When I began to prepare the meal I tasted the fresh peppers and I thought there was an odd flavor to them, definitely not pepper, although they were highly sweet as the label said they would be. I kept coming up with manure, but the wrong kind of manure. Yet that never satisfied me, what was that flavor?
Two weeks later I decided to use the rest of these peppers. Boy, they sure held up well in the fridge. I chopped one and tasted the bottom tip. Bang! Mothballs! That is the flavor, however much milder than the mothball-flavored candy my grandmother used to have around the house. But truly, mothball-flavored peppers. OK, not going to use those, but I did google just that. I came up with very little, except a vegan blog post from 2007 where the author mentions the very same phenomenon. A modest number of commenters who googled the same found that site and posted their experience.
There appears to be a Canada connection. Ok, out-of-season red peppers, mothballs, Canada. It's funny enough to mention that I took the above photo to post about what a great deal I got on these peppers in Brooklyn and what it ends up doing is illustrating how these incredibly cheap peppers from Nicaragua via Canada taste a hell of a lot like mothballs - naphthalene or 1,4-dichlorobenzene (guys, you know this one -urinal biscuits).
I contacted Sunset and I will let you know what, if anything, they have to say about it.
Ewww mothballs? Sounds gross!
ReplyDeleteLove this post.
ReplyDeleteI miss New York.
Thanks! Contact made, new peppers being sent.
ReplyDeleteI also live in Canada and I bought red peppers from Loblaws, the taste of mothballs is so strong I can't even eat them :( Boo
ReplyDeleteI'm in America..same experience I noticed it after I had covid I use to LOVE them all colors...I thought that was the reason since I loss my smell and taste for months...but know after seeing all these post I'm not so sure if covid is to blame..with that being said I now hate bell peppers
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I live in California and am sitting in front of two big beautiful Organic red peppers that reek of mothballs!! I really wanted to eat them with some homemade hummus but can't get over the smell! I just want to know if this is natural occurrence or have my peppers been sabotaged? The PLU# is 94688
ReplyDeleteI've been cutting and preparing bell peppers for several decades and tonight was a mothball first for me. Probably not a natural occurrence or I've been a lucky boy for all these years. After cutting the pepper my kitchen now reeks of mothballs. And maybe I am a lucky boy because there is a backup big juicy green pepper.
DeleteI can't really say. If they're grown in factory conditions, maybe that is the source?
DeleteI know the original post is a bit dated, but have you found out what makes the peppers smell like mothballs? I have been trying to figure this out for quite a while without success.
ReplyDeleteNever found out, never figured it out. The mothball chemical, which I cannot recall now, is either from the application of a chemical or because something in the process synthesizes a chemical that mimics it. If you ever find out, let me know.
DeleteWow, I just phoned Sunset as I have moth ball tasting peppers that I purchased. The person on the phone told me that it is when the peppers are older and they are in the plastic wrap and it is the odour that the produce. She assured me that they are not using mothballs on them. I asked about fungicides and she said they use them only as a last resort if a plant is dying. Needless to say, I will not be eating mothballs smelling and tasting peppers and think that I may be purchasing organic.
ReplyDeleteWow, I just phoned Sunset due to the peppers tha tI purchased smell and taste like mothballs. She assured me that they do not use mothballs in the greenhouses and fungicides are used only if a plant is dying. Mmmm, she said that there have been complaints in the past about a moth ball smell from the peppers and that they produce that when they are on the older end of being packaged. I think that I may be going organic for peppers.
ReplyDeleteProbably a good idea.
DeleteThis is such an old post, but I was Googling what could possibly be making my red peppers smell as I prepare a chili today. At first I thought the smell was very floral, but reading your post and then re-smelling my peppers, mothballs it is! This is just craziness! Although I am glad to know that it is not all in my mind.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest question, are they safe to eat? I suppose I could just forgo the red peppers in my chilli!
I would forgo the peppers. It’s never recurred in subsequent years, but red sweet peppers is the commonality among those who experience it. My guess is compounds that mimic the odor but I’m not terribly certain of it.
DeleteThanks! I thought the same thing---I tried a little piece and it had a strong (non-pepper) taste to it. Probably a mistake to try but I am still alive. :) Wrapped the rest up and returning to the store tomorrow. I purchased from a "higher end" store that prides itself on locally sourced produce, so I want to show them what they are selling! Yuck! So glad I found y our blog---doesn't seem to be much more online about this. Thanks for your help! :)
DeleteEven organic red bell peppers pick up on the moth ball flavor/odor. I bought a bag of mixed colored bell peppers. The red one was foul but the orange one taste fine.
ReplyDeleteInteresting distinction orange or red. Something in the red pepper...
DeleteI purchased a bag of Organic mixed colored bell peppers. orange one was fine red one was moth balled. Organic growers are not permitted to use synthetic chemicals so you can rule out the N. It must be a chemical produced in the rotting process which mimics N. Hmmm... perhaps N. was developed using the rotting process of red bell peppers?
ReplyDeleteIt is where my curiosity is headed. I work with horticultural experts so I may slide this phenomenon across their desk.
DeleteSo strange; I just googled "red peppers" and "formaldehyde" because I bit into a lovely sweet red pepper and was overwhelmed with the smell I remember from the American Museum of Natural History. These are from my farmer's market, though---an organic family farm I've visited many times---and have been stored in my fridge in plastic for three weeks. So it seems to be a natural phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have a definitive answer on the mothball phenomenon? I have been trying to figure this out for years... seems no-one really knows.
ReplyDeleteBoom. Red pepper smelling of mothballs in same bag as orange pepper smelling just fine. Purchased in Austin, TX -- product from Mexico. Thank you internet commenters spanning almost a decade . . . if not for an answer why, at least for letting me know I'm not alone. (really wish I knew why, though)
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