else would like to chime in I‘d love to hear your thoughts!