The bitter after-taste of Chinese pine nuts
February 3rd, 2009
It started yesterday. A strange, bitter taste in my mouth — especially when I was eating something. My dinner, even my glass of wine tasted funny (what a waste)!
I didn’t think much of it at first; normally strange things like this just go away by itself. But this morning, my oatmeal tasted bitter, as did everything else I ate the rest of today. This started to become really annoying!
Now, I don’t consider myself a hypochondriac, but I decided to do some research on the internet. Was this a neurological disorder, maybe?? (I could be featured in the next Oliver Sacks book!!)
Within five minutes of browsing, I found the answer: the bitter taste in my mouth was caused by the pine nuts we had in our salad earlier this week!!!
Apparently, according to a scientific article that appeared in 2001 in the European Journal of Emergency Medicine, certain pine nuts, and specifically the ones imported from China, can cause a taste disturbance — a bitter, metallic taste in the mouth, especially prone when eating, can develop and last for days!
Lots of people from all over the world have reported on this strange phenomenon — even Wikipedia describes the risk of eating pine nuts!
The good news is, that although the strong, bitter taste is a nuisance, there is no evidence of any health concern. The bad news is, that there is no known cure to the taste disturbance. I just have to wait and sit it out!
If only my wine wouldn’t taste as bitter…
xxx Esther
Entry Filed under: Food, Food Items, For Ourselves, Health, Interesting Articles
311 Comments Add your own
1. Gaelle | February 3rd, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Thank you so much Esther. I’ve experienced this too lately and eat a lot of pine nuts. As from now i’ll double check their origin. This aftertaste is so annoying. Glad to know what to avoid to get rid of this!
2. Michela | February 3rd, 2009 at 3:22 pm
this is quite surprising… just get Italian pine nuts then!!!!
3. Courtney | February 3rd, 2009 at 4:14 pm
This is insane!! I can’t believe it happens so regularly, and yet it’s not a very well-known thing.
I too am going to check the origin of my pine nuts from now on!!
4. Jude | February 4th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
You’re not pregnant are you? Or are you already pregnant I lose track with you guys!
5. Esther | February 4th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Courtney said the same! I’m pretty sure I’m not…!!!
6. victoria Williams | February 4th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
I can’t believe I found this today. My husband has been complaining about a bitter/Metallic taste in his mouth for the past two days. I really started to get concerned when it lasted more than 24 hours. When I got online to find some answers, I found your article and remembered that we just started putting pine nuts in our salad a few days ago. Thanks so much for doing your research and helping us as well.
7. Jai | February 6th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
This is funny because I had the same issue and I thought my pine nuts had gone bad so I threw them out!
I wonder if you toast them if that kills the bitter taste. I really don’t remember having this problem before. Oh well.
J
8. Esther | February 8th, 2009 at 9:46 am
I toasted them! I always toast my pine nuts! It was really gros – thankfully it’s gone now, but I’m still a bit weary about pine nuts!
9. Monica | February 26th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
This is caused by the way the pine nuts was made. I was born and brought up in China. Pine nuts were always bitter. They were sold as sugar covered candies. The thousand years of process method couldn’t prevent the contamination from the taste of pine corn. Since in most cases, bitter taste from the natural food is from Vitamin C, Chinese people live with the taste. They choose bitter melon and tea for the same reason. It prevent the sour taste in the mouth after eating food, and lower your expectation for sweets.
After I came to US, I was surprised to find out that pine nuts is actually a little sweet. We need to help them to improve the process in China by our technology. The bitter taste we feel may not be an issue over there.
10. camilo | February 27th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
2nd link from a search on the net and I find this. My wife said I was just complaining fo nothing but I knew this is not normal as everything I ate had a bitter after taste. I had those nuts more than 8 days ago as I recall….interesting.
11. Cate | March 3rd, 2009 at 3:37 am
Stupid Pine Nuts. I, too, got a little weirded out because the option you find before pine nuts is “Brain Tumor.”
The only thing that tastes good is garlic. I’m putting garlic in everything right now.
Anything sweet tastes really disgusting. I threw out the pine nuts, so I can’t check to see if they were from China.
12. Liz | October 2nd, 2009 at 4:17 am
OMG! I am relieved and worried. The taste in my mouth is so disgusting! The only good thing that could come from this is maybe I’ll lose a couple pounds cause everytime I eat anything it taste disgusting! I have been eating them for the last 3 days now throughout the day as a snack along with my almonds. I am concerned that my taste buds will never be the same again.I paid alot for them but they are going directly in the trash and I will never touch another stupid pine nut as long as I live. Yes I’m bitter in more ways then one.
13. Lille | March 3rd, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Can it happen if you only have a small amount? I only ate a few, but I don’t have any other explanation for the weird taste in my mouth. The timing seems right…
14. Esther | March 4th, 2009 at 7:45 am
I think so! If you had pine nuts and now the strange taste, it must be it!
15. Wayne | March 6th, 2009 at 5:32 am
I bought 10oz of pine nuts from Albertson’s in Santa Fe last week. Valued Naturals, Dover NJ is the brand. I gobbled em down in a few days because I’m a nutaholic. I didnt notice anything until after they were gone, then the awful bitterness started! Its been 3-4 days since I ate any and the awful taste is starting to go away a little, but its still there.
I’ve eaten small quantities of local New Mexico pine nuts before with no trouble, but I never gobbled down 10 oz in a few days before. I think I’m going to pass on them until someone figures out what is causing it, if its possible to get from any pine nuts, etc.
16. Meredith | March 9th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
I am experiencing the same phenomenon. It’s terrible! Could you give me some sense of how many days this bad taste will last? I’m on day 3 – seems to be getting a bit better but still pretty bad…
17. Esther | March 10th, 2009 at 8:40 am
I think in my case it didn’t last longer than 4 days, but i’ve read stories of people where it lasted over a week!
18. Carla | March 19th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
My friend and I have been experiencing this bitter/metallic taste for several days now. We thought it was the pickles on burger that we both ate. But now, after reading these responses, I think it was the pine nuts that we both shared at this same time period. Is it a bit coincidental that many people noticing it at this time? I have consumed Chinese pine nuts many times in the past, and have not had this reaction before. These pine nuts that we had were left over from Christmas time, and though they tasted good when I ate them. In fact, I was surprised that they hadn’t turned a bit rancid as they had been sitting out on counter, and most nuts with so much natural oils would show signs of degradation. Could there be some additive or preservative that causes this reaction?
19. Eileen | March 27th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
I find this amazing! I am on day 5 and it doesn’t seem that much better. On the bright side I have lost 5 pounds because everything tastes so bad. I found one place where they felt this reaction was more common in people with O blood type, which is what I have but I can’t figure out what connection there would be. What blood type do others have?
20. Heather | February 7th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Well my blood type is A+ and my husband and I
both ate the pine nuts from China and got that
bitter taste. I sure hope the bitter taste doesn’t last
too long.
21. Andrea | April 4th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Thank you all so much for your comments. I too am experiencing this bitter aftertaste and have lost a few pounds. I had a dish at Cheesecake Factory with pine nuts and today is day 3 for me with the yucky aftertaste. I don’t know where they get their pine nuts but i’m glad this aftertaste could be due to pine nuts and not some health issue!
22. tony | April 7th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
I never, ever want to see pint nuts again! I thought I had cancer or something. I was afraid to google my symptoms. About 4 days ago I was drinking beer and got hungry for some nuts. I didnt have any peanuts, but found a bag of pine nuts my wife uses for recipes. I ate a couple of handfulls. About a day later the symptoms started and 4 days later I still have them.
23. Sharon | April 9th, 2009 at 1:02 am
Like so many others, I went on-line tonight searching for a possible cause for an unexplained bitter taste in my mouth. Unbelievably, I discovered the cause was a couple of pine nuts that I ingested two or three days ago. I thought I had a tumor affecting the taste sensation part of my brain or something. Glad to know it’s nothing serious, but I will be very wary of buying pine nuts from the bulk section of the super market from now on. Only the really expensive ones with an Italian label for me from now on.
24. carol | April 13th, 2009 at 3:36 am
Thank goodness for Google! I was surprised and relieved to find that the pine nuts that I ate caused this horrible taste in my mouth after eating. I have been eating pine nuts for a year or more with no problem. But I opened a new package last week and evidently they are from China. Yuck. I am afraid to eat anything now-the taste is so awful after eating anything good. I expect to lose weight until this goes away. Maybe it is a blessing in disguise!
25. Alice | April 15th, 2009 at 3:14 am
This saved me a trip to the dentist, and doctor as I too suffer from this horrible taste in my mouth. The pine nuts were from Korea, Russia, or Vietnam purchased at Trader Joe’s.
26. Guest | April 15th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Thanks so much for all your comments! I thought I had a serious health issue because of this horrible, bitter, metallic aftertaste in my mouth when I eat anything. However, I am wondering a few things.
1. Does the pine nut bitterness have anything to do with O positive blood, as some have stated?
2.How long will this last? (I’m on day 3 and don’t know how much longer I can take this)
3. Does anyone have any idea what causes this reaction?
4. Is it something in just Chinese pine nuts or all pine nuts?
If anyone knows any of these answers it would be awesome.
thanks everyone!
27. Anne | July 31st, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Another bitter- mouthed pine nut eater here! It’s really annoying and Im so glad I finally found the cause. I’ve had it for 5 days now. Strange how it takes 2 days to set in.
I’m B + blood type. Maybe were all allergic to the nuts from
Asia or it was a bad year for the crop. Done with pine nuts!
28. Karin | April 16th, 2009 at 12:22 am
Thank God for the internet!
I also thought I had some kind of disease. What a horrible taste! I’m on day 4 and still strong.
I always use pine nuts in certain dishes and I have never had this encounter before. Maybe the bitterness goes away when they are cooked or mixed with other ingredients? But the other day, I ate a bunch before using them in the main dish and the next day I thought I was dying. Bleh!
I too, have seen a few posts with the whole O blood type relation, but my blood type is A+, so it might not have anything to do with just the O type.
Weird…just weird!
Thanks to everyone for providing input on this!
29. Mary | April 18th, 2009 at 2:12 am
Wow, thanks! I was worried that I had something wrong with me. The bitter taste started this morning. I had this amazing breakfast with homemade whipped cream and strawberries and I kept getting this strange, metallic taste in my mouth. I have been munching on pine nuts all week.
So bizarre! Oh, I have B – blood, so I think that theory is false.
30. melanie | April 19th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
The previous bag of pine nuts I bought were so good on our salads, and for snacking, we fell in love with them! But, this time when I got some more from the grocery store, my husband started complaining about a bitter taste in his mouth afterwards. The taste remained severe for 4-5 days, so he googled the symptom and came up with this site. What a relief to know what is causing this bitter taste for both of us. EVERYTHING tasted bitter for about a week. This last bag came from International Foodsource, LLC Dover, NJ.
31. RR | April 24th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
I have been having the symptoms for over 2 weeks now, its just terrible. It was the first time in years I bought some pine-nuts to make pesto and ate a handful before making the pesto, (which I threw away)
Like others mentioned drinking water tastes weird, anything sweet is gross. I have given up eating all nuts altogether till the taste goes away and I hope it does as *Im really misearable*. Never realized how much the sense of taste meant to me. I cannot drink any wine as it tastes awful. Funny thing is that I find sour things taste fine, I can drink lemon juice.
“DOES Anyone know what the cause of this is??” We are all speculating and it could be something really bad in this batch of pine-nuts from China.
I called our local FDA office and complained and was asked to call back if my symptoms hadnt gone away in 2 weeks. It will be 2 weeks on monday.
I urge each and one of you to call the local office of the FDA to investigate this and ban chineese pine-nuts if they contain some pesticide residue or heavy metals (these usually cause taste problems) in them
Thanks
RR, MA
32. Louisa | April 25th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Isn’t strange that so many of us are experiencing this now?
I would liken the taste to washing up liquid. It is awful!! I too am glad it is just the pine nuts though, mine too were from China and are now in the bin.!! I
33. jess, CA | April 26th, 2009 at 12:12 am
so last night it started with the raspberry pastry. had another pastry for breakfast and the same thing happened. i thought the pastries were bad until i drank a glass of water and realized the bitter, disgusting taste affected everything i consumed. i am very happy to read that it was caused by the pinenuts i ate from trader joe’s just two nights ago (and i am also O positive which brings more interest to this peculiar effect)
needless to say, i am super relieved that i do not have a brain tumor.
34. keri | April 26th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
the bitter taste is unbelievably gross- i thought for sure there was something seriously wrong with- thank goodness for google! used pine nuts in our dinner 4 days ago- the rest of the family seems fine (but i ate a couple of raw handfulls)- i could barely eat yesterday- everything tasted gross! my pine nuts say they were package in dover nj, as well, but ‘product of china’ is also printed on the label as well– this is unbelievable!!
35. Alison | April 28th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
What a relief to know that it’s not serious and the disgusting taste will eventually go. Thank you so much for putting my mind at ease!
36. SLB,OH | April 28th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
I’m having the same problem and I ate a bunch of Chinese pine nuts last Friday, I think it was a large batch that caused this. YUCK…….
37. Esther | April 28th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
This is just absurd, so many of you experiencing the same thing!
I’m O+ (OOOOhhh so positive!), and I think I roasted the nuts before I ate them! I always do!
Hang in there, it will go away…
38. Becky | April 28th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
I heard that pine nuts were a natural appetite suppressant and now I know why! I bought a large bag at Jewel. The pine nuts were imported from China. Just like everybody else, after about 3 days anything I ate tasted really bitter. My husband was thinking I was nuts until the next day when he too, had the bitter aftertaste. I went online and found we weren’t alone. I have had pine nuts before but never had this reaction before. I wonder what cause the bittertaste to last so long? Its been at least 3 days so far. And it is so odd that it is mostly evident when eating.
39. Melissa | April 30th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Well, same thing here. I made a salad Monday night with pine nuts (which I never do) and then had the constant bitterness starting Tuesday. After googling and finding all of the horrible possibilities (poisoning, diabetes, jaundice, tumors) I found several blogs on pine nuts. Thank you by the way!!! Thank you so much. I’ve already called my Trader Joe’s to tell them what happened to me and they were in the dark about it. If any of you could update how you’re doing now that would be so helpful. I’ve still got the strong bitter sensation…day 3 for me.
40. AF | May 2nd, 2009 at 1:17 am
I h ave the same thing. What can you do to make the taste better? Sour lemon drops?
41. mjzraz | November 21st, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Sour lemon candies helped temporarily as well as drinking a sip of red wine vinegar of all things. It actually tasted less sour than ususal until I swallowed it – strange
42. J | May 2nd, 2009 at 2:18 am
I also have this taste but i ignored it for a few days and have eaten a tons of pine nuts since. Has anyone else experience sore throat and dizziness? Any feedback would be great, I’m starting to worry that i have liver damage or something.
43. Gabe | May 3rd, 2009 at 5:18 am
Who knew!?
This funny taste in my mouth has been popping up out of no where for the past couple of days now. After hours of research, I find something having to do with PINE NUTS. Then, I put it all together. Close to a week before any strange taste in my mouth, I shared handful after handful of pine nuts with my mother.
Ha! Pine nuts… Who knew?
44. AP | May 5th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Both my wife and I have the same problem. Hers has been going on for more than a week. Mine started 2 days ago ( she at a lot more of them) We got them from Trader Joes as well.
No other symptoms just a bitter taste that comes when we eat. Just aweful!!!
45. Melissa | May 6th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
just updating my experience. It’s a little over a week and it is much much better! Almost completely gone! That was so terrible. I really think there needs to be some kind of disclaimer when they sell pine nuts. Hang in there everyone- it gets better.
46. Mary Robinson | May 6th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
I too have this bitter taste, day 4, my pine nuts were bought from Tesco but were lables ‘produce of China’. I am very pleased to know I am not alone. Thank you to the internet.
47. debbie | May 9th, 2009 at 3:32 am
I’ve had this bitter taste in my mouth for 3 days now and just realized I had a handful of pine nuts at lunch back then. The bitter taste isn’t going away. How long does this last? It’s awful. Everything I eat or drink tastes bitter! Now the roof of my mouth is breaking out. What the heck?
48. nicole | May 9th, 2009 at 3:45 am
I also have had this for 3 days now, I work in a culinary school and was eating pine nuts the other day that we just got in.. I didnt even THINK that that could be it.. I am also having loss of voice problems, I lost my voice a day before the bitter taste in my mouth started and still have both problems, I hope it goes away soon, my stomach is growling I’m so hungry!
49. Holly | May 10th, 2009 at 5:29 am
I’ve experienced this bad aftertaste now for about 3days. I thought something was seriously wrong with me. Yes, thank goodness for google, bells went off when I saw the words ‘pine nuts’ . It all connected when I remembered that I ate some of those too… probably about 2 days before experiencing the aftertaste?
and I had a bunch of them.
I hope it doesnt last long.. I hate it and it’s weird.
50. Judy | May 10th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Same with me…. I am on day 3…my husband is planning this wonderful Mother’s Day feast, and I can’t stand to eat anything!!! How long will this last. We should probably attach this blog to a letter to the Food And Drug Administration or Health Dept. going to do that this week…thank goodness I am not alone. I don’t think anyone would have believed me without the internet!
51. linda | May 11th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
I too have had an annoying bitter taste in my mouth for two days and looked it up on the internet. the only thing different in my diet was PINE NUTS from China! I’m going to throw away the rest. 8.99 for the container…what a waste. i have never had this problem before. Maybe it’s just because they are imported from China. What is going on over there? They need to clean up their act.
52. Christine | May 12th, 2009 at 5:45 am
Like everyone else I was so glad to find these comments.
I buy pinenuts every time I buy groceries – that is a lot of pine nuts – but have never had a problem before.
