This is a public service announcement: The cartridges of the new Nintendo Switch taste awful, so do not try this at home.

It has been confirmed by geeks and fanboys who bravely - and some would say, foolishly - took it upon themselves to test it out.

The reason? The Japanese gaming giant made the tiny cartridges of the just-launched console taste bitter so kids would not swallow them.

They are coated with a bittering agent called denatonium benzoate which is non-toxic, reports said. It is used in animal repellents and put on nails to deter biting.

The unintended consequence was that adults everywhere started licking them to see how they tasted.

The verdict: