Oddly Enough Article | Reuters.co.uk
Oddly Enough Article | Reuters.co.uk: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cats may like ice cream, but it is not the sugary taste that appeals to them because they are genetically unable to taste sweet flavours, researchers reported on Monday.

Domestic cats and big cats alike have a slightly different version of the sweet receptor gene than other mammals, the British and U.S. scientists found.

Any cat owner knows that cats have individual preferences, but cats will turn their noses up at sugary treats that do not contain some other ingredient such as butter or gelatin.

'One possible explanation for this behaviour is that felines are unable to detect sweet-tasting compounds like sugars and high intensity sweeteners because their sweet taste receptor is defective,' said Xia Li, a molecular geneticist at Cornell University in New York, who helped lead the study."
- posted by Gp @ 9:05 AM