Well I heard that it was birds who would die if you fed them chocolate.

On the allergy front, there are a tremendous number of people who swear they are "allergic" to one thing or another. Some of these are true allergies (one of a few specific kinds of immune response, which cause things like hives, itching, watery eyes, etc.), some are adverse reactions that are not allergies (some people, like Liz's friends, lack an enzyme to metabolize alcohol, which can cause the buildup of a toxic metabolite that can make them sick), and some are so-called "idiosyncratic reactions", which means "We don't know why it happened, but you probably shouldn't eat any more of that stuff." Then there are people who are "allergic" to things like air and water...

If it was discovered in Japan, the fifth taste was probably wasabi.

Aloha,
Mark