Diet Candy's Aftertaste Experienced 12 Years Later

PIKESVILLE, MD–The aftertaste of a sugar-free, strawberry-flavored hard candy eaten by Stephanie Wickes in 1988 was detected Monday by the 38-year-old Pikesville resident. “I was on my way to pick up the kids from school when, out of nowhere, I suddenly got this really nasty taste in my mouth,” Wickes said. “For the longest time, I couldn’t place it. But then I finally remembered: It was that gross diet candy that Annette Brinkworth, this woman I worked with about 12 years ago, offered me once.” Wickes said she was pretty sure Brinkworth got the candy from her dentist.