I shall ask my grocer if he has changed his supplier, as the resulting bitter taste is truly grosse and ruins the flavour of all drinks and foods – evn double chocolate ince cream ha ha ha!
Thanks everyone for the tip!
Pine nuts are now a thing of the past!
53. Sandra | May 16th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Such a relief to find the answer to my problem – what did we ever do wihout the internet. Like everyone else I was convinced I was seriously ill until I googled “bitter taste” and linked it with a large pack of mixed seeds (containing pine nuts) that I had been consuming over two evenings. This taste is dreadful, a bit like really naff Campari, and it kind of blossoms minutes after you eat or drink. I am only on day two, I hope it goes away soon!
54. Leanne | May 16th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
I’m joining the “crowd” – ABSOLUTELY same story – saw a recipe with pine nuts – went to COSTCO – the bag was STILL $15 – I almost didn’t buy them because it seemed so extravagent. Ate them Wednesday – starting Thursday night yep bitter taste – today (Sat.) is horrific I too was freaked out – did the Google thing and here we all are. The ones from Costco are made in China – go figure!!! This blog absolutely should go to the FDA and they should be banned – granted it’s not a life-threatening illness but it truly has ruined food and how I hear it’s going to last a lost longer – UGH. Thanks all for posting and hang in there.
55. eric | May 17th, 2009 at 12:20 am
thank you for researching this! i did a google search for “bitter aftertaste health” and your blog came up.
i have been experiencing bitter, metallic tastes in my mouth for two days. after reading your blog, i realized the sensation began after i ate some raw pine nuts in a salad two days ago.
thank you for solving this riddle!!!
56. Chris | May 17th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
I had a handful of pine nuts while on vacation and a day later I had this awful metallic taste after any food I ate. I still have this taste, it is day 2. I hope it does not last much longer. I am glad that I know what the cause of the taste is. I don’t know where the pine nuts came from. It is amazing that this many people have complained about this in such a short period.
57. Esther | May 18th, 2009 at 7:38 am
I called the Dutch FDA today (the VWA) and they told me they are aware of the problem, but as there is no direct health concern they are not taking any action…
58. Deborah | May 18th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Pine nuts are off my menu for good! This bitter taste is the pits. I had no idea what was causing it and thought I probably had some digestive problem; then my husband found this and a few other sites on the web highlighting the bitter after taste people are experiencing after eating pine nuts. We had them last Thursday and I woke up Saturday morning with a horrendous taste in my mouth and it’s now Monday and it’s still there. I had the same thing happen about 2-3 weeks ago when I popped a few of the nuts into a pasta dish. The taste lasted for about 4 days in that case and I had no idea what caused it. It’s too much of a coincidence for it to be anything else. Unfortunately, I no longer have the packaging to confirm the origin of the pine nuts I bought. The supermarkets need to be aware of this as it becomes a health matter if it’s making people reluctant to eat because of the bitter taste.
59. Kelly | May 18th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
I’m with you all! TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE Pine Nuts! BAD, BAD Pine Nuts!! I have always bought my pine nuts in very expensive small bags and never had a problem. This time I bought a larger package with 2 stayfresh sides. I ate the package on salads (as well as a few handfuls) over a weekend. By Sunday night I couldn’t eat anything! I’m breastfeeding a baby and I’ PRAY that this doesn’t influence his milk. Pine nuts have never been an issue for me and are actually quite healtful (as they have the highest quantity of protein of any nut). If I DON’T eat anything the tast goes away, but whenever I ask my buds to go to work they start-up full force with the bitter blues!!! I HATE IT! HELP ME!!! I guess there is nothing to do but wait it out. I truly pray that this is nothing toxic as I am a breastfeeding mother. THANKS for posting all of these responses and THANKS for your site
60. Wendy | May 21st, 2009 at 6:22 am
I was ready to throw a whole lot of apples out, as every time I ate one it was sooo bitter – I’d take a bite or two, then give the rest to our pet rabbit! I finally Googled this bitter taste I’ve had, thinking maybe some new vitamins I started taking was causing it – thinking some of the mineral contents were too high, or something. Here I find out it was the pine nuts I’ve nibbled on and made into pesto! Having never had pine nuts before I wouldn’t know a bad one from a good one, but they did give me an aftertaste each time I ate some. Mine were bought in bulk from Sprouts. It’s a good diet trick – I haven’t eaten much since the pesto and crackers 4 days ago. I even blended up some frozen strawberries and yogurt this morning thinking that would taste sooo good – had maybe two mouthfuls and put the rest in the fridge. Tried again at lunchtime – aweful! My son has munched on the nuts, too, and when I asked if he had the same bad taste after eating things, he said his cupcake after lunch tasted bad! Probably why he hasn’t been finishing his meals, too. Poor kid. Thanks for relieving my worries – I’m taking my bag back to Sprouts and telling them.
61. Rita | May 22nd, 2009 at 6:19 pm
I’m so glad you all wrote! Count me in – got my pine nuts in bulk at Whole Foods. Their prepackaged pine nuts were from China so I’m assuming that the bulk were probably from the same source. I’ve had some pain (like indigestion) and nausea as well, but maybe that is just a coincidence and not related to the nuts. Anyway, the taste is pretty vile — I wish everyone a speedy recovery!
62. miranda matthews | May 25th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
My pinenuts were from China, packed in Italy and sold at Sainsburys. On Sainsbury’s website it says that this horrible taste problem is an “uncommon reaction”. Really??? I find it is particularly disgusting after I have cleaned my teeth; it must react with the toothpaste. But it’s in my mouth all the time now (I’m on my third day) and I’m worried about a dinner booked for Wednesday night at a wonderful and very expensive restaurant. I have been looking forward to it for ages. What a waste – I can’t taste anything except bitter, bitter bitter. I agree there should be a caveat on the packet – I look out for things like that because after an accident my husband has completely lost his sense of smell and taste, and he relies on me to produce food which will not harm him! I hope if anyone has any ideas to dull the taste, they will share them.
63. trogstig | May 27th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Same story again: pine nuts in a salad on Sunday night (served at a restaurant in Fontainbleau, France) – then a foul, bitter taste after eating (especially sweet foods), which started on Tuesday morning.
I would recommend bitter or acid foods to reduce the effect: I have found that tea works quite well – especially black tea, no milk, no sugar.
64. Carole | May 29th, 2009 at 3:03 am
Wow, I’m #60 with pine nuts from an Oakland, California Safeway. At first, I thought it was basil from my garden, but then “googled” pine nuts. I’m commenting because I think the numbers of us experiencing this phenomena needs to be documented somehow.
65. aridnepenthe | May 29th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Bleh, I too have the bitterness. I work at a salad bar and one of our toppings is pine nuts…I threw onto the salad I had at lunch that day and now my taste buds are tainted. I started taking dietary supplements on the same day as I ate the nuts so I actually looked up the pills first, but out of desperation I just searched “bitter taste throat” and this site popped up! I am on day 2 now and I hope it ends soon.
66. miranda matthews | May 30th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I am posting again because it is now nine days since I ate the pine nuts and I still have the bitter taste. I have contacted Sainsbury’s twice but their staff deny all knowledge of “pine mouth” despite the huge interest shown on their own forum website. It really is strange, bordering on sinister. I spoke to a doctor friend who said the time lapse between ingesting the nuts and feeling the full symptoms could mean the taste is caused by neurological damage.
My local branch of Sainsbury’s still has the same batch of pine nuts on display even though I have given them the serial numbers and sell-by dates. This really is becoming a serious problem, not just the random rare reaction claimed by the vendors of these pine nuts. I can only think they do not want to lose the massive profit margin they rake in on the bulk buys from China. After all, pine nuts are hardly a staple. They probably reason that only whining women such as health foodies and vegetarians will be affected, and what’s so bad about a funny taste anyway? I wish they themselves could experience this foul side-effect, perhaps then they would do something about it. Interestingly a posting by a Canadian mentioning a possibility of pending litigation was quietly removed from Sainsbury’s website yesterday. Perhaps they think if they stick their fingers in their ears and go la la la, it will all go away. Every day that passes and I still have this horrible symptom makes me less inclined to shut up and put up with it!
67. Bonnie | June 1st, 2009 at 10:45 pm
I have the terrible Pine Mouth right now and it is not fun. I got this about a month ago but I wasn’t able to find out anything on the internet about it. I guess I did not search hard enough. I thought something was really wrong with me with it happened again. Thank God I found out about this or it would be off to the doctor’s trying to describe this weird problem. I had a great pasta dinner with pesto and lots of pine nuts a few days ago. The pine nuts were bought from the bulk section of a health food store. I have read on some of the websites that people did not experience this if they bought the expensive pine nuts from Italy. I would like to test this and see if it is true. I love pesto and pinenuts and would hate to give them up.
68. Aimee | June 1st, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Relieved and surprised to find everyones comments! We are regular consumers of pine nuts but just two days ago I opened a new bag from Trader Joe’s and both my husband and I have been experiencing the bitter taste. I usually buy my pine nuts from Costco (Kirkland brand, product of China) but I picked up a small bag from Trader Joe’s. According to the Trader Joe’s bag the nuts are from “Korea, Russia, or Vietnam”. We eat tons of pine nuts and have been for years! This is the first time we have ever experienced this….very bizarre. I’m wondering if there have been any changes at the processing plants or use of chemicals/pesticides?
69. Mark | June 3rd, 2009 at 5:48 pm
I ate pine nuts for the last 2-3 days and today have had a horrible bitter taste whenever I eat anything. Thanks for bringing this syndrome to our attention. Strikes me that this would be a great diet program.
70. anthony angel | June 4th, 2009 at 2:47 am
Yikes!!! I thought for sure that I had some rare form of throat cancer and was headed to Hades !!! Whew, Chinese Pine nuts who’d a thunk? Makes me not want to eat….UHHHH… not really.
71. miranda matthews | June 4th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Finally, 2 weeks since I ate the beastly pine nuts, the vile taste is just about gone. I have a shadow of it when I eat something sweet, but it’s quite bearable.
I don’t know if it lasted so long because I originally ate the nuts two days running, before the problem manifested itself. All I know is that I never want to risk eating pine nuts again – ever. It’s a great pity, especially since I love pesto and Pret a manger salad wraps, but it’s just not worth it.
More worrying than the taste symptom itself is the likelihood of it having been caused by neurological damage. Who knows what else could be going on inside our brains and bodies? If it was just a matter of rancid nuts causing an immediate gut problem, it would be different, but the delayed effect is indicative of something entirely different. Unfortunately the companies that make huge profits by buying sub-standard foodstuffs from the Far East and selling them on at high prices are not likely to spend money on disinterested research.
Good luck to everyone who has a while to go with their foul “pine mouth”. The relief when it finally departs is immeasurable. Let’s hope one day we get some sort of explanation from the scientists as to why this happens.
72. Carolyn | June 7th, 2009 at 5:47 am
I made filling for some empanadas on Wednesday, using bulk pine nuts from a local produce store. By Thursday afternoon, I was experiencing a severe bitter, metallic taste whenever I ate, especially anything sweet. I too thought I had some weird disease. Thank goodness for the internet…at least I know I’m not imagining things. I will be warning my friends as we head into basil/pesto season. I hope this goes away soon.
73. Debbie | June 7th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
I found this site while researching a bad aftertaste I experienced after eating pine nuts. For me however, the taste is almost FISHY which I find quite disgusting since I only eat tilapia because I hate that fishy taste in all other fish. It happened last summer after I made a greek pasta salad with pine nuts. I thought the dressing may have anchovy in it. Last night I made a tossed salad with feta and pine nuts and after the meal I began to taste that nauseating fishyness. It’s got to be the pine nuts! Too bad because I really enjoyed them! By the way, I too am blood type O Positive
74. MelP | June 8th, 2009 at 9:54 am
So glad to come across this site, thought I had liver disease or a filling that was leaking, was about to make a doc’s appointment. I ate pine nuts on Wed and again on Sat. These were not the usual type I usually buy, these were much smaller and had a dark spot at the blunter end. I am in South Africa, so the supply we get must have come from the same source as the other problem pine-nuts. I have eaten pine nuts many times before and have never had this strange reaction. This taste in my mouth is just so disgusting, am living on chewing gum, which I never usually have. Hope it goes soon!
75. Mary | June 8th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
I have experienced the bitter taste in mouth too. After seaching on line, I found pine nut might be the problem. I had a handful of roasted pine nuts from “Trader Joe”. According to the package, it is the product of Russia or Korea. Three days later, I have this bitter taste in my mouth especially when eating. My husband also had a handful. But he doesn’t have any symptoms like I do. I had pine nuts in salad before without any problem. This is the first time I ate it straight from the bag. I hope to find out how to get rid of the bad taste. I will not touch pine nuts again even though I really like eating it.
76. Catherine | June 8th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
I have “Pine Mouth” and it’s truly awful. I thought I had touched something nasty and licked my fingers (”Spirigel” sprang to mind) but it’s been going on for days now
I can only liken it to the taste of “Bitrex” or the stuff you can paint your nails with to stop you biting them. Nasty, evil little pine nuts…….
77. Glenn | June 9th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
THANKS…both my wife and I have been suffering…we thought it was the coffee. The bad news is that I had the pine nuts in my salad the last two nights…Hope it goes soon…..
78. Jason | June 11th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
I too have been having that taste in my mouth the last 2 or 3 days. I bought and ate a bunch of pine nuts for the first time about 5 days ago. It’s almost like there is soap in everything I eat. I wonder if there is a particularly bad crop circulating around as it seems most of the replies on this board are recent.
79. Deane | June 11th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
What a relief!! I too have had this for 2 days now! It was soooo pronounced and so horrible. I was so excited to find this web site. I also just bought pine nuts. Mine were from fresh and easy and made in China. I have used pinenuts in my pesto for years and have even sneaked a couple of handfuls, but have never had this horrible metalic taste. If all of us are recently experiencing this, it must be a bad crop this year. Thank God for the internet. Hope all of us are cured soon.
80. Daniel | June 12th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
All,
What a relief to read this thread. I’ve been going crazy for two days, thinking I had rancid food (e.g. orange juice, yogurt, etc.). I’ve been using mouthwash and brushing my teeth 5 times a day. I was about to go to the doctor or dentist, but then a read about pine nuts. I had pine nuts on my salad on a Delta flight earlier in the week. It was the first time I’ve ever eaten pine nuts and the first time I’ve ever had this bitter taste in my mouth, especially after eating (typically sweet) food. My blood type is also O+. I will wait it out and surely never eat pine nuts again.
81. audra | June 13th, 2009 at 1:14 am
Thank goodness I’m not the only one! I made pesto several days ago and used pine nuts I purchased from Sam’s Club. My mom experienced the same thing several weeks ago and I think it was the same thing.
82. Gary | June 13th, 2009 at 2:02 am
I have had a bitter after taste in my mouth for about 4-5 days. I only realized the connection to pine nuts after my wife did a search for :bitter after taste” and found this link///
I bought my pine nuts in Shop Rite in Middletown, NY and found the origin to be Siberia with an expiration date of 9/22/09. …Made on shared equipment that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, soy and wheat…..packaged by Valued Naturals, Dover, New Jersey 07801…..
We are contacting the origin of packaging and documenting for a class action suit….Has anyone completed an ingredient analysis for additives to the raw pine nuts listed as ingredients?
83. Gary | June 13th, 2009 at 2:14 am
Source:Wikipedia…..encyclopedia…..
Risks of eating pine nuts
The eating of pine nuts can cause serious taste disturbances, developing 1-3 days after consumption and lasting for days or weeks. A bitter, metallic taste is described. In general, a minority of pine nuts on the market present this problem. Though very unpleasant, there does not seem to be a real health concern.
This phenomenon was first described in a scientific paper in 2001.[6] Since the article, experiences of the phenomenon have been reported by hundreds of people worldwide (US, Canada, South Africa, Finland, Iceland, Germany, and many more).[7] [8]
The pine nuts involved typically contain triglycerides formed by 16-18° unsaturated fatty acids. No contamination with pesticide residues or heavy metals was found
Main article: hypertriglyceridemia
In the human body, high levels of triglycerides in the bloodstream have been linked to atherosclerosis, and, by extension, the risk of heart disease and stroke. However, the relative negative impact of raised levels of triglycerides compared to that of LDL:HDL ratios is as yet unknown. The risk can be partly accounted for by a strong inverse relationship between triglyceride level and HDL-cholesterol level.
Another disease caused by high triglycerides is pancreatitis
84. Zachary | June 13th, 2009 at 4:36 am
Me too. The pine nuts were from Trader Joe’s in Los Angeles (Silver Lake). My nuts were a few weeks old. I had used them before with no issues, so I definitely think freshness (or lack thereof) is part of the equation. I made pesto with them, and was eating extras by the handful while I made it. I toasted all of the nuts I ate, so it’s not about them being raw. My wife had some of the pesto and has suffered no ill effects. I asked at the store, and they are NOT from China. The package said, “Product of Korea, Russia, or Vietnam”. On another blog, someone said that TJ’s nuts are only packaged in those countries and are sourced in China, but turns out to be untrue; I verified that they are actually sourced in one of those three countries. The TJ’s folks were very sympathetic, but basically said to get action, I’d have to email the corporate types from the TJ’s website, which I plan to do. Like some others here, I feel a mild irritation/swelling at the back of my tongue and the back of the roof of my mouth—like a very mild soar throat. I have tried eating aloe, but it doesn’t seem to help. I’m only on Day 2, so I imagine I’ve got a couple crappy weeks in front of me. No way I’m passing on pine nuts for good, but I will definitely be sure they are fresh and sourced either here in the US (New Mexico is a producer) or in Italy.
