I started to get a bitter taste in my mouth after eating. At first I thought I was going to die so I Googled on it – how many people a minute go through that process! My scatter gun approach to diagnosis came up with a series of suggestions. I either had jaundice or I was diabetic or I had eaten pine nuts (possibly from China) in the last few days. My skin isn’t yellow and my pee isn’t orange and I am not thirsty all the time but I had eaten a new kind of pine nut in the last few days so the third option looks like it warrants attention. After Googling start blogging.
There is a very short scientific-like paper out there Taste disturbances after pine nut ingestion. In the initial case the pine nuts were oxidized and not fit for consumption but six other cases are mentioned and it is not clear if these were oxidized. A test subject also consumed two portions of nuts which I guess they wouldn’t do if they were oxidized. Importantly there was no fungal contamination, no pesticide contamination and they didn’t know what species of tree the nuts were from but they had come from China.
The wikipedia pine nut page currently summarises and has a few links to discussion groups where the effect is mentioned.
Now I eat pine nuts a lot (I am a veggie) and this is the first time this has happened. It is also the first time I have had ‘Baby’ pine nuts which were sold as being small. My theory is that these are actually a different species of pine nut. This would be fun to investigate.
What candidates do we have among commonly eaten pine nut species ( according to Wikipedia)
Pinus gerardiana, known as the Chilgoza Pine, ‘noosa’, or ‘neoza’, is a pine native to the northwestern Himalaya in eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwest India, growing at elevations between 1800-3350 m. It often occurs in association with Blue Pine (Pinus wallichiana) and Deodar Cedar (Cedrus deodara).(Wikipedia) – This is a possible one. Are its seeds smaller than P. koraiensis I wonder?
Pinus koraiensis is Korean Pine. It is native to eastern Asia, Manchuria, far eastern Russia, Korea and central Japan. Korean Pine differs from the closely related Siberian Pine in having larger cones with reflexed scale tips, and longer needles. The seeds are extensively harvested and sold as pine nuts, particularly in northeastern China; it is the most widely traded pine nut in international commerce. – Very likely. (Wikipedia)
Pinus pinea Stone Pine (or Umbrella Pine) Native of Southern Europe in the Mediterranean region (Wikipedia) – not likely contender.
Pinus edulis Colorado Pinyon or Two-needle Pinyo is native to the United States and so not likely contender.
Pinus cembroides Mexican Pinyon – mexican so not likely to bother us.
Pinus monophylla Single-leaf Pinyon – USA native so not likely to bother us.
Looks like there are two contenders. Common things happen commonly so I have probably been eating P. koraiensis for years as it is the most commonly traded. Perhaps these new seeds are P. gerardiana?
I will investigate further.
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Hi Roger,
I too have suffered this problem and until this weekend had not made the link to pine nuts. I have to admit to snacking on them whilst cooking in the kitchen. I was fine on Saturday and then ate some Saturday evening while preparing a casserole for dinner. The casserole tasted horribly bitter.The pine nuts I ate were the smaller and cheaper variety form James Grieves. This seems to fit in with your experience. I started buying this smaller variety last Summer and that is when I started to experience the bitter taste. Unfortunately I don’t have the original packaging any more to see whether they came from China. As an ex-chef I was devastated to find that my taste had gone making it impossible to season food.
This morning I think I am a little better – should be over it by tomorrow. The only thing I can eat with relative good taste is muesli but I still get the bitterness afterwards. Water is the only drink unaffected.
We should start a campaign to get these nuts removed from the market.
AT
Sorry – for James Grieves read Julian Graves – the former is of course a sort of apple!!!!!
Hi Roger
I have also just gone through what you have – ate pine nuts (baby ones from Julian Graves) on Sat night and now have a constant bitter taste in my mouth and can’t taste the food I prepare for my 8 month old baby! I am going to contact the people I had over for dinner(!) to see if they are experiencing the same as me and I am also going to contact Julian Graves! I also did think I had something nasty and made a doctors apt then googled it and couldn’t believe what I was reading!
