Why do my tomatoes taste of fish? Complaints about foul tasting toms on the up

So, what could be worse than biting into a slice and thinking there is something fishy about the flavour of your food.

Bizzarely, more people are reporting that exactly that has happened.

Instead of the usual sweet tomato flavour registering on the tongue, their taste buds have been left thinking a morsel of mackerel has just been delivered into the mouth.

So what has happened to the humble tomato?

Complaints appear to stem from the cheaper varieties bought in supermarkets rather than the more expensive vine-ripened options.

He tweeted: "Sometimes tomatoes taste like fish smell."

He got 52 replies, with other victims coming forward.

Some people have theorised that fishy-tasting toms are the result of genetic modifications with fish.

The Modernstead.com blog said: "In 1991, a group of scientists attempted to create a tomato more resistant to frost and cold storage.

To conceive this tomato, they inserted a modified gene from a breed of arctic flounder known for its “anti-freeze” properties.

"Before you throw away those tomatoes you bought from the supermarket the other day, you should know that the experiment was not successful and the quest for a cold-resistant tomato was scrapped.

"No one has ever purchased a tomato or tomato-based product with fish genes… or have they?"

An anonymous poster on Cafemom.com was discussing an awful-tasting batch of tomatoes in a salad.

She wrote: "FISH! It tastes like fish to me! How weird is that? Not that I dislike fish or anything, but there's just something shudder worthy of a ball of fish flavoured goo shooting on the roof of your mouth as you bite into it."

Other theories put forward are cross contamination from fish products during storage, which would, of cause raise real hygiene questions surrounding the produce.

On a Drownedinsound.com forum entitled "tomatoes that taste like fish," one poster wrote: "There are more and more of these about these days.

"Probably one in every eight sandwiches I eat that have tomato in them I get a mouthful that tastes like dirty fish."

However, it would appear that the reason for the problem is fish bone meal being added to the fertiliser of cheap tomatoes by their growers.

There was a forum on Quora.com called "Why do some tomatoes taste like fish?"

John Kotsch posted: "I can only assume that fish meal was used as part of a fertiliser/nutrient additive for the tomato plants.

"I have heard this complaint a few times in the past."

Separately, Stephen Jackson‏ tweeted about the issue: "It's the fish-bonemeal in some tomato food.