85. Vlad | June 14th, 2009 at 3:09 am
My wife and I had the same reaction to recentrly purchased at Costco nuts. I bought the nuts before, and had nothing like this – bitterness, lasting days, especially when eating. First I was worried about my diabites, but we found the article on the Internet. Thank God for World Wide Web. Now I’m thinking – what if all customers filed a class action law suite against Costco how don’t store the nuts properly.
86. Gill | June 15th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
I cannot believe this thread! I had some seafood on Saturday lunchtime and thought it was off. As the day progressed and I was OK I realised everything tasted awful, but was OK when not eating or drinking. I am now on day 3 and I think it is getting a little better or am getting used to it. I ate some pine nuts from Tesco last week (don’t eat them often and will be staying off them for a long time now!). How weird was it to find out the reason!!
87. Patrick | June 15th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
I live in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. We have a special store called Sligro. It is similar to Costco in the US, but in general have high quality foods at “reasonable” prices. The best values are the wines and cheeses, and plenty of samples to taste. However, to make a long story shor we were shoppingt, on Friday and there were samples of pine nuts in the gourmet food section. I ate several handfuls and they were very tasty. They were from China, and there were large bags for sale. I decided not to buy, because I was concerned about storing them. It was a good decision. The following evening I had the bitter taste from eating and drinking wine. It is still present.. I was very pleased to find this forum and relived that it was not something serious or related to the diabetes medication I am taking. For the record I am O+, but then I think that is the most common blood type. It is intersting to note that my wife, who is A+ and also sampled the pine nuts has had no ill effects. By the way, green tea is a good beverage, as I do not get the aftertaste when I drink it.
88. Lynn in Tucson | June 16th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I’m O+ too, FWIW (and experiencing all of the above symptoms).
89. kora | June 17th, 2009 at 5:05 am
I have been buying pine nuts for a couple of years and using them in pesto, also eating them raw. In the past they have never been refrigerated. This time I bought them from a reliable market, but they were refrigerated. I made pesto a few days ago and both my husband and I have been having the same bitter taste symptoms. What I’m wondering is, does it have to do with the refrigeration. This is the first time I’ve had this in years of eating pine nuts. Unfortunately the packaging doesn’t say where they are from.
90. Zachary | June 17th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
@Kora: I don’t think it has to do with refigeration, as my pine nuts were not refrigerated. FWIW, i am now on Day 7. The symptoms have mostly faded, but are not completely gone yet.
91. Lydia | June 17th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
It’s the first time this has ever happened to me, too. Geez. Before I found the pine nuts info, I read that one of the things that could cause a bitter taste in the mouth was early-stage ALS. Yikes.
92. Maria | June 17th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
I’m so glad to find this thread! My husband has been complaining of this strange taste for several days. As it turns out, we ate pine nuts on Saturday. Even though I ate them, too, I have not experienced the same symptoms. It’s a relief to know the cause and that it’s temporary. Thanks! I hope everyone is back to normal soon!
93. Judi Bunn | June 18th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Adding to the thanks about the pine nuts. I usually buy organic [breaks the bank, but I am usually that fussy] but couldn’t resist the ‘offer’ on baby pine nuts in my local health store – I didn’t check their origin and have thrown the bag away, but I’ll bet you a pound to a penny they’re the culprit. I blamed everything – antibiotics [although they've never had that effect before], even drinking water, but this has really convinced me that there’s a reason for sticking to what you know, and not being tempted by ‘cheap’ products. Now I think about it the last session of bad taste did fade when I went to stay with friends, but now back home and back on the pine nuts – so, first thing tomorrow they’re for the bin! Thanks for the info
94. Judi Bunn | June 18th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Just looking through the other comments, and if you love pesto but don’t want to risk the pine nuts again, I make pesto with walnuts – just substitute same amount [and I sometimes substitute watercress for basil] – not exactly the same, but a taste treat anyway
95. Sue | June 19th, 2009 at 10:12 am
I live in Australia and have oten purchased pine nuts from the supermarket. This time, however, I bought them from a shop that packages dried fruit and nuts into take-away containers – so I have no idea where they are form – but suspect they are bought in bulk and therefore cheap.
So glad I found this thread as I also suspected tumour or liver cancer, the taste is so strong and so vile.
I am A- blood type and ny husband is O+. He also ate the nuts but has not experienced symptoms at all. I have had a dull headache for the last week as well as the bitter taste at the back of my tongue.
What worries me is that if something can cause such long-term symptoms and a change in our physiology to that extent, it must be a very potent chemical of some sort.
Does anyone have any answers?
Sue
96. Judi Bunn | June 19th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Sue – in OZ – have a look at the following sites:
hyam.net/blog/archive/60 – he lists the possible culprits. Also look at the Wikipedia entry [where I think he got most of his info from] Suspicion seems to fall on Chinese nuts, especially those classified as ‘baby’
97. Sarah | June 19th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
I have this too…how many days does it last?
98. Judi Bunn | June 20th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Sarah – I think it varies from person to person – but mine lasted about 10 days, then I went away [without knowing what had caused it] and when I came home last Friday and started eating the pine nuts again it started up again. I stopped eating them on Wednesday last having read this blog. I still have the metallic taste, but from available info. [and my own experience] it does go at some stage.
99. Carol | June 21st, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Anybody have headache and nausea for days after the bitter taste was gone?
100. Paula Kirsch | June 27th, 2009 at 12:45 am
YUK!!! It’s awful!! I woke up this AM (approx. 45 hours after a salad with pine nuts was consumed) tasting lime pith in my mouth. I had purchased a different brand of pine nuts for my orzo salad and woe to me I am the only one with this awful bitter taste. Hope it goes way soon, nothing tastes right!!! So glad I found this posting, otherwise I would have gone “nuts”
Paula
101. Susan Anderson | June 27th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
I had been snacking on pine nuts from China and started experiencing the same symptoms. After about a week the symptoms were less obvious, at which time I started snacking on pine nuts again. I was wondering why my symptoms got so bad again!! I am so amazed to read that I am not alone and that there is an explanation. It really is kind of creepy though. I know I will never eat a pine nut again.
SA from Minnesota
102. Leora Druckman | June 30th, 2009 at 2:25 am
Currently on day two of nasty metallic taste – worse with sweets. Had pine nuts for the last three days. Weird.
103. Susan Anderson | June 30th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
I forgot to include the information in my June 27th comment that my blood type is O-negative.
104. Shannan | July 1st, 2009 at 5:44 am
Searched online to find out WHY I am being plagued by this horrible bitter taste whenever I eat or drink. So glad to hear it was the pinenuts and not some strange neuro thing. The taste is so beyond nasty. Thank you for that journal link. I have had it two days now (Costco Pinenuts). I ate the pinenuts the evening before I came down with the bitter taste in my mouth. By the following evening I was in full bitter mouth. No better today. WHEN does it end??
105. Steve Westhoff | July 1st, 2009 at 11:55 pm
2 days ago (after a couple beers) I was scowering to pantry for something to pass the time. I found the Pine Nutz my girfriend picked up from Trader Joes. Stuffed a few handfuls in my mouth and walked away. Yesterday I woke up with a sore throat, and today the BITTER taste… So happy to know Im not seriously Ill or something. Can’t eat but I’m starving. Oh well needed to drop some lbs. anyways. I can only describe the taste as bitter, metallic bile, yuck!
106. pixxxxie | July 2nd, 2009 at 8:58 pm
sunday night i made some delicious homemade pesto for the first time, monday night i had the funky bitter taste in my mouth, after everything i ate… now thursday, it is still happening… i am not sure where the pine nuts came from they were in the bulk section of my supermarket, i did notice they were smaller than the ones i had seen before…. thanks to your wesbsite, and others, i now know i am not dying… thanks!
107. bonnie carter | July 8th, 2009 at 11:14 am
i ate about a dozen pine nuts last night and have had the most foul tasete in my mouth all day. thanks for the info. the nuts were black and gold label and i had checked the packet for where they came from but it did not say-just that it was packaged in australia. hope it goes sooncos apples, spag. bol, bananas, and coffee have all tasted the same today-disgusting…..
108. Linda | July 16th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
OMG! I thought I was crazy!! I made some brown rice the other night and put pine nuts in it to add some texture to the boring rice. I have been snacking on it for three days and have the worst taste in my mouth. Yes, everything taste terrible. The good thing is that I made the brown rice to start a diet and it is pretty easy to keep the calories down when everything taste bad.
109. Sharon | July 17th, 2009 at 1:41 am
G-d bless google. After an attempt to enjoy the rest of what should have been a tasty pint of Ben & Jerry’s, I searched for what could be causing the nasty bitter aftertatse in my mouth which has been going on for a couple days. So happy (sort of ) to find out it was from the batch of homemade pesto I whippe dup teh other night. (there goes my pride…) I purchased my pine nuts in a small bag from a shoprite in NJ- it doesn’t list a place of origin- just tyat they were packaged in Dover, NJ. Glad to have found a source for this nastiness, but sad to toss out all that nice pesto.Not to mention the mourning over a good pint of ice cream.
110. bherenow | July 17th, 2009 at 2:27 am
Thank goodness for internet. I made pesto and put it in a meatloaf. ugh-the bitter after taste. I am 0+ also. thought I had some dreaded disease. from now on it’s walnuts in the pesto. this hasn’t happened to me before when eating pine nuts in pesto and other ways. I think it was some nuts from China or something. It was a small package from a grocery store.
111. BobbyH | July 17th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Jeesh, am I glad I’ve figured out what this is and can hope to be back to normal again within the week. Was slightly worried about brain cancer and extremely concerned about the ramifications of being revealed to be the world’s first pregnant male. The taste is almost exactly the same as Stop n Grow – the stuff nailbiters such as myself paint onto their scabby finger ends to help them kick their habit. I looked up my symptoms on the internet yesterday but skipped the entries on pine nuts as I didn’t remember eating any. Then I remembered I’d had a Pret a Manger salad earlier in the week which contained a small scattering of the culprits. Four quid for a salad and they’re sourcing the nuts on the cheap – and all their fare is supposed to be fresh on the day. Needless to say I’ll be buying my lunch elsewhere in future and not from the theiving, rip-off swines behind Pret.
112. LarryW | July 17th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
After worrying for days about the awful bitter taste I was having, I googled and found the answer. Pine nuts purchased from Costco, product of China. From the pesto to the snacking on the nuts, it all makes sense. When looking back, it all started about the time I purchased this product. I would never had expected the problem to be related to these nuts. Thanks to everyone who made comments.
113. Peter Cheng | July 19th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
What a relieve…thanx guys. I am having this horrible taste.
However, still a concern, I am wondering if it is a sign of gallbladder dysfunction, as pine nuts are fat-enriched and may aggravate gallstone-related syndrome. It seems not every one taking pine nuts have this aweful aftertaste, so it might be associated personal health status.
114. Mark | July 19th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
I used to eat these things as a kid, and had nearly forgotten about them in the last few years. While taking care of a friends house they had a big bag of them and when I saw them I could not resist the temptation, and ate some out of the Kirkland Bag. Meanwhile I had been having trouble with a filling in my mouth.
I had noticed a bitter taste and attributed it to my tooth that I knew the filling was somewhat loose, and eventually fell out.
I was actually looking here to find out if anyone else had diarrhea from the pine nuts, as BOTH times I ate them I suffered from diarrhea and the second time with vomiting. I know that every time we turn around ther5e is a new recall, and I suspect this may be more than an issue of taste, especially after reading “Product of China” on the bag!
115. RedGreen | July 20th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Yeah, I am another victim of Pine Mouth, I see…TJ’s Pine Nuts, they’ve been refrigerated ever since I bought ‘em…and yes, I’m Type O+…the nuts ARE smaller than usual, but it says the same as everyone else’s for source. (Russia/Viet Nam/Korea) And my nasty taste is “SOAPY”, not metallic, but it still has been ruining my wine, my chocolate eclair, my everything I have been eating for the last few days. Grrrrrr….
116. YuckMouth | July 21st, 2009 at 2:31 pm
I am so GLAD to find this forum. I thought I was going crazy! About a week ago I started noticing a bitter aftertaste whenever I ate sweets. But since last night, the bitter taste is very strong, and constant. It abates a little after I brush my teeth, or drink a lot of water. Until reading these posts my imagination was going wild; thought it was the glue coming out of one of my crowns; a reaction to vitamins; hormones; a reaction to all the berries I’ve eaten lately; or some kind of disease! But after reading all these posts I feel pretty sure it’s the pine nuts. I purchased pine nuts from a bulk bin at the Cary, NC Whole Foods about 2 weeks ago, and have been eating some almost every day. Unfortunately, I ate some last night. I hope this taste will go away soon?!? Oh Geez….
117. Melissa | July 21st, 2009 at 5:41 pm
My son and I are victims as well. This is crazy, it sounds like everyone who has eaten pine nuts in the last several months has been affected. Who can we report this to? My nuts were fresh off the shelf from Wegmans but the packaging did say “from China”. I think the masses should be warned but how???
118. Sian | July 27th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Me too!!!!! I’ve been to the dr twice now and had medication for thrush. When the taste was still there after 2 weeks, got mediation for acid reflux! Still there though! The dr assured me it wasn’t thoat cancer (!). I eat pine nuts and pesto loads and had quite alot since this awful taste.Oh no!!! I’m driving everyone mad. Convinced other people can smell it as the taste is so strong, I keep eating mints but they are making it worse!!! Coffee is gross and pesto is even worse!!! What to do???? Mine came from Tesco. The only thing I noticed when I bought them was that they were 70p more than last time I got them. Didn’t check where from. No more for me that’s for sure!
119. Elizabeth | July 28th, 2009 at 5:03 am
In Oakland, CA, and this is my second bout of pine mouth this summer. I also call it ’soapy’ more than ‘metallic’. Sweet foods are terrible. The first case overlapped with a wine-tasting trip, so I became the sober driver, while secretly wondering if I had some fatal disease. This time I did more web searching, found this. And I recall that I grabbed some pine nuts from my cupboard last week, and again over the weekend, after not eating any for a long time (since the last pine mouth?). The theory holds up here. Mine were bought at either Trader Joe’s or Wholefoods, bulk.
120. Janice | July 29th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
One week ago I noticed a Metallic taste in my mouth, disgusting. Last night my husband started having the same taste, now my son has joined our club. Can’t beleive this could last a whole 3 weeks. All because I thought I’d chose a healthy snack food……next time chips all the way.
121. Joann | July 31st, 2009 at 9:33 pm
A couple of weeks ago I ate some pine nuts and within two days had the bitter, metallic taste show up in my mouth. When I found the various blogs discussing the problem and its connection with pine nutes, I was dismayed to find that those afflicted were suffering this horrible taste for up to three weeks! No way!!! That just does not fit in with my plans! I figured the pine nuts that do this must be rancid and consuming rancid oil is food poisening. The handling? I took probiotics 4 times the first day and by the second day the bitter taste was more than half gone. By the second day it was all gone. The best probiotics one can buy can be found on http://www.gobeyondorganic.com. This product is not only for the disgestion, but handles food poisoning as well. Check it out – don’t suffer!
122. Anne | July 31st, 2009 at 10:54 pm
I’ve had this for 5 days now and it is so annoying. The taste to me is like getting sunsceen or face cream in my mouth that wont go away! I also thought it was recent dental work (crown cement) and almost called the dentist.
I’m B+ blood type. may be a factor?? I emailed the restaraunt to let them know their pine nuts could be bad. Hope we’ll hear something soon in the media. It’s just too many people getting this.
123. Joy | August 1st, 2009 at 12:19 am
Berkeley, CA Yup! Exactly. Bought the pine nuts at TJ’s. Used them last Sunday in a salad, pasta on Monday, pesto on Tuesday. Had a couple of handfuls in between. By Wednesday couldn’t stand the bitter taste that occurred after eating anything. Since my husband wasn’t having any ill effects, did not make the pine nut connection. Mystified the doctor. Lab tests were normal, was set up for CT scan, chest x-ray, and EKG before my cousin found this site. Grateful for the info, and hope it becomes common knowledge to prevent others from suffering and so that it can become a part of the medical lexicon AND so that some one can find out what exactly is the root cause (processing, packaging, storage, contamination?), aside from place of origin. I enjoy pine nuts, and would hate to have to worry every time I was faced with one. Don’t usually join in the fray, but wanted to add to testimonials on record so that someone might stand up, take notice, and do something to get this item off store shelves. It is definitely causes discomfort and worry. Oh, it’s been 5 days since my first bite, 4 days since I noticed a bitter taste, but only 2 days since I last put some in my mouth. OY!
124. Song | August 3rd, 2009 at 5:33 am
I had a bitter aftertaste in my mouth for two weeks, beginning about a week after returning from a year in Siberia. Around April I bought some pine nuts in shells at the market, probably last year’s crop. Pine nuts grow in Siberia, so I expect they were local, but they could have been imported from China. I snacked on them every now and then up until the time I left, but never had any problem with an aftertaste while in Russia. Someone mentioned that black tea could help reduce the flavor. Maybe that’s why. I drank black tea with every meal and between meals while there. When I returned to the US a month ago, I did not drink much tea. A bitter taste developed in my mouth after about a week and lasted for two weeks. I thought maybe I was sensitive to some kind of food additive I hadn’t tasted in a year, or that my body may be was releasing toxins I had been ingesting from the water over there or something. Could be, or it could have been from the pine nuts. For me, the flavor was annoying, but not unbearable. I’m glad it went away after two weeks. I was considering talking to a doctor about it.
125. adro | August 3rd, 2009 at 6:10 am
im in melbourne, australia. had the bitter taste in my mouth for a few days before i found this site. doctor had told me it was probably reflux but i had no other symptoms other than bitter metallic taste, mainly when i ate or drank..
a week later it seems to have almost completely gone..
126. Jill | August 3rd, 2009 at 9:32 pm
So glad I found this. I have been driving myself mad. And like some of you I thought I had something seriously wrong with my liver! what a relief. this all figures and my pine puts were from China. still not sure if there is something wrong with them or whether they are produced like that for the Chinese market and we’ve just not had them here before (i think i got mine in Waitrose but the brand was Neals Yard.) I think my sympotims have got worse each time I eat and it seems to have last about four days now. black tea seems to help or non-fruit herbal tea. But food? Yuk
Just tried eating again and, no, can’t do it
127. YuckMouth | August 3rd, 2009 at 9:47 pm
I posted on 7/21 – just wanted to follow-up. The bitter taste lasted about 4 days for me. On the worst day of all-day-long bitterness, I started taking 5 different kinds of homepathic remedies to try to combat the bitter taste. They may have helped – I guess I will never know. A friend of mine recently read an article that says that this bitter aftertaste caused by pine nuts is highly desireable in China. They LIKE how it keeps them from having a “sweet tooth”! Seems a little extreme to me… Overall, this bitter experience with Chinese pine nuts has made me realize that the taste in my mouth really affects my mental outlook.
128. P | August 4th, 2009 at 7:49 am
I am relieved to read that pine nuts are the culprit to this bitter taste problem that I have been having since I started eating these pine nuts that I bought from the U.S. but were supplied by China. My son is feeling the bitter taste in the mouth as well, but not my husband, though both have been popping pine nuts in their salads and sometimes even cereal in the last couple of weeks.
129. Jill | August 4th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
just to add, i hve found i can eat prawns and salad doused in balsamic vinegar, and by doused i mean drowned, and diet coke and black tea…if thats any help to anyone
130. Kim | August 5th, 2009 at 5:45 am
I thought oh geez, now what!!!! I have been suffering from chronic hives for about a year and a half now and I get headaches and all kinds of weird symptoms docs cant figure out and now THIS!! I taste bitterness. It ruins anything you want to eat and especially sweet sutff. Well I told my mom about this weird terrible taste in the back of my tongue and she says oh no, now what is happening to you. She suggested I google my symptoms and so after a whole day of bad taste I googled my symptoms. Well I came up with all kinds of terrifying diseases on Google and ignored the pine nut theories. I just read about the other horrid diseases. My Grandmother had a hideous taste in her mouth days before she died and she only died about a month and a half ago and my mom said oh dear Grama had that awful taste too. I was thinnking about that and I was really bothered. But then I just decided to go ahead and click on the pine nut theory and sure enough!! I had eaten pine nuts August 2, 2009 and today, August 4th 2009 I woke up with this nasty taste. I ate a piece of swiss cheese and I thougt holy cow this tastes like crap! I ate another piece thinking it would get better and it didn’t so I then I drank some of my dandelion tea that I have been drinking for a week now and it was awful! water was awful! I brusehed my teetha nd that was awful! Soooooo all day everytime I ate it was bad. Except for the sourdough turkey sandwich. I ate taht and it was ok but then I has a bite of icecream and YUK! Well it has been nasty all day and I made a rice salad for dinner like I did night before last and I toasted pine nuts and added it to the salad like the other night and ate a little of it and then decided to look up the bad taste on google and was amazed at the outcome. But sad that I had just eaten more of the nasty little beasts! miseralbe little nasty things! NEVER AGAIN! My hubby and kids didn’t seem to be affected by the nuts so far, just me. I am glad I know what it is now because I was going to make an appointment at the doc!
131. JB | August 7th, 2009 at 12:32 am
I started noticing this bitter aftertaste whenever I swallowed while eating and after a couple of days I Googled the symptom and found this info. about all of these people having the same problem after eating pine nuts…well, I also had pine nuts for the first time a a while–just a few nights ago. What a relief (I hope) because I was thinking it was some health issue.
The bitter taste is not when I chew my food, but only as I swallow it and then I taste the bitterness. It is very annoying and I’ll be glad when it stops. I don’t recall ever having this problem in the paste when eating pine nuts. Strange…
I bought my pine nuts at Schnuck’s grocery store and they came from some place in Boling Brook, IL–No mention of being imported from China, however. They came in a plastic bowl with air-tight lid.
I don’t think I’ll be eating pine nuts again anytime soon !!
132. Scott | August 10th, 2009 at 10:26 am
being male I thought I was a gonna…toasted pine nuts with asparagus for dinner a few days ago and I have been freaking out ever since! Many thanks for the heads up
133. MiMi | August 14th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
OMG I can’t believe this. I thought I might have liver damage or a brain tumor and low & behold I ate PINE NUTS the day (or two) before the bitterness started. My nuts are from SunRidge Farms Naturals and there is no mention of China on the package. What is in those pine nuts that could cause this reaction? I too have eaten many in the past with no trouble.
134. melissa | August 15th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
I am from New Mexico and eat pine nuts all the time with no problem, but I just moved to China and ate pine nuts a few days ago at a restaurant, now can’t eat anything. has anyone tried the probiotic suggested a few days ago? I’m not sure how I’m going to try to translate that to find it but I’m desperate!!!
135. nina | August 17th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
i am fortunate, i have not had the awful pine nuts. i usually buy inexpensive ones in pound packages, but i am going to switch to italian or new mexican pine nuts. i am writing about what to do if a store is still selling the bad ones despite your complaints. i would ask the staff [the higher up in management the better] to eat a handful in front of me, offering to pay for a new package. if they do, they may have the same awful reaction, and might remove them from sale, or at least be punished by having the bitter taste themselves.
136. Mary | August 18th, 2009 at 4:57 am
Great to find these posting. I have had pine nuts before in salads with no problems but this time I ate a couple of handfuls. Tasted great. But then the next day the bitterness started. Mine are local Valley Finest from Fresno California not China.
I wonder what the trigger is. Amount eaten? Type of tree? Processing? or what??
137. Lisa | August 18th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
I have to reply here too! I have pine nut mouth and it is driving me crazy! I eat pine nuts a lot but this bag I got from Sam’s was different…the pine nuts are very small and are darker. They are from China.
138. Vishy | August 19th, 2009 at 2:57 am
Uck the bitterness. Even a cake tastes bitter. I had pine nuts 2 days ago. This was a brand called Mellisa’s packaged in California. I have had pine nuts several times before, never this bitter taste.
139. Sasha | August 19th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
My personal opinion on this topic:
Doctors are wandering why some people do experience a metallic taste in the mouth after eating the same amount of pine seeds and other don’t.
The answer is simple…
Nature is smarter than we are…
Ask yourself (or google it), what is the natural cleansing of charged liver? Oil & citrus juice…
Duh….pine nuts & grapefruit (or any other acidic food) triggered the liver to start the natural clean up.
The metallic taste is taste of the bile
I ate bunch of nuts and never had this “taste” effect…
Once I spent the whole day and all I had with me was: 3 grapefruit & 300-400 gram of pine nuts…
I kept them in the bag as I was craving badly for them…
When I eventually ate them all, I suddenly wanted to eat something acidic (luckily I had grapefruits).
Next morning I woke up this this strange metallic taste of bile in my mouth…
Sorry for the details, but after going to the bathroom it smelled like petroleum and had strange green color.
Once again: it is just my personal opinion/assumption – I am not a certified biochemist
140. Sasha | August 19th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Another theory based on this info:
1)”Pine nuts are actually one of the higher fat nuts, and are often used in rich foods such as pesto. But don’t let their small size fool you — pine nuts are very nutrient dense, and full of vitamins A, C and D”
2) I read this about our liver from the article:
“Are humans omnivores or herbivores?”
Liver
CARNIVORE: Can detoxify vitamin A
HERBIVORE: Cannot detoxify vitamin A
OMNIVORE: Can detoxify vitamin A
HUMAN: Cannot detoxify vitamin A
(full article: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_humans_omnivores_or_herbivores)
BOTTOM LINE:
OUR LIVER CANNOT DETOXIFY VITAMIN A & PINES ARE FULL OF VITAMIN A….
PROBABLY PINE NUTS T RIGGED THE DISCHARGE OF THE LIVER AS ANY EXCESSIVE OILY FOOD CAN DO…
141. Kristin | August 20th, 2009 at 2:52 am
I opened a new package of pine nuts partway through the pesto-making process on Sunday, and noticed smaller, darker nuts. “Hmmm, thought I, “These certainly don’t look like my regular nuts…”
I used 1 Tbsp. of the new nuts in the entire batch, and ate approximately 1 tsp. of the pesto. Which means I ate, what, a half of a pine nut?
Sometime the next day, the metallic taste began. I, too, went through so many possible causes in my head. Was my pH off from ingesting too much greens+? Had I eaten too much watermelon? Could eating too much watermelon even cause such a reaction? And why was it getting worse? Were the basil leaves ridiculously bitter? But again, why was it getting worse? Now every food tastes horrid. Seriously, was I experiencing symptoms of a brain tumor?
Ever-thankful I am to have found this page. At least there’s an explanation for it all. Now I just get to cross my fingers I, too, lose my appetite entirely and drop a couple pounds as a result.
My brand of nuts: Naturalife, a division of DMR Food Coporation [sic], Vaughan, Ontario. I see no indication of country of origin on the actual nuts.
142. Girla | August 20th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
I’m in Texas & have a wonderful garden. I have made two large batches of Pesto from my huge crop of basil & YOU GUESSED IT…the last batch (which I shared with 3 friends) was obviously made with Chinese oxidized (& therefore unfit) pine nuts. I dont know about all of you but I have about had it with the Chinese food imports. I refuse to buy anything from China for my dog and now I will refuse to buy anything for myself. This is hogwash & a solvable problem. I am furious about the time and money that went in to these dishes only to be duped because the FDA isnt watching this problem. What will be next?
143. Jackie | August 22nd, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Ok i have never left any reply’s to anyone, or i have never even written on any of these informative sights. Howeverrrrr, i made pesto last night and for the first time ever added pine nuts , it says made in the USA, its the shoprite brand actually. This saopy icky taste is terrible , never had this in my life, my husband and daughter were not affected, I was worried maybe my liver was bad????? How long did it take to go away for you???? OMG i guess my diet starts now. But not knowing when this will go away is crazy, and wine….oh my god the worst. I will absolutely be reporting this to someone, i never heard of this before, people should be aware this could happen. Thankyou for any help
144. Glynn | August 22nd, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Yep, day 2 of the “taste” (day 4 after eating the pinenuts). Bought them at Jewel in Antioch, IL. They were the same ones mentioned above in a plastic air-tight tub and marked from Boling Brook, IL. Anyone that hasn’t experienced this just doesn’t understand how bad it is.
145. PR | August 23rd, 2009 at 4:25 am
I bought my pine nuts at Trader Joes in southern CA and made a lovely batch of pesto on Saturday night, and by Sunday afternoon, I had “Pine Mouth”. It is really awful. My bag of nuts was labeled ‘ product of Russia, or Korea’. So now, I’m on day 7, and I’m finally getting my taste back, but the bitterness lingers a little. I’m going to TJs to return the pine nuts, and will write to their corporate office. I will shoot an email to the FDA while I’m at it. I can’t believe this product is still on the market.
146. TCM | August 25th, 2009 at 7:30 am
I’m from Adelaide, Australia.I bought some loose Pine nuts at a local shopping centre last Thursday, and Friday started to experience a bitter taste whenever I ate something. I googled this, thank god for the internet and discovered this interesting fact. I thought I was being poisoned or something along those lines. I tried a couple more on Saturday just to experiment, it is now Tuesday and still have a little of the bitterness. Awful. I won’t be eating those dreaded things ever again, i think i will also return them and find out which country they came from.
147. becky | August 25th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I have had the bitter taste in my mouth for days and started to worry. So amazed to find this out about pine nuts. My husband bought a new brand, which we will not buy again. The taste is awful, but glad to know that it will go away soon. Only pine nuts from China cause this bitter taste? Or do I need to beware of others?
148. Nigel C | August 26th, 2009 at 5:26 am
I woke up with a bitter taste in my mouth a couple of days ago. I speculated that there was detergent residue in my teacup.
To cut a long story short, after remaking the tea, tossing out the milk, two days of rinsing my mouth with vinegar, salt, Frangellico, anything at all, etc.
You guessed it. Pine nuts. Would have to be only the second time I have eaten them in 10 years. The strange bitter, soapy taste was evident 2 days after eating.
Weird.
What a relief to find the accounts listed here.
149. sandie | August 26th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Live in the UK and bought a 200g bag of – Fruit, Seed & Nut Harvest Mix to snack on two days ago. Including 20% pine kernels. Information on back of packet says, ‘Produce of more than one country’ so am not sure of their origin yet.
Today have been experiencing a most disgusting, sickening, bitter taste in my mouth.Have cleaned my teeth six times during the day to try and rid my mouth of the metallic, sour taste – but all to no avail!
Drinking water, tea, any food (but especially sweet things) makes the symptons a whole lot worse.
Yes, thank goodness for the internet because if I hadn’t fallen upon this most helpful information I would have been making an urgent appontment at the doctor’s tomorrow morning.
I shall be ‘phoning the supplier to suggest they are removed from sale!
150. Manda | August 26th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Got my pine nuts from the “Bulk Barn” in Toronto – - and yup, I got a terrible case of “pine mouth” from them. Foul metallic taste in my mouth and the back of my throat…and disgusting mucous buildup. No to mention the headaches and nausea. Took more than a week to go away. Can’t believe the store doesn’t post any warning to this product – - the research has been out for about 8 years now~~~ !!! (since 2001). Get with it, Bulk Barn.
151. julie | August 27th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Thank you for the information. I started experiencing an annoying and bitter aftertaste recently and sure enough…we had pine nuts from China this past week!!!!
How long does it take before this bitter aftertaste goes away?
152. Hannah | August 29th, 2009 at 6:50 am
This is amazing, how many people around the world (I live in South Australia) have experienced the same attack on their tastebuds, in the last three months?? What is wrong with chinese pinenuts?? I’m in the same boat. I made a luscious batch of pesto with pinenuts and the next day everything tasted foul. I thought I had liver damage or mouth cancer until I found the answer on the net! Thank you to all
153. Felipe | August 29th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
We were also going crazy with the aftertaste! And yes we saw the bag and it indeed comes from China. We changed the water we drink, the milk, the bread…even our toothpaste. My blood is A- and my wife’s O+ and we both have the bitter aftertaste so I guess it doesn´t have anything to do with bood type. We are taking what´s left of the pine nuts to the supermarket to make sure they know what’s going on and to prevent others from getting it.
Thanks to Google and all of you guys!
154. Stanislava | August 30th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
The same symptoms… pine nuts from China about 24 hours before first taste disturbance. I am from Czech republic, so the problem is really global. Now I am happy to be OK after four days… One thing is sure – I´ll never more eat pine nuts!
155. rachel | August 31st, 2009 at 8:19 pm
It is NOT ONLY caused by pine nuts from CHINA!! mine, as well as many others from another blog, came from eating Trader Joe’s pine nuts from Korea. I too will never ever eat pine nuts again, and I loved them
156. stan | September 2nd, 2009 at 11:45 am
As every year, I made a large batch of pesto (1 gallon) over the weekend and used roasted pine nuts in the recipe. The next day, I developed a very bitter taste on the soft pallet on the back part of the roof of my mouth and has not gone away yet. At first I thought thyat it was the plain yougurt with cucumber and garlic dip my wife made for some stuffed Greek grape leaves, unfortubnately that is not the case.
157. Elaine Sayer | September 4th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
I got the wretched ‘taste’ today, I’d eaten a small bag of pine nuts over the previous two days. Not sure where my pine nuts came from but I’m going to check the supermarkets where I shop to remind myself which bag it was. How come this isn’t on the news as it’s an international problem? I have just eaten a banana and it has left a bad taste but tasted not too bad whilst actually eating it. From reading the bloggs it seems that sweet carbohydrates may be worse.
158. leeann | September 5th, 2009 at 3:55 am
I bought pine nuts for the first time in my life to make pesto. I got them at Fresh and Easy in Arizona and they were from China. This is miserable! I was so glad to find that it was the pinenuts that were causing this taste. I thought I had some terrible disease and would never enjoy food again! My daughter and husband ate some, but have not had symptoms. I ate more than them, thinking the pesto was good for me-ha! I will never touch another PINE NUT again!
159. Kathleen | September 5th, 2009 at 6:28 am
I am having a very hard time eating, as I started having the bitter taste in my mouth several days ago. I made orzo salad with raw pine nuts about a week ago, and ate it for lunch about three days in a row. The pine nuts were from Kroger, and were a product of China. They actually looked smaller than the jar of pine nuts I usually buy, but I decided to get them since they were inexpensive. Big mistake. I hope this taste goes away soon.
160. Michael | September 9th, 2009 at 5:58 am
Thank goodness for the web! So glad I found this info. I thought I was suffering from some strange poisoning!
On Sunday afternoon I bought a prepared pesto pasta salad at my local Fresh Market here in Charlotte, NC. I also picked up a small bag of Pine Nuts to add as a garnish when serving. There were more nuts than needed and I ate a small handful… What a mistake! While I cannot be certain if it was the nuts from the bag (they did have a stronger than usual taste) or the nuts in the pesto dressing (or both) it is now Tuesday evening and I am suffering with a bitter taste in my mouth when I eat or drink and even intermitantly when I am not eating. This is not fun. I can live with it but not forever. I am glad to hear that it will go away, I just wish it would go away sooner than later. What is especially puzzling about this is that I have been eating pine nuts since I was a child, well over 40 years. This is the very first time this has ever happened to me. Well, like they say – Live and Learn. I just wish the lesson wasn’t so bitter!