If I may ask, how would you describe the sensation? Was it incredibly unpleasent or merely somewhat disconcerting?
I have a nearly uncontrolable sweet tooth, and I’m wondering if snacking on these nuts from time to time might help me bring that under control to some degree and perhaps lose some weight. If everything tastes bitter for a few days, I’m unlikely to do as much snacking.
Your opinion, given your experience of this?
I have had two replies from Alison at Julian Graves. Firstly she says:
“The pinenuts are from China although specific variety varies from region to region. The pinenuts are graded on the size, to do this they use different sieves to determine if it is classed as a normal pinenut or a baby pinenut.”
I find it fascinating that we don’t know the species that the nuts come from but I guess this is the case for many foods we it. Just another lesson in biodiversity. Alison sent a sample of the nuts I had eaten off for analysis and the technical report said:
“Thank you for your recent comments with regard to the after taste you have associated with pine nuts. We have had experience of sporadic complaints with regard taste and pine nuts. Unfortunately there has been no commonality to enable us to full identify why some people are experiencing this taste as it appears not to be batch related. We have carried out analysis and enquired with an independent food association we are members of, and no one can give a definite reason for the taste. It has been suggested that pine nuts can carry a natural chemical which only a small number of the population can taste and is only present under certain growing conditions or when the pine nuts have been cooked or eaten with another food.”
This is as I suspect. My wife ate these nuts as well and didn’t suffer any ill effect. It could be the variety of nut or some other factor but it doesn’t happen often enough to find a pattern. Possibly it is only the internet (and Google) that lets us discover these things. I have been eating regular pinenuts again without any problem so maybe I’ll just wait and see if it happens again.
From the point of view of eating pinenuts to put you off eating other foods this sounds like it would be pretty unpleasant. The taste really is bad and you get it after eating most foods it just seems worse after refined carbohydrate (in my experience). Because the effect isn’t predictable and may be genetic it would be difficult to isolate. If, however, you isolate a compound that could be turned into a functioning appetite suppressant then I claim my share of the proceeds!
Thank you for letting me know I am not crazy or worse yet suffering from some deadly disease. This week I have been munching on a small bag of pinenuts and also have a slight chest cold. I thought maybe the chest cold was really some kind of infection due to the taste of in my mouth each time I ate anything.After googling and finding this info. I looked on the package and they are from China. The nuts are now in the garbage. Thanks again for the heads up.
Thank you for this!!! This is the second time I suffer from this bitter metallic taste in my mouth after eating… When I got it last year, my doctor told me it was an infection and gave me some anti-nausea medication. (The bitter taste left only 3-4 days later, so I couldn’t really tell if it was the medicine that made it really go away). This time, I decided to google it and you are so right!!! I ate a salad (at a restaurant) 2 evenings ago that had a handful of pine seeds… And the bitter taste started yesterday noon.
What a relief to know this! I was starting to get worried about a recurring infection…
Thanks again!
I bought some pinenuts from Sprouts and was eating them on Saturday while I was cooking. Sure enough the last few days I have been tasting an awful bitter burning taste in the back of my mouth. My daughter in law came by for lunch today and after eating a cheese sandwich, she said the same thing….that she had a bitter aftertaste and yes everything taste Nasty…..YUCK! I was wondering if China is trying to poison us with Pine nuts? What good is the FDA if they cannot regulate imported food to be sure it’s safe for Human and Pet consumption? I am getting very upset by this!
WOW-These messages were a God send. I ate a handful of pines from Safeway for the first time in a long time. I now have bitter
taste in my mouth especually after coffee. Thanks for all the information. It all makes sense. Who needs a doctor
I ATE PINE NUTS ON CHRISTMAS EVE, MAYBE ONLY THREE OR FOUR OF THEM AND TWO DAYS LATER CAME DOWN WITH THIS AWFUL BITTER TASTE ESPECIALLY AFTER ANYTHING SWEET. I AM ON MY TENTH DAY AND STILL HAVING THIS PROBLEM. I AM GETTING VERY DEPRESSED. DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW LONG THIS WILL LAST.THE PINE NUTS WERE FROM CHINA.
I’ve made a salad with pine nuts a couple times since January 1st, two different packages bought from Albertsons on two different days. The second time we ate it was Sunday, January 3rd. Today, Wednesday the 6th when I had my first food of the day, it all tasted nasty. After I finished I recognized a chemically type taste. I had just had my hair colored so I thought maybe some of that or a soap from my hands got into my mouth, but then, at dinner, I had pizza and it happened again. Upon googling I saw all the connection with pine nuts. No one else that ate it has been bothered by this.
SAME HERE THE PERSON THAT BROUGHT THE PINE NUTS OVER WAS NOT AFFECTED, I HAVE AN ALLERGY TO SOME NUTS BUT NEVER TO PESTO SO I THOUGHT PINE NUTS WOULD BE OK. I WILL NEVER EAT THEM AGAIN, THIS IS MY TWELVE DAY. HAS ANYONE ELSE GONE THIS LONG ?IT SEEMS TO BE GETTING A LITTLE BETTER.THIS IS GREAT FOR DIETING, YOU ARE AFRAID TO TASTE ANYTHING.
I’m also experiencing the same bitter taste and I’m wondering if we can somehow find a link since our posts are all in a very close time period. Does anyone live in New York? I purchased my nuts from Fairway supermarket and I’m going to look into analyzing them. If it’s just a natural chemical component in the seed then were all suffering from a strange allergic reaction but if there’s more to them coming from China and a possibility of a foreign contamination I think this warrants further investigation. I’m willing to champion the cause if anyone wants to give me additional information.
Thanks for starting this discussion; I am very relieved to hear that someone out there has experienced this too, and has found the connection. I bought baby pine nuts from Julian Graves (my first time having the baby pine nuts) and I seriously hope that this taste goes soon. I suspected it was either my cold (been sneezing and sniffling all week), or the fruit I have been eating all week to combat the cold! You know how bitter plums can be in your mouth anyway? I will stop by Julian Graves some day soon and see what they have to say. I might phone them now!
Thank you!
I am having this same problem two days after eating pine nuts. The taste at the back of my mouth after eating or drinking is awful. This is my second day and I am anxious for it to remedy.
I have found that only water and peppermint tea taste normal and have been chewing gum to get rid of the taste after eating. I am hungry but don’t really want to put myself through the experience of eating the taste is so bad.
Does anyone know how long it lasts?
It is now the fifteenth day for me, how long is it for everyone else? It is getting a little better. I live in New
Hampshire. To the lady in New York have you found anything else out? Is it going away?
I’m in Southern California and purchased pine nuts from Trader Joe’s on Thurs, Jan 8. Ate them in a salad wrap that night…fast forward to Saturday morning, I’m eating an apple and notice a bitter taste in the back of my mouth. Tossed out the apple, thinking it had gone bad… But hours later at a restaurant, every appetizer I try is giving me the same bitter aftertaste – which rules out the apple as the culprit! Wasn’t sure if there was something seriously wrong with me, until I googled and found this thread. The package of pine nuts says “Produced in Korea, Russia, or Vietnam” (I guess they don’t know for sure???) Is there anyone else from So Cal with this problem?
I have spent a miserable weekend with this awful taste in my mouth after anything I ate, worrying about what could be wrong, I googled the problem this morning and find all of you experiencing the same! I too have been eating pine nuts, a healthier option I thought! I bought mine as a salad mix from Lidl’s (pine nuts, pumpkin seeds & sunflower seeds) does anyone know what chemical it is that ic causing the problem?
Thank God. We thought we were going mad or were ill (have been thinking it was contaminated water or washing up liquid or something!!) We used baby pine nuts from Julian Graves on Saturday night- today ( Tuesday) and yesterday we both have hideous bitter taste all day. Dan has been chewing gum all day to remove the taste and i have been eating sweet things to try and mask it! These nuts should really be removed from sale- I may print this and take it in the Julian Graves this week. Hope this doesnt last too long……..
Thanks for everyone’s comments. First time I’ve had this bitter taste sensation and it’s after eating anything at all. It’s totally yuck! I’ve just started eating pine nuts and never would have suspected a connection. I’ll be checking the country of origin before I buy an more. It sounds like reports of this come from various countries. BTW, I’m in Canada.
Elisabeth, if you are willing to champion – here’s my info.
We also bought pine nuts from Fariway ( 74-th street ) around Jan 9-th & we also experience the same bitter taste for the last couple of days.
I’m in New York and I got my pine nuts from Fairway as well. I bought them Saturday the 10th, had a small handful tuesday with lunch and again in a salad on Tuesday night and the bitterness started last night (Wednesday).
I’ve read elsewhere that it’s likely genetic. My husband hasn’t been affected at all and he’s been eating the same pine nuts.
considering this is the same batch from fairway ( bought about the same time ) it does bother me a bit ( e.g., could be some toxin ). We’ve bought pine nuts from Costco for years and have never had a problem before. The front sticker on the fairway bag says PINE NUTS ( pignolas ). Bar code is: 2 28109 70991 8. Sticker on the back is ripped.
I live in Austria and have the same problem. I bought my pine nuts from a supermarket chain called Zielpunkt. The nuts were relatively small but not sold as baby pine nuts. Do you guys also feel a bit heady when the bitter taste is there?
I live in NY and bought a batch of pine nuts from Amish Market. Cooked them on Saturday and started experiencing a bitter aftertaste after eating any food Monday night onwards.
I live in Southern California. I and my husband bought pine nuts from trader joe’s. We both ate from it yesterday and my husband eat more with a salad today. We both have a very bitter taste in our mouth. I also ate an apple and thought it was gone bad until my husband mentioned the bitterness taste in his mouth so we started tracking what was it that we both ate since our kind are OK. It was the pine nuts. Does any one know how to get rid of it and hol long it lasts if no remedy
Thanks
Essia
I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I bought a bag of pine nuts from an Italian Market store, from a bulk food display. I toasted some of these pine nuts three days ago and have experienced the bitter, metallic taste that everyone here has described. I will return to the store tomorrow to find out where these pine nuts have come from. I will try to get the remaining pine nuts (from this bag) tested, but I’m unsure where to begin. I have read that this bitter taste can last for 21 days. In answer to the Austrian blogger, question 24, no, I don’t feel heady. The pine nuts are rather large; they don’t seem to be the small variety that is also described here and there.
I live in the UK. My girlfriend and I have been experiencing this problem for the past few days after consuming Tesco pine nuts from China. Bitter taste at the back of the tongue whenever eating anything, especially if it is sweet.
This should definitely be investigated, anything that can affect your sense of taste for a prolonged period is potentially serious. Anyone got any suggestions as to what can be done?
Thanks
John
@Essia – the Fairway variety pinenuts left a bitter taste for about 7-8 days. The Fairway corporate guy has never returned calls, which is annoying. I’ll give them a few more chances before escalating.
@John, i saw on the web that people actually took this to poison control/department of health. There is no reason consumers should endure this nuisance ( or health hazard? ).
After 4 days, the bitter taste is lessening, but only a little. I threw a perfectly good bottle of wine away before I discovered what this problem actually is. Everything tastes like metal, or bitterness. Only a glass of Contreau does the trick. I recommend it to everyone on this list!
I have been suffering the same bitter taste all this week, and was close to convincing myself that I would have to see my doctor, suspecting an ulcer. But as soon as I read this thread I knew it was the same pine nut problem!
(I purchased mine from Julian Graves store in Eastbourne, East Sussex, UK last month, but only got round to eating some last weekend.)
Like everyone else above I would like to know how long I will have to endure this problem, is it dangerous, and yes indeed why should consumers have to put up with this?
