Distorted, Bizarre Food Smells Haunt Covid Survivors

Long after some people have recovered from the virus, they find certain foods off-putting.

Marcel Kuttab first sensed something was awry while brushing her teeth a year ago, several months after recovering from Covid-19. Her toothbrush tasted dirty, so she threw it out and got a new one. Then she realized the toothpaste was at fault. Onions and garlic and meat tasted putrid, and coffee smelled like gasoline — all symptoms of the once little-known condition called parosmia that distorts the senses of smell and taste. Dr. Kuttab, 28, who has a pharmacy doctoral degree and works for a drug company in Massachusetts, experimented to figure out what foods she could tolerate. “You can spend a lot of money in grocery stores and land up not using any of it,” she said.