161. Jeanie | September 10th, 2009 at 4:36 am
I too am so relieved to find this. To be honest I don’t know if I had pine nuts or not. Ate with friends at a fancy restaurant and was amazed at how many ingredients they put in their “Blueberry Muffin Salad”. Afterwards had homemade birthday cake at a friend’s house – a recipe I’d not had before. This happened Sunday night. By Monday night I was noticing a bitter after taste. Here it is Wednesday night and if anything it’s a lot worse. Anything from cheese to chocolate has tasted terrible, even just plain bread and butter. I’m calling the restaurant tomorrow to see if they use pine nuts in that salad. Here’s hoping they do, because if they don’t I can come up with a lot of alternative reasons for this aftertaste that are just awful.
162. Jeanie | September 11th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Yep, they put pine nuts in the salad. Whew. Does anybody know of anything you can eat that doesn’t leave that foul aftertaste? I’m very hungry.
163. PJ | September 12th, 2009 at 7:01 am
Yes me too – i’ve had this awful taste in my mouth for a couple of days now. Just been scouring the internet this morning and I saw an article about pine nuts – I haven’t had any I thought but then I remembered that we went out for a meal on Tuesday and my husband had pine nuts on his salad. He didn’t eat them because he’s not overly fussed I had a small fork full and here I am with this shocking taste in my mouth. YUK and yes as everyone says even good wine tastes shocking!
164. Luca | September 12th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Hi guys! I’m Luca from Rome, Italy, and I’m experiencing the same problem, too! The pine nuts I bought were from China, of course! It seems to be a global problem indeed!
Hope this awful taste goes away soon! Any suggestion to accelerate the “healing” process?!
Also, have a look here:
Taste disturbances after pine nut ingestion – European Journal of Emergency Medicine
http://www.euro-emergencymed.com/pt/re/ejem/fulltext.00063110-200103000-00036.htm;jsessionid=LkTGjg2m4LlVHP7SSm4rTy3l1hVM9RgthgZy12dm8rFFNgJfDHnn!-927161468!181195628!8091!-1
165. Jill | September 12th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Thank you SO much for the explanation! I thought I was going “nuts” !!! Couldn’t figure it out and now I know. I bought pine nuts for the first time for a recipe and have been snacking on the extras all week. Just checked the country of origin – and there it is: China! Will look for Italian pine nuts in the future! Thank you, again! Jill
166. Eleanor | September 13th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Wow. I am in the Virgin Islands.I have loved pine nuts for years and never had a problem, but I don’t eat them more than once a year or so. I bought a large bag a week ago (Sun Nuts brand, no origin on label) at our local warehouse store and have eaten some every day since. This morning I got up and was drinking my usual black tea with milk when I noticed the extreme bitter taste. I threw away 2 cups of tea before I realized it wasn’t the tea, it was me. I just came to the computer and googled “bitter aftertaste” and this site came up as the first worth exploring…
I am O+ , and I have also been experiencing a tightness in my chest, and insomnia last night, perhaps unrelated.
167. Roxanne | September 14th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Thank you all for writing. I’m in Quebec Canada and like so many of you made pesto with basil from my garden. The container from Provigo store indicates they were distributed by a company in Boucherville Que but no place of origin. It certainly is alarming that no general notice has gone out. I guess we have to start dying before someone will take notice. As most people have noted this is a frightening experience.
What about the probiotics? Is there no one else out there trying to find a remedy? This can’t be good for the system with such a strong longlasting effect.
168. Jeremy | September 15th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
I bought pine nuts on Sat. Sep. 12 for pesto, which I ate that night and for lunch the next day. I also ate a few raw before making the pesto. I noticed the bitterness on Monday afternoon when eating banana bread and thought it was the walnuts for some reason. Nope.
I don’t know if mine came from China – I’ll have to check. I bought them at a small, specialty ostensibly local and organic market in Oregon. They were selling them for $17.99/lb. Makes me wonder where they got them, and I have a feeling they might be sheepish about telling me. Their customer base would not be happy about them selling nuts from China.
169. Patrice Stradnick | September 17th, 2009 at 2:07 am
Yesterday i ate pine nuts from china bought them at Sams Club. Bitter taste in my mouth, everything i eat tastes bitter. I called the dentist thought i had a bad tooth or something nope. Then i did what everyone else would do, check the internet and bingo. I know what is wrong, thank you bloggers.
170. Patrice Stradnick | September 17th, 2009 at 3:48 am
Now I found out what you can do to take the taste out of your mouth just brush your tounge real good it really helps and now Im done with pine nuts even though I love them its just not worth it!
171. Katrina | September 17th, 2009 at 4:03 am
Crazy! I made pesto for a dinner party 9/13, snacked on the pine nuts. The pesto was eaten by 8 people, none of them got \pine mouth\ except me about 24 hrs. later when dinner and especially wine suddenly tasted very bitter and astringent, like walnut or persimmon skins. The pine nuts were sold as organic from China, bought them in Ukiah, California. We’ve been eating pine nuts for years and never had this happen before. 3 days later still have strong pine mouth, hope it goes away soon!
172. Tom | September 30th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
A Chinese writer above says Chinese pine nuts are naturally bitter. For weeks after eating a few? We need to demand of our legislators clear and transparent country of origin labeling on all products so that we can do our own personal risk management. No governmental entity–theirs or ours–is doing it for us.
Also, pine mouth reminds me of the transient aftertaste from artificial sweeteners, something that also affects a fraction of people–not everyone–so I wonder if there could be a connection.
173. Karen | September 18th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Yup, same here. What’s scary to me is that the bitter taste in our mouths is probably a symptom of something *else* going on in our bodies. But god forbid the FDA or anyone else taking this seriously.
I bought pine nuts in bulk last weekend (I’m in Lake Stevens, WA), pulled up all my basil and made and froze a HUGE amount of pesto for quick winter dinners. We ate a couple pasta/pesto meals and the bitter/metallic taste started two days later. So I guess I need to throw all the pesto out. What a waste.
Just wanted to make sure I’m another on record. Think of all the people who *aren’t!* I’ll figure out how to get a complaint in to the FDA, too. (Ha.)
174. Peggy | September 19th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
I am on day 4 of this “bitter” experience and counting. Exaclty 2 days after comsuming about 1 tablespoon of raw pine nuts the bitter, metalic taste began. Beginning on day 2 (4 days after consumption) about an hour following any consumption of food a mild nausea sets in that lasts 2 – 3 hours. On day 2 I experienced mild diarrea that was yellow, like bile. This is HORRIBLE. After finding this blog (thank you ALL for sharing your experiences) I told my husband about it. He thought it odd and knows I am no hypochodriac but his curiosity got the better of him and the brave soul downed a handful of pine nuts just to see. Exactly 2 days later today) he is experiencing the bitter metalic taste. We dread hunger as we don’t know how to satisfy it without making ourselves feel worse. So far we have tried plain cooked shrimp, plain scrambled eggs, plain cooked rice and plain baked or mashed potato with less suffering. Meats, vegetables, fruits, dairy and grains all taste bitter. We discovered that honey seems to provide some temporary relief. We have been drinking a lot of water in an attempt to flush our systems but that doesn’t seem to be having an effect. We don’t have the original packaging so we don’t know the source of our pine nuts. They were purchased at either WalMart or HEB in Waxahachie, TX. Interestingly, our pine nuts seem to be mixed. There are larger, light ones and smaller dark ones. Not sure if we will ever consume pine nuts again. If we do it will only be after solid assurance of their source. No more food of any kind from China will enter this house ever again!!!
175. Dan | September 21st, 2009 at 8:32 pm
OK, this is really weird. I’m on day 2.
I find it disturbing that there are 170 comments on this post, mostly from the past 6 months.
Is this a long-known phenomenon, or is there some crazy bad crop coming out of China?
The only pine nuts I might have eaten were in some pesto sauce 2 days ago….
176. Nancy | September 22nd, 2009 at 2:20 am
Thought I was going crazy until I found this website. Made, for the first and last time, pesto on Friday night and had a handful of pine nuts while preparing. Woke up Sunday a.m. with swollen tongue and bitter taste in mouth. Only thing working for me is brushing my tongue at intervals…helps for an hour or so. My husband and daughter did not have a problem. Hope it goes away soon.
177. Rebecca | September 24th, 2009 at 6:10 am
I am so thankful for all the postings. I have never posted anything before, but decided to add my experience, too, in case these postings are used to educate distributors. I had a perfectly wonderful tasting spinich salad with a handful of pinenuts added and two days later started experiencing the bitterness. My sister ate the same type salad and had no problem. We live in Texas.
178. R Shortall | September 24th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
I too am experiencing this taste phenomenon. Had a handful of hte nuts at a friend’s house 8 days ago. They were in the pantry and may have been there for quite some time. Will check out bag. But I have a large bag of Diamond pine nuts in my freezer from last year. I periodically dig some out for salads, etc. and never experience this problem. I will have some of these and attempt to see if it happens after this clears up. The expiration on the bag in my freezer is 4/09 but I have had some, as I said, since then. Purchased at Sam’s. I’m type A-. I echo others when I say thanks to bloggers for information and wry senses of humor!
179. R Shortall | September 24th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
By the way, I just saw that Lisa #134 bought pine nuts at Sam’s. While hers were smaller and dark, those that I have are plump and light, like small blanched almonds.
180. Kacy | September 24th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Add me to the list! I have had this bitter taste for about 5 days, and just googled hoping to find out if others have experienced the same odd sensation. I’m in Bellingham, WA, and bought pine nuts from Fred Meyers (Naturally Preferred Brand) last week. I just checked the back of the container, and sure enough, they are from China. No more pine nuts for this family. I sell organic bread at our local Farmers Market and mostly buy everything local and fresh…. who would have thought that pine nuts were a risk?
181. Scott | October 1st, 2009 at 5:41 pm
I think we ate pine nuts while my wife and I were in Ashford, WA (near Mt. Rainier) over the weekend. I thought I was just imaging things until my wife mentioned she was experiencing the same feeling for the past three days (which matches my experience) – it’s good to know that I am not going bonkers.
182. Stephanie | September 25th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
This sounds like a great way to lose weight. If nothing tastes good, you won’t want to eat. (lol)
Actually, I buy USA pine nuts and have not had a problem. But, thanks for the head’s up. I will check my labels and country or origin posts. I usually buy mine in a Greek food store. I’ll ask there.
183. Greer | September 26th, 2009 at 5:44 am
I bought the pinenuts from Trader Joes in Chicago. My husband hasn’t the bitter taste. Unfortunately I put them in pesto, SIX JARS, that I made. Oddly enough my two sisters have experienced metallic or bitter taste before. I don’t think that they ever found out that it might have been from pinenuts. I’m going to tell them what I’ve discovered.
184. The Blork Blog » Pine Nut Warning | September 27th, 2009 at 1:03 am
[...] The Bitter Aftertaste of Chinese Pine Nuts (Babyccino) [...]
185. jeannine | September 27th, 2009 at 1:54 am
Take fresh ginger and make a ginger tea, after the third cup it will be about 90% better. A friend of mine told me about this after I said I had a bad taste in my mouth for a couple of days. It work !
186. Pauline | September 27th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
OMG. Just eaten 100g of pine nuts!! Don’t know whether to induce vomiting but will probably stick with it. At least
a I might lose weight
b I’ll know what I’ve got
I have blood type B+ which is of Asiatic origin presumed from my great-grandmother.
I also have a very communicative liver which usually stops me over-drinking alcohol or over-eating fatty foods. It also aches like mad if I try to take paracetamol. (occasionaly prescribed as a painkiller in the UK and also for sine flu which I have had – another story and not too awful a one either – but I certainly didn’t take paracetamol!)
Will keep you all posted. PG
187. DonK | September 28th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Part of the club….
Location: South Florida, Boca Raton
Source: B.J.’s Wholesale club
Duration: 9 days and continuing
Wife experienced it for almost two weeks.
I don’t know if it correlates, but interestingly:
-I get the “soapy” taste from cilantro.
– Blood Type AB+
188. Aideen Burke | September 29th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Thank God, it was the pine nuts!!! thought i was imaging the bitter taste of nail polish(not that I typically eat:)) I’ve had my bitter taste for a week now, though today I think its subsiding, can’t wait to enjoy the taste of food again,– great diet concept though haha lol!
189. Aideen Burke | September 29th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
I meant to say ‘imagining’ oops
190. jinx | September 29th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
omg I am so happy I found this, I had been freaking out (why does everyone always assume “brain tumor”…I have been watching too many House episodes!) But yes I had made orchiette with broccoli and pine nuts from Trader Joes several days ago and just yesterday started noticing this bitter aftertaste, especially after eating sweets. We have pine nuts all the time –some even bought from TJs–but this has never happened before, this was a new batch and its going in the trash right now. I really hope this is the explanation!
191. David | September 30th, 2009 at 12:02 am
Consumed at restaurant on Friday 8pm.
Symptoms started Sunday afternoon
Type 0 neg
Location Rhode Island.
This sucks
192. Faye @ GreenOrganicMama.com | October 1st, 2009 at 5:08 pm
OMG! Thank you! I had pine nuts in my salad the other night, and then this bitter aftertaste started. Exactly as you described… it’s worse when you’re eating. Blech!!
It’s happened a few times, and I thought it was from garlic. But now that I think back, it was when I had my homemade pesto (lots of pine nuts).
Thank you for this!!
Also, I’d like to welcome you over to my blog over at GreenOrganicMama.com. I’m running two giveaways right now, including one for a fantastic organic skin care prize pack from The Body Shop!
Thank you again, and take care
Faye @ GreenOrganicMama.com
193. Tara | October 3rd, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Same story! Pesto 3 days ago, bitter mouth for the last 2 days. Gross! Worse after eating/drinking. Costco pine nuts from China!! I just returned the whole bag and got my $20 bucks back. I will never bake or cook wit these cheap things!!
194. Rita Drubek | October 3rd, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Unbelievable.. I am a yacht chef working in South of France and just spent the last two hours online trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with me as anything i ate or drunk taste awfully bitter. I was helping out with a friend’s dinner party tonight, she bought these tiny pine nuts (which i never used before) i’ve toasted them and put in the salad. I can only hope that the other 20 or so guests are not going through the same terrible sensation as they will probably blame me for the “bad” experience. Thanks for the thread, it saved me a trip from the doctor and make me banish all non-european pine nuts forever from my cuisine..
195. konstantin | October 5th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
eating papaya seemed to have provided at least temporary relief
196. kahren | October 6th, 2009 at 3:22 am
Amazing, there are three of us suffering this started on sunday morning after eating pine nuts at friends house on Friday evening. First thought Indian food then one of the friends gave idea. Now I see it is so common. He mentioned this reaction if nuts are old. I am on my day 2.
197. Tesh | October 7th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Got pine nuts from Target. Ate them. Now this bitter after taste won’t go away. Yep, checked the label – produce of China.
Fruits taste weird! The wine taste weird! Bread taste weird! The bitterness lasts long after I have stopped eating.
What is this? What did I do to deserve this? And no, I am not pregnant, because I am a man.
Don’t feel like eating anything anymore.
Threw away the rest of the pine nuts.
Any one know how long this lasts? Oooofff !!!…
198. Katie | October 8th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Just for the record: here is another Trader Joe’s pine nut victim. On my birthday at that!
Just for the record… I got this taste disturbance only once in the past, even though i eat pine nuts regularly. Not any more! I am very glad I finally found out the cause…
199. Lucinda | October 12th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
same bad taste the rest describe. I got my nuts in Maine. They were distributed by American Importing of Minneapolis, MN. The origin is China and they are smaller than I have had in the past. the ironic part of the label is that it reads, \Best by: 07-22-10\ If this is best, I hate to think of what might be worse. I am on about day four of the taste . Mint tea helps a bit. I am going to try: ginger, brushing my tongue, black tea and probiotics as recommended. the thought of ever eating another pine nut makes my guts cringe.
200. Tatianna | October 13th, 2009 at 12:47 am
I had about a handful of pine nuts from China (Amport Foods Pignolias, American Importing Co. Inc., Minneapolis, MN-bought at Sam’s Club) about a week and a half ago. 5 days ago the weird metallic taste followed everything I ate (with the one exception of dried, slightly sugared ginger-which is now tasting sweet when before I just choked it down when my arthritis acted up). So it has been five days now and the awful taste isn’t getting any better. I’m losing weight too, but I’m ready to get my taste buds back.
201. Mary | October 13th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
This is hell in a pine nut. I served them in lasagna at a dinner party on Sunday and am embarrassed to call my guests. I think the nuts must affect the taste of the saliva – there must be a chemical that stays in the bloodstream. I have eaten pinenuts for years but this is a first.
202. Libby | October 15th, 2009 at 2:23 am
I am glad to have found this out. I purchased some small-sized pine nuts from my local Whole Foods. I used them to make pesto. I never would have given them another thought – but the bitter atfer taste in my mouth over the past wek started me looking on the internet. How interesting!
203. Justin D | October 15th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Hey folks – Reading this fascinating thread after a friend of mine explained he had this problem!
Frankly, I’m completely shocked.
I’m Italian. My family has been using pine nuts (pignoli nuts, rather
in cooking for *generations.* And this is a family of hardcore gourmands.
We have never, ever, had a single problem with pine nuts – in our own cooking nor with pastries bought from our usual three bakers here in NYC.
I CAN tell you this without a doubt: we’ve always only used pignolis grown in Italy. And no one – family and friends – have ever once been afflicted with the symptoms outlined by everyone here.
While I won’t attempt to explain exactly why this is the case, I can definitely recommend trying pignolis purchased from a reputable Italian gourmet shop. Order them online if you have to. They’ll be slightly sweet, nutty, not bitter and will not leave this horrid multi-day taste alteration in your mouth!
Now, I’m planning on asking every family member I can if they’ve ever experienced this – I’ll be sure to post details here.
