A few gardens near me had BBQs and could just smell lighter fluid. This means their food tasted of it.
Some people have no idea how to cook food on BBQs.
Yes — if a BBQ strongly smells of lighter fluid while cooking, the food can pick up that flavor and smell.
The main reasons are:
Too much lighter fluid was used.
The charcoal wasn’t allowed to burn long enough before cooking.
Food went on while there were still wet patches of fluid or heavy chemical fumes.
A properly lit charcoal bbq should reach the stage where:
the flames have mostly died down,
the coals are covered in gray-white ash,
and the sharp lighter fluid smell is gone.