I am so grateful to have found this site! I too was thinking there was something horribly wrong with me. I put together what I thought was a healthy mix of dried fruit and nuts and began munching on them about a week ago. The bitter taste started a day or so after I began munching. I don’t know that I would have figured this out without your help. I will throw it all away and begin again without the pine nuts. I have eaten pine nuts for years with no adverse reaction until I bought and ate these. These weren’t labels as baby pine nuts, just pine nuts. I live in Central Illinois so it sounds like these are being distributed very widely. I have thrown away the bag so I don’t know the country of origin but the next time I go to the store I will check it out and write a note to the company that is distributing them.
I bought my pine nuts at Trader Joes in Seattle WA. Horrible metal, chemical, medicine taste for 4 days now. The nuts tasted fine. Now everything is bleak tasting. I’ve tried tabasco, horseradish, garlic, & honey, but nothing will wash the taste out. I’ll be drinking lots of water, pure cranberry juice to flush out my system & taking milk thistle to protect my live. In this day & age of food borne illness…E.Coli-you’d think the businesses would be giving better feed.back. Are they toxic? I already have liver disease & would like to know if I just incurred more damage.
I ate some pine nuts two nights away and have also started to get a bitter taste as I eat. They reccomend brushing your teeth with baking powder on one website which i don’t much fancy. The Cointreau sounds much more appealing so thanks for the heads up. Does it just alleviate thte symptoms for a couple of minutes or get rid of the taste till you eat again? I’m quite worried about what will happen if i have the symptoms for a full 21 days as my taste buds are pretty sensitive so now every time I eat something i throw up. It might actually become a health hazard. I’m from the uk and got mine from asdas.
Same problem since eating a handful of toasted pine nuts 4 days ago: bitter taste after eating. ASDA WHOLEFOODS range, purchased in the UK: batch 83376M 12:25, best before 10.10.09. Produce of more than one country.
I am on my fourth week with this awful bitter taste, it has gotten a little better. I eat a couple of bites of something and then it makes me sick. I have been taking a a product called Tanalbit which takes toxins out of your body.The only good thing is I lost the ten pounds I wanted too. Is anyone else lasting this long?
An update! After one week of bitter, metallic taste my mouth has almost returned to normal. I have no idea whether this pine nut “taste disturbance” is related to the type of pine nuts (which originate in China) or some chemical which they put on to the pine nuts. I bought these pine nuts from Lina’s market in Calgary, and notified them afterward, but they didn’t take my complaint seriously. They remain on the stands. As for the my Cointreau suggestion, I mentioned it because it is the only drink which doesn’t become corrupted with a bitter aftertaste. For the record, I’m not an alcoholic who needs a drink every day, but I have to say, it was great to find some drink (besides water) which didn’t remind me that I was poisoned. It’s pretty good, too. I would like to add my thanks to those who started this string, and those who continue to discuss this mystery. It does seem more personal than “a health mystery” when you are worried about your health and what might have happened to it. I will continue to investigate this problem, by bringing my remaining pine nuts to a health authority for deeper examination. Until then, I hope you are all feeling better soon.
I am glad I searched all this out too, I ate Pine Nuts from China and I have the most rancid taste when I eat food or drink anything – the nuts are from a distributor by the name of Frieda’s, http://www.friedas.com – while I was eating them they had not bad taste, but after approx 24 hours I could not hardly eat anything becuase everything tasted horrible- I was thinking it was zinc lozenges that I was using, so I stopped them, a couple days went by and the bad taste was dissapating, then I grabbed a handful of the pine nuts and it was so apparent at that point, the pine nuts were the cause. I wish I could tell everyone what makes this taste go away, but I cannot yet, I only know what makes it worse and that would be eating more pine nuts – I will contact the distributor and let them know ASAP – and I think I will also let the FDA know – I hope everyone lets the FDA know, because things like this only get resolved when people collectively speak out
I also live in Southern California and bought pine nuts from Trader Joes recently. And yes I have this dreadful taste in the back of my mouth and yet my husband and kids are ok. To be fair I did consume more than they did. I too thought I had some awful liver problem and went so far as to run out and buy some liver detoxifying herbs! I am so glad I came across this site… I am amazed at how many people have had this experience and why isn’t this being reported on the news or something?!