Man, my family also loooves sweets, and I guarantee you that if pine nuts ever affected their taste buds, they would have stopped using them AGES ago!
This is truly, truly bizarre!
204. Steve T | October 16th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Wish there were a medical explanation for this… Search seems to come up empty for details on this change in us. I ate Pine nuts for the first time in my life. Came from Trader Joes and bag indicates that product is NOT from China.
Ate nuts: 10/13/2009 in the AM
Horrendous taste started after dinner: 10/14/2009
Posted: 10/16/209 and bad taste continues with meals.
205. Angie B | October 16th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Thank goodness for the internet. I think my family thought I was making it up or at least exaggerating.
Ate a small handful of pine nuts on 13th & 14th October, started with disgusting taste in back of mouth and throat whenever I ate anything on 15th. (Also had stomach cramps and some mild diarrhoea on this day as mentioned by a previous post.) I’m now 2 days into this and there’s no improvement at all.
Surely something should be done about this when there are so many cases and this is just one site!
I’ve eaten pine nuts many times in the past with no side effects whatsoever. Are we now getting cheap imports with some sort of chemicals causing these reactions?
206. Janet A | October 18th, 2009 at 2:58 am
Bitter taste in back of my mouth started at lunchtime today – thought it was either the sesame bagel or the butter. It took hours to die down a bit (or maybe I got used to it?). I had barbecue chicken and pulled pork for dinner tonight and got same bitter taste in back of my mouth. Several hours later the taste remains, even after mouthwashing with Listerine. Thank goodness I Googled “bitter aftertaste when I eat” and found this thread! After reading this, I knew something I ate when I went out to dinner two nights ago must be the culprit, so I checked the restaurant’s on-line menu and, sure enough, the spinach salad I shared with my girlfriend contained toasted pine nuts. I don’t think I ate more than a half-dozen, though! (And I have NEVER had this problem with pine nuts before – either in restaurants or with the ones I buy at Kalustyan’s in NYC.)
I remember that after dinner Thursday I did notice a bit of a weird aftertaste (nothing like this bitterness, though) and felt a little nauseous; I assumed it was due to a sensitivity to garlic, so I ate a few crackers and it quickly passed. I noticed similar aftertaste after eating leftovers Friday evening, but again it wasn’t bitter and didn’t last. I didn’t notice the bitter taste until today – it was noticeably in BACKof my mouth AS I ate each bite, and has not gone away since then.
It does seem odd that nobody seems to know how long this can last – does it always go away eventually? I certainly hope so!
In any event, thank you all for this thread and for keeping me from losing my mind over this – at least I was lucky in that I didn’t find anything on brain tumors BEFORE finding this!
207. Emily Henry | October 22nd, 2009 at 7:33 pm
no man is an island! I can’t believe how many people have this! I thought I was crazy! I made a big batch of pesto, now frozen, this past sunday. It is now thursday and I have been dealing with this nasty taste for 4 days. I purchased the nuts at my healthfood store, which had been out of them for a while, so the batch I bought was fresh. I don’t know if they were from China, but I’ll ask next time I’m there. I haven’t ever had a freshness issue with this store so I know that they weren’t rancid. The pine nuts tasted great on sunday!
I suspect this means I have to throw away all 8 cups of pesto. Anyone know for sure? I don’t want to go through this again!
thanks everyone for posting and easing my mind!!
208. Themi and Tony | October 23rd, 2009 at 2:43 am
My husband and I had pine nuts yesterday and today we noticed a bitter taste in our mouths especially when eating. Whatever we tried to eat had a terrible taste. At first we thought it was a reaction to the one a day vitamin. Tonight I thought of researching to see what I can find out about the bitterness in the mouth and I came across this page. Now I feel better that this is not a health related problem. I also checked the bag of pine nuts and they are fro China. I would never thought that pine nuts can cause this.
209. Donna | October 23rd, 2009 at 4:18 pm
This is a very real problem that needs to be resolved by the large corporations importing these pine nuts. I urge every one of you who have suffered with this annoying problem to contact your local FDA representative. Then, contact the stores where you purchased them and demand that they pull these pine nuts off their shelves. I don’t think the stores are taking this problem seriously. I am going through this “pine mouth” problem right now and while I realize that there are other problems that are more serious in our lives, this is annoying enough that something should be done. It’s not like years of research need to be done to find a cure. The stores simply have to remove the product from their shelves.
210. Lisa | October 27th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Wow…can’t believe so many people have these symptoms from pine nuts. Was clearing out my cupboard a few days ago and found a packet of small pine nuts, which had torn open. Decided to put them in a jar in the fridge and ate a few at the same time…maybe 4 or 5. Since yesterday I’ve got that soapy taste in my mouth all the time. Almost through away a batch of oatmeal cookies I’d made! Trying ginger and lemon tea and pro biotic..I’ll let you all know if they help. I live in Israel by the way..dunno whether the pinenuts are from China but they were small and not fresh.
211. Amanda | October 28th, 2009 at 7:12 am
Thank goodness. I thought I had some crazy disease. All day long I cannot get this terrible taste out of my mouth. Its like a metalic bitter taste that only presents itself when I try and eat or drink anything!!!!! I had a pesto and pine nut dip two days ago…the pine nuts were raw too.
on a postive note…great diet…I havent wanted to eat a thing.
212. Melinda | October 29th, 2009 at 5:18 am
I ate a handful of pine nuts the evening of Oct 21. The metallic taste began the next day. The first three days were the worst. I survived on water, lemonade, and yogurt. A week has gone by and the metallic/bitter taste is still present when eating, but not as strong.
The pine nuts I ate came from Korea and were bought at Trader Joe’s, but I’m not taking any chances. I’ll avoid all pine nuts in the future.
213. Lisa | October 29th, 2009 at 7:06 am
ok..I managed to get rid of the taste mostly…apart from after sweet things…it’s now 5 days since eating 5 pinenuts. Ginger was ok to eat without any aftertaste.so ginger and lemon tea was good. But the best thing that helped was brushing my tongue…I read somewhere it may be connected to some kind of damage to the taste buds and that it takes so long to go because taste buds take about 10 days to shed and regrow like skin cells. So I decided to shed them by brushing the tongue. It’s definitely improved things, so good luck to anyone who wants to try.
214. Katie | October 29th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Guys, this sucks. It looks like the only reason no one knows about it unless they google “Why does my mouth taste gross?” is because of the stupid food companies that would rather the public not know about this. I agree with Donna- “while I realize that there are other problems that are more serious in our lives, this is annoying enough that something should be done. It’s not like years of research need to be done to find a cure. The stores simply have to remove the product from their shelves.”
Hear, hear!
215. kitty | October 30th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
I too ate pine nuts – from Trader Joe’s (origin: Russia/Korea), woke up 2 days later to a terrible tasting breakfast – nothing’s tasted right for 4 days now… Also thought I was dying of cancer/brain tumor/liver disease… Also grateful for the internet and all you fellow-travellers/sufferers… Hope it goes away soon… Good luck to you too.
216. Janet A. (#204) | October 30th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
An update to my earlier post (#204): Sure enough, when I called the restaurant, they said the pine nuts they used in the spinach salad were, indeed, from China. As I recall, they were smaller than the usual (Chinese?) pine nuts I buy. My friend, with whom I shared the salad, did not suffer any ill effects.
After my earlier post, I had the bright idea of calling my husband, who happened to be on a tour in China. After he stopped laughing, he asked the tour guide if he knew about “pine mouth” and, if so, whether there was an antidote, but the tour guide was not familiar with it.
My “pine mouth” was about 80% gone after a week, and almost completely gone after 10 days – at least, by then food tasted normal and I didn’t think about “pine mouth” more than once a day.
I’m very glad this is over with. But I still wonder: Why, during the worst of it, did the bitter taste occur at the back of my mouth EVERY time I chewed a new bite of food?
217. Donna | November 3rd, 2009 at 1:15 pm
My syptoms started yesterday and are worse today. I went Googling last night and saw the conncection to pine nuts. We had just bought some and I put them in a roll up two days ago. When I checked the jar I saw they were from China. So glad to know that this is not life threatening—I was really getting scared. I’ve posted this on Facebook to warn others. I’ve had to cancel lunch dates as eating out would be a waste of money. I guess my diet has officially started!
218. Beverly | November 4th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Thank you all for posting on this blog. I bought the pine nuts from a local market in a bulk bin. According to the store manager, they do not buy pine nuts from China (?). I ate a handful two days in a row on top of pasta with fresh tomatoes. The bitter taste started the next day. At the time I ate them I was (and still am) suffering from a pretty severe cold virus that I likely picked up on an airplane. Don’t know if my compromised immune system contributed. I’ve eaten pine nuts for years-used to love them. I will never again eat another pine nut! 5 days now and still really bad.
219. adam | November 5th, 2009 at 4:09 am
thank you, I was worried about the bitter taste too. I ate pine nuts 2 days ago. the bitterness started about 24 hours ago.
I thought i had a real illness. i found this article after 3 tries in the net and 10 minutes.
220. Julia Brannigan | November 6th, 2009 at 3:26 am
Here at the end of the world in New Zealand I am reassured to know that I’m not the only one suffering “pine mouth”. Ate a couple of handfuls of toasted pine nuts last Sunday and the metallic taste started Tuesday morning. Self-diagnosis on the internet can be unreliable but in this instance and given the circumstances it’s been a massive help. The taste is still there and I’m coping and hoping.
221. SuperNut | November 6th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I’m NUTS about all types of nuts and eat them in some form or other almost every day. I’ve also had this bitter taste, and was glad to discover the “probable” reason for this.The only difference with mine is that ,where most bloggers say their’s lasted 2 weeks max. – mine has been there for over a month. I feel healthy in every other way except for the bitter taste.
I eventually went to see the doctors this morning, armed with 3 pages of some of the above blogs, and having discussed my concerns I have been advised to get a blood test, next friday, for liver and kidney function.
Has anyone else suffered the symptoms for so long?
222. Jan Yoxall | November 10th, 2009 at 5:27 am
I am now on Day 9 of “pine mouth” and have other worrying symptoms such as stomach cramps, diorrhea and a urinary tract infection. I’ve been swinging between burning up and freezing cold and feel like I’ve been poisoned. The pine nuts I bought from Sainsburys were Crazy Jack’s organic range. Something really needs to be done about a health warning on the packets. What if a pregnant woman was to eat them. My liver and kidneys really feel like they are struggling and I have been given anti-biotics to deal with the urine infection, which also cause diorrhea. Have decided to come off everything and see my homeopath. Has anyone else had these other symptoms?
223. Jan T. | March 1st, 2010 at 9:46 pm
I was interested to read your comment on Nov. 6th last year. I’m currently suffering “pine mouth” symptoms and like you they have lasted for over three weeks – longer than most people seem to have the problem. As you said, I also feel perfectly fit in all other ways and I wondered if your symptoms did disappear eventually or if there was some other problem. I’m 62 and taking various medications for high blood pressure so I wonder if this has some connection to the duration of the problem. I hope you did get rid of these very unpleasant symptoms.
224. Lee | November 7th, 2009 at 12:29 am
DAY TWO of this horrible bitterness and just discovered parsley helps! I was able to eat a dinner while shoving sprigs of parsley down my mouth between bites.Also plain yogurt was tolerable. Thanks for all who posted! I had Badia pine nuts from Publix 3 days ago and symptoms started yesterday morning. I have type O blood as well and the only one in my family to get this although others had the pine nuts. Hope the parsley helps someone else!
225. Ed - D.C. | November 9th, 2009 at 4:01 am
Another thank you for this blog entry! After five days of not enjoying any food or drink, I had to do a search via Google. At least I’m not dying from some wierd disease!
I ate several handfuls of raw pine nuts. About a day later, everything tastes like metal or is bitter. All wines taste awful. Pine nut details below, stay away! (I hope this doesn’t last much longer, I’m hungry!)
Details:
Kirkland Signature Pine Nuts (from Costco)
1.5 lb bag
Item #: 23402
Ingredients: Raw Pine Nuts
PRODUCT OF CHINA – PACKED IN THE USA
226. Janet Smith | November 10th, 2009 at 1:49 am
I was so grateful to find this blog. After 8 days, the bitter taste has finally disappeared. I found the suggestions here very helpful–so in case my experience might help others, here is what I did. I found that lemon was about the only thing I could eat. If you like lemon, try squeeing fresh lemon juice on all appropriate foods. I was able to eat prawns and rice, doused in lemon juice and also lemon cookies, and lemon yogurt with fresh lemon juice. Lemon sorbet worked too.
I found that brushing my tongue, expecially the back of the tongue provided temporary relief.
I too will probably never eat pine nuts again, even though I have been eating them for years. Four people ate these pine nuts which came from Ray’s market (package thrown away, so no more info) and 2 experienced pine mouth.
227. Peter | November 10th, 2009 at 3:21 am
I had the same problem. I bought pine nuts from Sam’s Club. and yes, a product of China. God bless the bitterness goes away soon.
228. Julia | November 10th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
For anyone suffering Pine Mouth and wants to get an idea of how long it lasts – it took 9 days for mine to go. The first three days were the worst and then it faded gradually. Hot water and lemon helped. You’ll really appreciate your tastebuds when you get them back to normal!
229. bb | November 12th, 2009 at 1:38 am
I purchased pine nuts at Costco.
Both my husband and are experiencing the same symptoms of bitter taste in our mouth. Also, my neck hurts.
I wrote to Costco today and received a typical “pass the bucket” reply.
It turns out Costco is aware about the problem:
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091015/FEATURES02/910150311/1061/ENTERTAINMENT02
Viva Internet!
If just here there are 225 posts about the pine nuts problem, why FDA received only a dozen reports?
If you wish to report this to FDA please email to:
consumer@fda.gov
subject: food safety report
I just did.
230. sherry Smith | November 12th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
I had pine mouth after eating loads of pine nuts on a salad at a restaurant in Wisconsin. The next evening after I ate them, EVERYTHING I ate tasted awful….bitter..bitter..bitter. I became alarmed, surfed the net and found this site. I felt better after reading what was the probably cause of the bitter taste, but as time went on, I began to wonder if I would ever get rid of the bitter taste. Happy to report 11 days later, I am back to normal. I certainly do appreciate normalcy now! Funny thing is, I have eaten pine nuts frequently all my life as my Mom used to cook with them, and I have never had this symptom before. She purchased them from a Middle Eastern food store, and never had a problem. So I tend to think the culprit pine nuts probably are imported from elsewhere…perhaps China as most people believe. Wish somebody would get to the bottom of the problem so no more people have to suffer through this!
231. sonja | November 13th, 2009 at 1:37 am
I bought pinenuts, a product of Russia or Korea, at Trader Joe’s in St. Louis on Nov. 9 and ate about 1/4 cup that day. By the next day was feeling bloated, faintly nauseated, had mild chills, difficulty sleeping for a couple of nights,and of course, was tormented by an unrelenting bitter aftertaste. Most of the other symptoms are fading away but the bitter taste is still going strong. I decided to google and see what could possibly cause this problem. I am so glad I found this site. Could it be that pinenuts in general are not the problem but where they are produced? I wonder what it will take for the FDA to take this serious and do what they are supposed to do.
232. michelle | November 14th, 2009 at 3:47 am
Thank you to all for the blogs. Ate pine nuts from Trader Joe’s two nights ago can’t eat anything since this am. With so many people affected by this why isn’t anyone being warned? Are there any serious side effects that haven’t been uncovered yet. What is causing It? I’m reminded of the pet food and baby formula horrors of the past two years…Does anyone know who to contact?
233. tina | November 18th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Thanks a lot! I was searching some answers to the bitter aftertaste in almost all the food I had and saw this website. I love pine nuts and been using it for almost everything in my food from salad, to variety of viands for about 3 years now. It’s only recently that I had this bitter aftertaste and you’re probably right because I bought the nuts from a different source. I used to buy them in Waitrose (and didn’t experience this aftertaste) and my last batch of nuts was bought from Tesco (which gave me this memorable experience). – london
234. Andrés | November 19th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
I had the same problem, but I have a question: could it be possible that mixing pine nuts and red wine be part of the problem? I had a bag of nut and ate from it for two weeks with no problem. Then, one day, I had a few and then a cup of red wine — which I usually dont drink, being more of a beer person — and the bitterness started instantly and has lasted since: 5 days! Its getting better, but it sucks.
Anyway, I see other people mentioned wine at some point, so maybe there is a connection.
235. Off Pine nuts forever | November 21st, 2009 at 8:10 pm
I have the same issue but have not had any wine at all so that theory is also out. Its pretty obvious that its the pine nuts, just read all of the feedback. I don’t think its worth the time or effort to look beyond the obvious issue here. What a mess this is. The taste is terrible! No more for me, ever! Not going through this again. For me its just not worth it.
236. Roger F | November 22nd, 2009 at 8:43 pm
The reaction is not that the pine nuts are bitter, as the Chinese poster said, but that OTHER food and drink taste bitter. And, I ate the bad nuts on 8/27/09, and here it is late November 2009 and I still get the reaction now and then. This is NOT an allergy. There is something that has a systemic effect. I suspect a chemical, but we will have to wait and see if this mystery is properly researched.
237. gerry | November 23rd, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Both my wife and I have had this horrible bitter taste with anything we eat just two days after eating pine seeds. I haven’t checked yet where they come from but some authority should find out if there is a toxic agent causing this horrible feeling. If it has been reported only in the last several years, it could be due to some ground contamination. Let’s hope that this is not the case. Can somebody say?
238. gerry | November 26th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
From Gerry: Just to follow up, the bitter taste lasted two days with a much decreased level in day 3 and 4, day 5 seems to be OK. Still, this experience should not go amiss and it must be investigated by relevant authorities. The producer of this product had no right to interfere with our bodies in this way while we still don’t know the full extent of any adverse effects.
