A new study has shown that the toxic chemicals in tobacco cause a loss of taste among smokers.
According to the study, smoking status had no influence on a person's ability to recognize salty, sweet or sour tastes but it has an effect on people's ability to taste the bitter taste of caffeine.
The study has found that 20 percent of smokers and 25 percent of former smokers could not correctly identify the bitter samples they were asked to taste.
The researchers believe that the accumulation in the body of some tobacco or combustion products may hamper the regeneration of taste buds, and therefore still impair a person's ability to recognize certain tastes even after they have stopped smoking.
The study was published in Springer's journal Chemosensory Perception.