Luckily, a bitter taste will usually have someone spitting out and abandoning the fruit. Problems come when the bitterness is masked through cooking or a recipe with strong added flavors, or the person doesn't mind a bitter flavor.
Cucurbit poisoning, usually called toxic squash syndrome, while uncommon, can result in severe symptoms. Hair loss and food-poisoning symptoms are most common, including diarrhea, vomiting dizziness, and stomach pain. If severe, it can cause swelling of the pancreas, liver, gallbladder and kidneys. A German man died in 2015 after eating a zucchini.
In more recent research that appeared in the Journal of Clinical Toxicology in January 2018, a French poison center identified more than 350 instances of food poisoning connected to bitter-tasting squash that occurred between 2012 and 2016. Results showed that 26% of those cases were vegetables from home gardens, whereas about 56% of those cases involved store-bought squash.
The chemicals called cucurbitacins give fruits bitter flavor and make them poisonous. Normal pollination within a variety results in little to no production of these chemicals. The cucurbitaceae family includes cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, gourds and squash. Planting seed from variety-segregated seed sources and farms will have almost no chance of having cross-pollinated fruit and almost no chance of being a danger.
Many home gardeners, and unknowing farmers, may decide to save seeds from squash and use them the following year. This is where the problems arise.
Growing ornamental gourds alongside cucurbits you plan to eat, is one of the listed reasons for bad cross-pollination. If you plan to save seeds, you must grow edible and non-edible gourds separately and ensure that pollination stays pure. Cross-pollination with wild plants is also a risk, as wild plants are much higher in cucurbitacins than cultivated varieties.
You may think that you are only growing them for decorative use, but then someone decides to eat one. I know of someone who was selling specialty pumpkin seeds that were most likely cross-pollinated with several other pumpkin and squash variety grown in the same field. That is a huge liability. After I explained the issue, they decided to stop selling and the following year used row cover and hand pollination to keep the varieties pure.
So please only eat squash that you know is from pure seed and reputable sources who can ensure that the seed is pure. Always try a small bite of any cucurbit family fruit before cooking. If you taste bitterness, toss it.
Many farmers get left-over cucurbit fruits to feed to their livestock. Please keep in mind that they can be toxic to animals as well. So, again, be careful of your sourcing, know what to ask, ask about the purity of the product.
While it may be rare, it can also be severe. Just be careful with the squash. When in doubt, toss it out.
https://www.nnc.gov.ph/regional-offices/mindanao/region-ix-zamboanga-peninsula/9132-what-is-toxic-squash-syndrome#:~:text=Cucurbit%20poisoning%2C%20often%20referred%20to,melons%2C%20pumpkins%2C%20and%20squash.
https://www.ccmhhealth.com/pumpkin-lovers-beware-know-the-signs-of-toxic-squash-syndrome/#:~:text=The%20most%20common%20symptoms%20associated,gallbladder%2C%20kidney%2C%20and%20pancreas.
https://www.medicinenet.com/why_is_squash_bad_for_you/article.htm
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