239. Donna D. | November 23rd, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Day 4 here. Imagine how many people have experienced this without making the connection.
I called Costco and told them about this problem and that it is widespread and that I would be returning the product to the store. He said there were no product warnings posted, but that if a lot of people return the packages, it would be noticed. Do not throw the nuts away: Even if you no longer have the receipt, take them back where you got them!
240. Pine Mouth | November 24th, 2009 at 4:18 am
Thank God for Google! Pine Nuts were from Whole Foods (365 Brand), product of China. Day 2 and everything tastes like metal. Meat is especially bad – could it be something to do with iron or nitrites?
241. karen | November 29th, 2009 at 2:59 am
I just recently had pine nuts for Thanksgiving dinner, and about a day later I had a metallic, bitter taste in my mouth whenever I ate something. It’s been a couple of days, and I still have the taste in my mouth.
I have eaten pine nuts my entire life, and do not recall this happening before!
242. Jerry | November 29th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Same problem. My wife bought pine nuts from Whole Foods to cook for Thanksgiving. She toasted them, and I started to eat them when I was making the salad. I couldn’t stop- they were so incredibly delicious, with a natural sweetness that I had never tasted before in pine nuts. They were stubby, but alas she bought from the bin and there are none left to examine more closely. Two days later, last night, I noticed the bitter aftertaste for the first time while eating ice cream. Bad chocolate? Impossible! What else could it be? Forgot about it until this morning when the taste returned while munching on a piece of bread. Found this site and feel much better that it is temporary and manageable. It is odd that this is a worldwide occurrence and no publicity about it. I will call Whole Foods and see what they have to say.
243. DJ Douglas | December 1st, 2009 at 6:24 am
I’ve been experiencing a chemical, bitter aftertaste of everything I eat since Thanksgiving. I’m currently sitting in front of my computer reading this while munching away on an awesome wild rice salad that has pine nuts in it…the same one I made for Thanksgiving! This is too bizarre…and all these posts are from this year! I bought my nuts at a local market, but they did look different than normal to me…smaller and shorter than the ones I’m used to seeing. I guess I just signed on for another week of icky taste!!!
I will be watching this board for awhile. I would like to see someone post back with a reassurance that this nasty thing will go away!!
244. Scott Seward | December 3rd, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Thank goodness for this article! On Monday night my mouth began tasting horrible and I couldn’t figure out why. Well, that night I made home made pesto which includes pine nuts. UGH, this is the worst taste in my mouth ever! Here it is four days later and I can’t taste a thing. I just called the store and informed them about their pine nuts and asked them to take a look at where they’re buying them from.
245. Ann | December 4th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I too have been experiencing a bitter taste in my mouth and do often add pine nuts to my meals.Funny thing though it is only recently that I have developed the metallic taste which is awful.I have been eating the same brand of pine nuts (f rom China ) for a couple of years.It is amazing that this is not more of a known thing to be aware of . Relieved to find out what is the cause.
246. JB | December 7th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
Same bitter experience as others have described. Glad to learn of the ‘culprit’. In my case I suspect it was the pine nuts in the Hannaford store-brand pesto sauce I slathered on the homemade pizza I made. So it would seem that pine nut based products can be problematic too! Caveat emptor!
247. CelesteP. | December 9th, 2009 at 3:26 am
we bought some pine nuts at albertson’s 2 days ago and i just noticed it today! i tried them for the first time and i thought it tasted A LOT like pine trees! i ate a cookie and it tasted horrible! i thought the cookies had something added to them that would have that disgusting taste!
248. Renee | December 12th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
THANK you! You answered my question and now I am relieved! I ate them 4 days ago and never would have made that connection.
249. Christine | December 13th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Same experience after eating pine nuts purchased at Trader Joe’s (from Russia or Korea). The bag was brand new. The nuts tasted fine. The taste in my mouth beginning over the next 2 days has been HORRIBLE! I am relieved to have found the connection! I will be contacting the FDA as well and would encourage everyone to.
250. Cassie | December 15th, 2009 at 12:53 am
China needs to be more careful when fabricating their products… I mean their quality is getting low! (Not being racist or anything).
251. Donna in Oregon | December 15th, 2009 at 4:34 am
I went through this about a month ago and wrote here once at that time. I strongly recommend fresh ginger tea to combat the bitterness. and please return the nuts to the store and tell them what happened. Tell your friends.
252. Judy | December 15th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Same thing, bitter taste which started 2 days after eating pine nuts from Sam’s (brand – Diamond of California). The taste finally disappeared 7 days later. Never eating pine nuts again!
253. Donna | December 17th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Wow….I just threw out $16 of pignoli’s ….. what a waste. Guess I should use the italian term as these must have been from China as well. My nephew bought them for me in New York…..never got to make those pignoli cookies I was dreaming of. I snacked on just a few the other night as I was cooking and then yesterday it started. Oddly it doesn’t happen with every food. Had lunch in a very high end restaurant…myself and 2 others happened to order the same thing. My fish was delicious but the side of mushroom risotto tasted a little odd…specifically the pieces of mushroom. Everyone else loved it and I would have thought I got a bad mushroom except the pumpkin pancakes I had made my kids for breakfast tasted similarily weird to me but were loved by the kids. Today….everything tasted bitter except CAKE – yahoo!!!! I’ve been chewing gum and that seems to helpti
254. Caroline - San Diego | December 17th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I started developing a really bitter & almost chemical like aftertaste last night, and was concerned that I might have some sort of poisoning. This persisted this morning while I was trying to eat some bread, and it tasted like it has soap in it! Concerned, I’ve already made an appointment with my doctor later this morning. When I sat down and googled 5 minutes ago “why does everything I eat taste bitter?” the search results I get started to help shed some light. I’ve prepared spinach salad with toasted pine nuts for dinner two nights ago! I bought the pine nuts from VONS, and when i checked, they are from China. I’m not sure how long this bitterness is going to last, but the timing couldn’t be any worse… I have a Christmas party tonight
Well, at least it doesn’t have any other medical implications … right?
255. Linda ate pine nuts in Philidelphia | December 18th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
I ate a salad with pine nuts Monday, 5 days ago, and I still have an awful bitter taste in my mouth. I can not taste food- just that bitter taste. Eating anything sweet intensifies the bitterness.
Would like to hear from anyone to know how long this will last.
256. Pat in Toronto | December 19th, 2009 at 4:01 am
I want to walk away from my mouth. That’s about the only way I can describe how I feel.
I had a lovely lunch on Tuesday of pasta with a home-made tomato sauce topped with pine nuts. By late Wednesday afternoon, there was obviously something wrong with my taste buds.
At first, I blamed it on lunch: spaghetti carbonara. Then on the cheeses I sampled at the market. Then, 6 hours later, I started to do a web query, and dicovered that the common problem seemed to be pine nuts.
Am still dealing with this — it’s now Friday , almost midnight. Salad is OK. Most food, if it doesn’t taste bitter immediately, leaves a very bitter aftertaste.
Oh. And that blood type thing? forget it. I’m A negative.
257. Naomi in Indy | December 22nd, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Oh, how I wish I’d seen this earlier! Like before Saturday when I had pine nuts on my salad. Blech.
258. Teri | December 22nd, 2009 at 6:06 pm
I don’t have anything new to add just logging in one more account of the same. My husband and I hope to get our tastbuds back for Christmas. Sunday to Friday, we may have a chance.
259. Baanos | December 25th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
I’ve been having this bitter taste in my mouth for over a month now just a few days after eating pine nuts. What troubles me is that hardly no one here has had it for over a month and no one mentionned that the taste is mainly on one side of the mouth, which is the case with me, everytime I eat or drink, the bitterness seems to originate on the left side of the back of the mouth. Anyone noticed this ?
260. sue brumel | December 28th, 2009 at 5:44 am
i can not believe that so many people have experienced this odd
reaction to pine nuts. i made a mediterranean chicken dish last
night. and this evening, after eating the pine nuts in the recipe,
i started having a funny taste in my mouth. i tild my husband that i
didn’t think i should’ve put the feta cheese in, because it tasted funny, but he said he thought it tasted great!! about an hour later,
i started having this atrocious metallic taste in the back of my throat. i called my brother who is a doc, and he asked me if i had taken lunesta, as this and other meds can cause this reaction. i hadn’t taken any meds, so figured whatever it was, would soon go away. i kept looking online, and eventually, i found out what the culprit is. so i called my brother and told him to inquire about pine nuts consumption when patients call complaining of this very strange symptom…hopefully, the taste will go away soon. good luck to everyone!! and happy holidays!!
261. Theresa in Snohomish | December 29th, 2009 at 8:01 am
Christmas dinner went well until the salad with the pine nuts. It tasted great and then two day later the awful after-taste when eating anything, especially sweets. My husband didn’t have the reaction but I did. I am glad this was on the internet because I was ready to call the Dr. I hope it will go away soon, it makes a person think twice about wanting to eat or drink something tasty….maybe this could be the next diet craze!
262. gianni | December 30th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
i am surprise after 1 year i have bad experience with tesco pine nuts from china,bitter test in my mauth for 1 week and feeling orrible like serious intossication ,my wife bay again and i make some pesto,resoult was the same of year ago,bitter in my mouth and feel intossicate again.i think food autority shoul be involve.tesco arrogance is unbelivible.
263. Pam | December 30th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
I am so happy I found this site, I to was very worried, I ate my “Mellssa”s” pine nuts, (product of china) bought at my Albertsons, just a handfull in my salad. I went back to the store, they looked at me like I was crazy, and didnt give me the time of day, I e-mailed “Mellissa”s” and waiting for a answer, also called FADA, left a message, Iam sure gone for the holidays. I am on day 3. Drinking water helps.
264. gianni | December 31st, 2009 at 1:50 pm
i bay chinese pine nuts from cosco in london and from supermarket in italy and was fine no bitter test and no problem,i belive just some chinese pine nuts are nusty,probably the cheap one which is the best deal for routless shop.What shock me is tesco knows about this disgrace they pine nuts couse to customer and do nothing about.where is consideration and rispect for tesco customer !!!
265. Joanne | January 4th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
I have recently experienced the “bitter mouth” after eating pine nuts. Here is what happened: Right around Christmas I purchased bulk pine nuts at a Whole Foods in Los Gatos and some more at New Leaf in Santa Cruz. I combined these batches. They were both from China. I ate a small handful raw right out of the canister early New Years Eve day. By that evening I had symptoms: bitterness on tongue and roof of mouth at the back, especially when eating. The pine nuts tasted fresh – not at all rancid, although I remember there are always one or two darker bad tasting pine nuts. I still have the problem though after 5 days it is much diminished. I have been rinsing my mouth with hydrogen peroxide, which seems to help.
My husband had eaten some and had no symptoms. We differ in our reaction to bitter. He loves Campari, a bitter aperitif, and radicchio a bitter green, and I hate things that are bitter. Maybe he does not taste something that I taste. There may be variation in peoples’ sensitivities. Also, it may be that only one or two bad kernels might bring about the symptoms so that even if several people are eating from the same batch only some are exposed. This may be why lab tests do not find results. Maybe they do not test enough kernels.
Here are some thoughts:
The fact that there is a delayed reaction is strange. Either it is an allergic reaction and/or something systemic for it to be delayed and last several days or weeks. This is scary. I cannot believe it is not harmful. Also, it seems like a compound that affects a sensory neurological system should be of interest for study.
After reading through many blog comments it seems like all blood types are represented so we can dump that hypothesis.
Though there are many complaints about Chinese pine nuts there are also the Russian, Vietnamese, Korean pine nuts and several mentions of pine nuts that are supposedly from the US though we don’t know that the vendors were entirely honest. I see in the Wikipedia refs that there are many species of pines producing nuts. Some from Korea and others from the Asia, Stone pines from Europe and the Middle East and others from the US. It could be that this is more of a problem with Asian pine nuts. It seems like for many years, pine nuts were very expensive, sold in small quantities and only recently do we get bulk pine nuts from Asia. The bitter mouth problem is relatively recent and correlates well with the recent influx of Asian pine nuts. Maybe the problem has to do with certain species of pines.
Some articles mention that the nuts might be rancid or that they may have been exposed to high temps. Except for the few off tasting (often small and dark) nuts mine tasted sweet and fresh. I would be curious to know how they are packaged or prepared for shipping, both those in plastic packaging and in bulk. One article I read stated that pine nuts become rancid quickly after they are shelled. I have had nuts last for months and never taste rancid so perhaps there is some chemical or procedure being applied to these pine nuts (and not result in “bitter mouth”).
266. Bill Scott | January 5th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
Hi all,
I may be able to take this discussion in a slightly different direction. While in Florida on Vacation for Christmas, our daughter purchased some pine nuts for me. I didn’t save the wrapper, but noticed afterwards the same bitter taste that everybody before me mentioned. My “different information” is that this is the same taste that I get in my mouth when I try to take iron supplements, which I was taking because my Ferritin levels were low ( iron storage levels). It didn’t seem to matter if I was taking Iron Glutamate or Iron Sulfate Some website show that Iron is present in pine nuts, in as high as 9% concentration. I would theorize (don’t take this for gospel truth) that either the imported nuts (a) naturally contain iron, or (b) the nuts are stored in holds of iron ships and that the iron is contaminating the nuts. Back in the days of early sailing ships, they used to drink and store food in utensils made of lead. This caused lead poisoning and killed lots of people. If toys from China can be dangerous for babies and children, it is possible that something like pine nuts could do it as well. I would report this to the FDA, but I think that the FDA is in league with the food and drug providers and that the FDA is indirectly responsible for killing more people in the USA from misleading information on food in general (food addictions) then are being killed in all of the USA wars around the world.
267. Joanne | January 7th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
The iron hypothesis is interesting. As I recall, however, in the articles where they tested pine nuts (see wikipedia) they did not find metals. Maybe nutritional iron doesn’t show up that way.
268. rachel horwitz | January 8th, 2010 at 2:34 am
Thanks for the information. I ate pine nuts 2 nights ago and have noticed a bitter aftertaste with everything since. I will just wait for it to go away and try not to worry.
269. Beverly | January 8th, 2010 at 6:01 am
I’m having a problem that I haven’t seen addressed in this forum. I ate the pine nuts two days in a row at the end of October and got ‘pine mouth’ the next day. I sent my blog on Nov. 4th. The bitter taste subsided after about two weeks, but then I had some dental work (fillings done). Since after the dental work, the bitter taste came back and is still bothering me everyday. It’s better in the morning, worse at night. Unlike most people, during the initial episode and currently, my problem is the tip of my tongue. It does not seem to be getting any better at all. It has definitely become a huge problem. Anyone else who is experiencing ongoing issues? It has been over 2 months now. Thanks.
270. Joanne | January 9th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
This may be coincidence but I rinsed my mouth daily with hydrogen peroxide and the problem went away in only 5 days. I don’t know if it helped but you might try it.
271. Charles | January 9th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
I bought and ate my pine nuts 8 days ago. The bitter after-taste is just about gone. I still have it a little bit but not as bad. I heard that it just takes upwards to two weeks for it to go away. Has something to do with your taste buds regenerating themselves. Also, I reported this to the FDA. They’re going to pick up my pine nuts so they can examine them or whatever it is they’re going to do.
272. meredith | January 10th, 2010 at 3:13 am
Having the same reaction as everyone else with bitter taste after eating pine nuts. I purchased mine at Sun Harvest in Austin, Texas. I am breastfeeding as well. Does anyone have any info about how this affects breastmilk????!!!
273. maura | January 14th, 2010 at 11:15 pm
Thank God I’m not alone. On Monday I hate about a cup of pine nuts, and the metallic bitter taste started late Tuesday. Here it is Thursday night – 48 hours of a HORRIBLE tatse in my mouth. After symptom-searching online, I found this thread, checked my bag of pine nuts, and sure enouhg: “Product of China.” If by Monday my tatse buds aren’t getting back to normal, Ii’ seeing a physician. Something’s not right here…
For years, I’ve eaten pine nuts (never noticed if they were imported from China or not), now suddenly they’re causing an issue. With some of the other deadly things to come out of China (remember the lead paint toys?), I think this needs to be thoroughly investigated.
274. Kara | January 17th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
The pine nuts shipped from other countries are usually sprayed so they are irradiated or fumigated or the storage containers they are shipped in can be sprayed. This could be the possible source of the bad tase…Yet another reason it is always best to buy locally (Farmer’s Markets, etc.) or at least from the U.S. when at all possible rather than from over seas. (You never know what chemicals they allow in those countries that might be banned here in the U.S.) Here are some interesting links you may want to check out, as pine nuts are the only things subject to these treatment methods:
http://search.mercola.com/results.aspx?k=irridation
http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Quality-Safety/Metallic-pine-nut-taste-Industry-hypotheses
http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/te_1201_prn.pdf
http://www.phdeb.org.pk/paras/paras.php
http://corditecountryshownotes.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/41109/
Hope you find these links both informative and helpful.
275. Penny Frazier | January 19th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
We work exclusively with American pine nuts I have been working with pine nuts for 14 years and know this problem is not historic. In the late 1990’s there were changes taking place in the way in which pine nuts were processed. I completely agree with Kara.
> irradiated or fumigated or the storage containers they are shipped in can be sprayed>
We put up a web page on the topic, simply because it is becoming a larger and larger problem. For a short while we sold imported pine nuts, but 1 client reported the problem and we stopped selling all shelled pine nuts as a result.