I have had the same bitter taste in my mouth for a couple of days and didn’t know what was causing it. I made a salad and warned my husband that the raw shredded cabbage tasted bitter but he couldn’t detect it. I came online to try and find out if I was deficient in something etc then found your site. I ate a few handfuls of pine nuts mixed with pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds over the last couple of days. I bought them in Lidls packaged in Germany but who knows where the nuts originate from.
Sonia
I noticed other people saying the same thing: the pine nuts from Trader Joe’s seem to be causing the bitterness. I’ve had this unbearable bitterness in my mouth since last night, even though I ate pine nuts three days ago. I buy pine nuts from TJ’s fairly regularly, and it’s the first time this has happened. It is truly driving me insane.
Hi: Thanks for this – arrived here after googling “pine nut bitter fairway”.
To the New Yorkers who mentioned this( Elizabeth, JS, LK) I seem to have had the same experience with nuts purchased at the usually reliable Fairway Market, uptown. Admittedly this was a large amount consumed in one sitting, and oddly enough, I was reading the Wikipedia article with the mention of bitterness right about the time I ate them. But the bitter taste did kick in 3-4 days after the fact, and has stayed the week. I only experience it when eating or drinking anything sweet.
I picked up another batch today, will test it and call Fairway. It’s likely harmless, but it’s also a quality issue.
RC
I too have eaten pine nuts bought last week from Asda and have been experiencing this terrible bitterness in my mouth. I suffer from Chronic Fatigue and was beginning to think that this was just another symptom, so I was very relieved to find this forum.
Concerned about Pine Nuts? … Do a Google search for aflatoxin pine nuts then do one for aflatoxins. I am here also because of the same unpleasant taste after eating anything now lasting 5 days. Pine nuts were from Trader Joes.
Hi fellow suffers.
I’ve been googling trying to find an explanation for the extremely bitter taste I experience whenever I eat and you guys appear to have the answer.
I found a half pack of pine nuts in the cupboard several days ago and munched a few. I have suffered the symptoms you all describe since. I believe my nuts were from Tesco but I’ve thrown the pack away. The pack had been open since Xmas so there could be an element of the oxidation mentioned in a previous post involve. I’m certainly going to give pine nuts a miss in the future – I just hope it doesn’t take me 12 days to get rid of it!
I cannot believe this. I too have been suffering from this bitter taste after eating anything. I had no idea that it would be linked to these pine nuts that I bought from Trader Joe’s a couple weeks ago. I have been snacking on them here and there. This package is going in the garbage after I call Trader Joe’s.
Thanks to this string of postings I relinquished the idea that I had to see a doctor. I experience exactly the same symptoms as all the other contributors described. I live in Tucson, AZ and bought the pine nuts from Trader Joes (product of Korea, Russia or Vietnam). I had exactly the same ones before and never experienced this awful bitter taste. I also had a huge package from Costco (those were from China) and did not notice anything. It seems to me that either I developed some sort of allergy and from now on pine nuts will do this to me (not sure if I want to test my theory by eating them again some time soon) or that only some arbitrary bags are contaminated with something that does not do well with my taste system.
thanks again to all of you.
Relief! was going through all sorts of things in my head as have just finished a low fat/carb diet. Thought maybe gall stones or something nasty like that ( no pain anywhere was telling me otherwise!!) but would never have even thought about about pine nuts. Had a bar of Green & Blacks Milk as a treat for loosing Christmas blubber and it tasted horrid, how unfair is that??!!! Hope you all get your taste buds back to normal ASAP……
Me too – I thought I had sclerosis of the liver and like you thought I might be about to die!!! Not too weird a possibility taking in to account how much wine I drink. Anyway – I bought my pine nuts in a supermarket here in France. I think the pine nuts are the smaller variety you mention although unfortunately I have thrown away the packaging so can’t check. Would storage in fridge have any effects? which is what I did.
Amanda – France, Feb 4th 2009
Bought “baby Pine Nuts ” from Julian Graves in Wheatley’s shopping center in Bayswater, London on January 28th 2008. I have really bad bitter metalic taste in my mouth for the past week (Almost ate the entire bag)