Need help, just moved my mom BACK to my home after being in an assisted living for two years. She complains of everything tasting bitter!

It might be possible to phone the AL cook and ask if the food normally has much salt or sugar (or both). Old people often lose much sense of taste, and upping the salt and sugar can suit them - even if it’s not all that healthy. I agree that ‘bitter’ might not be the right word for what she is tasting, and this might be an easy phone call to get a handle on what’s wrong.

What was the reason you took her back home? Did her $$$ run out? If so, you can apply for medicaid on her behalf...& have her placed into SNF.Was she kicked out for being violent? How old is she? Dementia? Immobile? Incontinent? Do you work? Have 24/7 home health aides for her at home? Many unanswered questions.
Hugs 🤗

It's possible that the food was more highly flavored in the AL facility and she's used to that.     Are you feeding her home cooked foods, or prepared foods ?

Is she taking any meds that affect taste, such as Amiodarone ?

I applaud you for bringing her back home during Covid. This is an admirable decision and shows that you put others first.

If the doctors you see regularly don’t find anything wrong, consider taking your mom to a gastroenterologist.

It is natural for elderly to have changes in food preferences. If she participates in food preparation, she may enjoy meals more.

Help your mother to clean her teeth, and while you're at it see if you can sneak a good look inside her mouth. Could be she's got something like thrush or another oral hygiene issue going on. Don't worry if you can't see a thing: ask the next qualified nurse or doctor to do it, instead.

Changes in taste can also be neurological, related to the brain changes, unfortunately; and if that's the case you're a bit stuck. Was your mother eating properly at the ALF? And now is she complaining and not eating, or just complaining?!

According to your profile, your mother is 96 y.o. and has dementia. How advanced is her dementia? My mother has lost a lot of vocabulary. She uses wrong words to describe things. Perhaps your mom is the same and only knows to say bitter when she means something else. But what is sure is that she doesn't like the food. Maybe it's different from what she is used to at AL.

Does she eat the food? If she does, then I would not worry so much. She may get used to the new food eventually. If she doesn't, perhaps, there's other problems.