Penny Frazier Goods From The Woods pinenut.com
276. Sally | January 18th, 2010 at 11:23 am
I just researched my bad taste after eating and realise I have pine mouth
I am relieved but also worried that something I have eaten can have this effect
I just tried to eat some sour cream pringles as I thouht these might not give me such a bad after taste but no joy they tasted YEUKKK
I think this will be great for my diet though
277. Donna | January 20th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Glad to see that it’s not all in my head. thrre days after eating the pine nuts it started. It has been three days of gross taste in my mouth after eating everything. I did find that I can eat grapefruit maybe because it is already kinda bitter. hopingit doesn’t last too long. bleck!
278. Andrea | January 22nd, 2010 at 10:16 pm
So this has been going for almost a year on this blog! Thank you to all posters. I thought I was nuts.
Add me to the list of people with the dreaded Pine Mouth. I made Braciole, using Diamond pine nuts on Monday night. On Wednesday morning everything I ate tasted poisoned. It’s still horrible. I used to eat whole bags of pine nuts without a problem.
It’s pretty sad because I have been making the same thing for years and now I will never have another pine nut. Too hard to keep track of the source and packaging.
Something really needs to be done. I am going to let everyone know who will listen. This is ridiculous.
279. Jane | January 24th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Hi so after getting this and looking on the internet for reason, then finding that pine nuts are the cause!!! Yes mine were from China.
A day and a half pass of misery!! I love food. Anyway, trying to find a cure or something to alleviate the symptoms on-line comes up with nothing. Well except wolfing down your food then suffering the uber bitterness and indigestion from scoffing so quick. Well today eating my dinner I was suddenly aware the bitterness arrived then left, I had pork chops, roast potatoes and some vegetables with gravy. I was extactic! I could taste the food! I thought it was the broccoli but it wasn’t until after my dinner did I discover it was the cabbage that was making the bitterness go away! Seriously.
Cooked Savoy cabbage (it was boiled) made the bitterness go.
So much so that I had some cheese cake and managed to enjoy it all! So there you have it, worked for me, hope it helps someone else.
Also this is such a mad thing! I wouldn’t have believed it unless it had happened to me.
280. Taylor | January 26th, 2010 at 3:07 am
I got it too! Along with my husband, we had them on pizza. They tasted fine when we ate them. They were Nature’s Original, from China.
281. Jacki | January 27th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
I too have “pine mouth”: I’m into my 6th day and still no improvement. Anything with sugar in it tastes vile. A glass of my beloved fruity Australian red wine now tastes like a glass of crushed olives and nothing else! I am well and truly fed up. But here’s the strange thing: I haven’t (knowingly) eaten any pine nuts. What I have eaten is sunflower seeds, and you guessed it – they are from China. I have asked the retailer to analyse the nuts to see if they are contaminated with pine nut dust or whatever. It’s been difficult to get them to take this seriously – they said that someof their customers had complained of a bitter taste after eating pine nuts; they seem to have no idea that this isn’t just a bitter taste (so stop eating them then!) but that it knocks out (destroys?) all your tastebuds or nerve pathways which detect sweetness, for days, maybe weeks or who knows how long. Anybody else had trouble with sunflower seeds from China? I will report back.
282. Nicole and Tony | January 31st, 2010 at 5:51 am
WOW! We thought there was something horribly wrong with us. Thanks for all the info now we won’t be rushing to our doctor on Monday. We also ate the dreaded Trader Joe’s pine nuts that say they are from Russia or Korea. We e-mailed Trader Joe’s I really don’t think they will care though. At almost $10 a bag for those nasty pine nuts I dont think they will do anything. Good news for us is that all research done shows that toxicity is not the problem. Bad news is that this means that grocery stores don’t have to do anything about it (i.e. removing from shelves, warning labels).
P.S. This is miserable!!!!!!!!
283. Rebecca | January 31st, 2010 at 11:59 pm
I’ve had the same problem for the last few days, fortunately I had heard about this on the radio not long ago, but then forgot all about it until I got the strange taste… I got my pine nuts from Tesco in Altrincham not long ago, sell by date is Sept 2010. I’m going to return them this week – if enough people complain surely they will do something? Maybe not. Great for the diet though!
284. Karen Myers | February 2nd, 2010 at 2:25 am
Bleh – I’ve been stricken as well. The smallish pine nuts I purchased the other day seem to be the culprit. Dang it, I hate throwing out the rest of my basil pesto – sigh.
After some research, I found Roger Hyam’s blog: http://www.hyam.net/blog/archives/60. He’s a botanist at the Natural History Museum London and has a desk at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh where he looks after the Biodiversity Collections Index. So he knows a thing or two about seeds and plants. He gets into researching this mystery to find the possible species of tree that the pine nuts that gave him the same condition may have come from.
285. Tony | February 7th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Thanks to all who’ve commented, I too bought Pine Nuts from Tesco and scoffed a load. I’ve been wondering for two days why I had a funny aftertaste after food. Someone likened it to a naff Campari, I would say more like a sour Chinzano. Ugh! Yes I’ve just checked the package and it is a Product of China. Shame you’ll only find this website after you’ve been worried for a few days.
286. MaryBeth | February 8th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
I have had the bitter taste for three days now, starting a day after I had had a handful of pine nuts for a snack. The pine nuts were from China, purchased either at Sam’s Club or Trader Joe’s in teh ann Arbor, MI area. They are packaged in the U.S. and sold by Amport Foods whom I have emailed.
I will try the ginger/ginger tea and hope it works. Thank you! Until I get some, I’ll drink some Vernor’s ginger ale- a Michigan treasure. It can’t hurt and will settle my stomach which is experiencing some vague nausea. I can’t believe that something that tastes so vile is harmless.
287. PJ Griffin | February 12th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
Thank goodness I found these postings. I too bought pine nuts at Target last wk. I now have a horrible bitter taste in my mouth. Ck-ed label..you guessed it…Product of China. In the trash they go.
288. Em | February 16th, 2010 at 11:38 am
I’m a regular pine nut eater and have never had a problem (the pine nuts I normally buy are imported from Turkey). But I bought a different brand the other day and used them in a salad…yep, imported from China, and everything I’ve eaten the last couple of days tastes terrible!!
This is a bizarre thing! I had no idea this was such a commom problem. I’m in Australia by the way, so those nasty nuts are here as well!
289. Lisa | February 17th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Thank goodness you posted this article. I have had this horrible taste in my mouth after eating for three days now. Ugh now I know I just have to sit it out. I am going to call the FDA too though, I still have the nuts. Yuck!
290. Elaine | February 17th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
I ate pine nuts along with a variety of other seeds from a ‘Snacking’ container on Sunday 14th Feb. Tuesday morning I ate breakfast and thought uuuuugggh! Everything tasted awful. Later – eating dinner the same happened again. It was as if my saliva glands were letting in some sort of drain cleaner tomix in with my food. I was physically sick in the night, an have literally been scared to eat anything. Chocolate seemed OK but afterwards – teasted the same as everything else. I have contacted Trading Standards and taken my snack back to where I bought it – investigations are to take place, but it looks like nothing has happened all this time so far. There should be some kind of public health warning! I cannot believe that so many people have suffered this and nothing has been mentioned in the media!
291. Trish | February 21st, 2010 at 2:18 am
New Zealand is where I live and it seems that pine mouth is happening here as well. I have had the horrid taste in my mouth for 3 days now after making my family a healthy salad containing pine nuts purchased from a supermarket about 5 days ago. They were labelled with the words ‘Packed in New Zealand from imported ingredients’. So I can’t say for sure if they came from China or not. Before I found this site I was going crazy trying to pin point what It was that was causing everything I ate or drank to taste so rank. I even looked inside our electric water jug to see if a mouse had died inside it, that was because every hot drink I made was so appalling.
292. Josh | February 25th, 2010 at 5:20 am
Im in NZ too. purchased pine nuts on the weekend, ate some tuesday nite. this morning while drinking my morning coffee bam the horrible taste arrived! got mine from a new world supermarket in auckland. will the supermarket refund my money? i have about $13 worth and at NZ$99/kg i would have never expected this. Im so glad i have found an answer to this. now i can stop panicking and wait it out i guess.
293. Meg | February 24th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
Like a lot of other people I was certain I had mouth cancer or a brain tumor or my fillings were leaking radioactive material onto my tongue but no….Pine Nuts? Everything tastes like blecchh. It’s been 4 days for me and I agree with those who say there should be a warning on the bag. The pine nuts I had were from, this may be a shock….China. I’m hoping the bitterness will go soon. Eating is not nearly as much fun when everything tastes like feet soaked in ant spray. Thanks so much for this blog! I wish I’d know BEFORE the three days of freaking out.
294. Ag | February 24th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Me too. Pine nuts from waitrose in england. On day 2. I am sure this issue has sinister roots – too many people all at once experience an unpleasant long term after effect ? C’mon.
295. Angie | February 27th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
Thanks for the info and solving the mystery! I’m in South Carolina, US and made pesto with supposedly \all natural\ pine nuts from China 4 days ago. I am now on my third day of the terrible after taste. Why didn’t anyone else who ate the pesto have the same problem?
296. Becky | February 28th, 2010 at 6:00 am
so pleased to know there isn’t something seriously wrong with me! this is the weirdest thing.
i had about 5 pine nuts on wednesday and started noticing a weird taste on friday afternoon. i’m going to try drinking a lot of apple cider vinegar, because apple cider vinegar cures everything. man this is awful!
297. Cindy | February 28th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
I will never eat another pine nut as long as I live. I’ve had the bitter taste now for a week. It’s starting to diminish
but I can still detect a small trace! “UGH”
I looked at a can of almonds this afternoon thinking of putting a few in a salad but by-passed them totally! I wonder if any bad nut can cause this horrrific reaction?
I’ve been eating black licorice and itseems to be helping a little…could be just coincidental.
298. Jim Cooney | February 28th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
Thank you thank you thank you. It’s the second day of of everything tasting bitter and I was starting to think it was a neurological disorder or something. What a relief!
299. Jodi R. | March 2nd, 2010 at 5:25 pm
I too have fallen victim to the dreaded “pine mouth”. I had no idea that this could ever happen having purchased and eaten pine nuts for years. My husband ate some after I toasted them and was unaffected. I had them raw and toasted and am on day four of the bitter taste. It has improved but is certainly not gone. I saw somewhere that probiotics or active culture yogurt would helpget rid of it. My pine nuts came from Giant Eagle (Farmers Market – bulk pack) and are “product of China”. They are much smaller than normal pine nuts and have a much stronger flavor when eaten raw. Thanks to all on this site — I would have ended up at the doctor otherwise.
300. joseph | March 2nd, 2010 at 5:47 pm
its been 3 days now,, i typed in bitter taste in throat and what came up,,, Pine nuts,, the other day i ate them and now look i got it,,,, so no more pine nuts for me,,,,,
301. Jennifer | March 4th, 2010 at 1:36 am
Kind of a relief to hear it’s the pine nuts causing the bitterness and not some dreadful ailment – except now I need to contact guests who ate my hummus topped with roasted pine nuts!
The pine nuts were from Costco and a product of China. Sheesh…
302. BD | March 4th, 2010 at 2:02 am
Thank you for this site. I appreciate the information from the other posters. The same malady has occurred with me. This is my second day of dealing with the vulgar, bitter aftertaste. I made pesto a few days ago with Fisher pine nuts, and the symptoms started yesterday. At first, I thought it was tainted granola bars because I noticed the aftertaste after eating one, however, after I ate some toast today, and experienced the same aftertaste, I became suspicious and googled “bitter aftertaste after eating anything”, and the hits regarding pine nuts emerged. I checked my package, and the Fisher nuts are indeed from China. I feel betrayed and tricked. However, I am hopeful that this unfortunate incident will be temporary. This entire episode is unfortunate. I do appreciate everyone’s help, and I thank you, again.
303. Jeanne | March 6th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
I just had the soapy mouth syndrome for the last two days so googled and found this website. Such a relief. I had used pine nuts from Safeway in a pilaf and snacked on them before and after dinner. Then the second day I had the bad taste, threw out coffee and thought the English muffin was bad. It is a great concern that this has been going on internationally for several years, as established by this blog, and they are still on the market. Maybe it will take many of us finally finding out the problem and never buying them again. Thanks for the relief that it is a temporary problem.
304. Alex | March 7th, 2010 at 6:01 am
I had a few pine nuts on a salad in a restaurant. The next afternoon my latte tasted off (I assumed the coffee had burned), but that night my dinner was inedible. No change the next day, and thats when I became worried. I found this page, along with many others, and am now waiting it out. It has been four days, and non-sweet foods are edible again, but sweets are still right out.
I addition to vinegar, I was ok with beer and very salty foods.
This isn’t normal, and it can’t be healthy. Just because nobody has yet been sickened doesn’t mean that the FDA shouldn’t look at this. Food should not taste like bitter soapy metal. And a restaurant salad with no more than 25 pine nuts shouldn’t do this kind of damage.
Interesting that if you type “bitter taste” in to google now “bitter taste pine nuts” is one of the suggestions that pops up.
305. kim | March 7th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
I can’t believe this blog has been going on for over a year and stores are STILL selling pine nuts from China. I got mine at Whole Foods a week ago and was going nuts (pun intended) thinking I had a tumor or liver disease or something like that – the bitter taste every time I ate was so bad. Last night I tossed half a glass of Riesling – what a waste.
306. Paul | March 8th, 2010 at 10:52 am
Me too. I cannot believe that I googled this bizarre symptom because it was almost too crazy to even contemplate. I was distrusting my own taste perceptions blaming the food I was eating for being “off” or marginal or something but now realise it was my taste perception all along. Again, the culprit, unequivocally, crappy pine nuts that have clearly been in the freezer too long. Worse still they have spoilt these usually delicious lamb koftas I made and pretty much spoilt everything else I’ve eaten this weekend. Too bizarre really.
307. Heide | March 9th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Delicious naturally home-grown turkey, shared with three other couples, Saturday March 6th. Turkey dressed wtih home-made stuffing containing pine nuts sold by BC’s Save On Foods. Sunday morning, I thought the orange juice tasted odd. Monday, I think I’m sick – this bitter aftertaste is everpresent. The lambchops are inedible, my red wine tastes like dish soap – something really must be wrong! I Google “bitter taste in the mouth” and find this. What a relief! I may have unknowingly poisoned myself and my guests! I’m off to contact all my dinner guests to check on their taste buds.
308. Carol | March 9th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
What are the chances? I thought for sure that this was coming from a pill that a took for my acid reflux. I never took a second pill and I even reported it to the drug company. Since taste perversion is listed as a rare but possible side effect, I thought I nailed it.
However, the taste began to slightly die down after about a week, then all of a sudden, it came back again, worse than before. Horrible, disgusting bitter, metallic taste every time that I ate something, yuck! Then I was really confused. How could it come back when I never took the pill again?
So I googled the symptoms thinking that perhaps there was some medical explanation, when all kind of information containing pine nuts from China popped up. I immediately ran to my kitchen to identify the source of the pine nuts that I had eaten for the second time in two weeks…sure enough, China. Diamond of California was the label. I contacted their Consumer Affairs Dept. A really rude woman tried to downplay it, like she’d never heard the complaint before, until I became more assertive. When I expressed the concern that this might come from a chemical used to treat the crops rather than a dirty trick played by mother nature, she slipped and mentioned that “Quality Control” had done extensive testing and the FDA never put out a recall. She then also admitted that most of the calls started at the beginning of last year. Nice, huh? Here they are a year later still selling them.
Worst part is, that I didn’t really like the nuts the first time that I tasted them, but I thought that they might be a food which you need to aquire a taste for, so I tried them again. I still didn’t care much for them, so I put them out for the squirrels. Poor squirrels. I hope that nothing happens to them. My husband joked that they are probably wondering why everything tastes like hell to them too.
309. Jen | March 10th, 2010 at 5:12 am
I too am experiencing this horrible thing! I had pine nuts from Trader Joes on Sat. night (3/6/10) and then again with lunch on sunday. By Sunday dinner everything tasted “off”. I woke up monday morning and couldn’t drink my coffee or eat anything. It’s not Tues nite and still horrible! I find sweet things are worse, but everything is bad.
How long does this last? Can I gargle anything to make it go away? Do I need to contact someone (dr, fda, trader joes???) I can’t believe something like this could happen… and that googling it could find such a silly answer!
310. Carol | March 10th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Since I have been fortunate enough to be reinfected with “pine mouth” (I can’t believe it has a name), I am able to monitor the symptoms more accurately this time.
Days 2 and 3 are definately the most brutal. The taste is vile. I’ve now been able to pinpoint it to the likeness of hairspray, and not just any hairspray. I once bought a generic for Paul Mitchell at a beauty supply store, that I could not use because every time that I tried, it would leave this taste way in the back of my mouth, near my throat, just like this. I closed my mouth when I sprayed it, but it didn’t help because it seemed to be coming down my sinuses from my nose. I would have to hack it up and spit it out for like 30 minutes afterward. I know, lovely, right? Well as gross as that sounds, I wish that would work now. There is no getting rid of it. I tried many of the posted suggestions, but believe that only time will provide relief.
I put a call into the drug company that I contacted last week to report this as a side effect. I apologetically retracted the report and explained how I identified the culprit.
Also, I saw the three squirrels that I fed the pin nuts to playing in my tree this morning, so I guess that is a good sign. However, one of them threw almonds on my roof, so maybe he is experiencing pine mouth as well.
I still have some of the pine nuts left. I’m keeping them in the refrigerator wrapped up in a note with the nasty woman’s name that I spoke with from Diamond of California Nuts. I think I will hang on to them for awhile, just in case. Stupid pine nuts!
311. Abby | March 10th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
March 13th, dined on delicious farfalle pasta tossed with garden peas and pine nuts, topped with grated parmesan.
Thought I might be suffering some kind of bizarre neurological disease! Everything I eat tastes bitter!
My pine nuts were also bought from a bulk bin at a BC Save-on-Foods, a couple of weeks ago. I intend to contact their manager to let them know….
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