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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1,514 Responses to “Bitter taste after eating for days – caused by pine nuts?”
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I mentioned to my wife that i had noticed a bitter taste after eatin
ing. She had me check on line, glad i did. I bought pine nuts from
trader joes also and other nuts and made a mix that i munch on
throughout the day. I know it’s not absolute but now i’m sure
the pine nuts are causing the problem. although
in my case the bitter taste is not severe. and it says on the
package the pine nuts are from korea, Russia. or Vietnam.
I am in Shanghai, China now. I just googled “bitter taste after eat sweet” and ran across this page. This is the third time in about four weeks that I have had this bitter taste in my mouth after eating and especially after something sweet or citrus. Interesting theory about the pine nuts. Turns out I have eaten pine nuts on three separate occasions. Once in the form of toasted nuts someone brought to the offices. Twice in a pesto sauce.
I posted a few weeks ago and wanted to update that for me the taste lasted for 8 days and then very mildly for a couple of days after. I am never going to eat pine nuts again. I think that research is needed as to why this bitter taste happens.
I have had the same problem, on and off for the last few years. I normally have pine nuts with my cornflakes,firstly I thought it was due to indigestion or tooth decay but a visit to the dentist confirmed that this was not the case.
After an Internet search I came across this forum which described the exact same symptoms that I have been experiencing and that it can be traced back to consumption of pine nuts.
Like many of you I have noticed that the pine nuts from Tesco were produced in China.
Tesco and many other supermarket chains should carefully consider the country of origin of their pine nuts and other products in future.
I have just returned from a week in St Lucia at an All Inclusive resort. From the end of the second day there I experienced a bitter, almost metalic taste every time I ate or drank something. I made a mental note after four or five days that I would see a Doctor on return. However having read this, maybe pine nuts is the cause. I ate ample pine nuts with my breakfast every day with out realising they might be the cause. This is my second day back and the taste is still with me, so I am spending some time researching. Maybe it is the pne nuts after all. I’ve no idea where the pine nuts were from.
Update – bitter taste gone after about ten days ….thank goodness. Hope no other longer lasting and as yet unseen effects. In future will not eat them unless I can be assured they are not affected and this will only happen if suppliers take this issue seriously. I do not blame any country in particular, the suppliers may not be aware of the problem. Clearly some research needs to be done in to species, storage methods etc etc…. A big thanks to this BLOG.
I’ve also had this happen this past week with pine nuts imported from Siberia. No quick way to identify the species just from the kernels. Very unpleasant, strong, taste sensation.
Acid food (vinegar, citrus juice, tomato) seems to lessen the bitter sensation, so acid food it is. I look forward to the time when this sensation diminishes. Most distracting.
Has anyone done any research to see if pine nut tasters are also brussels sprout tasters (PTC) or cilantro tasters?
I have started with this bitter mouth problem yesturday. One of my managers came round to my house with a cheese roll and it tasted awfull. I didn’t want to say anything!!. In the evening we all sat down and ate a stew and it tasted dreadfull. It was then I confessed to the bitter mouth and explained why I never ate the cheese roll. Today it is just as bad. I ate steak for tea, I am brushing my teeth and gums several times a day.
Does anyone know who long this will continue. I too ate baby pine nuts from Julian Graves. It doesn’t say where they are from but the code number is 8290T4A bar code 5 0302548 092002. Perhaps its to do with a certain batch?
I posted last week with these symptoms.It has now gone after about a week and i`m vowing never to touch pine nuts again!!!. I too hope somebody looks into this to find out the cause and if there is any quicker way of getting rid of the problem once it occurs.
I ate pine nuts Sunday at dinner (also snacking on them raw while cooking), and experienced bitter taste beginning Tuesday morning — so this is my third day. Per another forum (copied below), I tried Alpha Lipoic, but have only taken 100mg last night and 200mg this morning (I’m not a big pill taker of anything). But I think it is helping some. At least I suppose it can’t hurt. Food is still bitter, but less so. I think my “bitter” taste buds on the back of my tongue seem enlarged and there is also a whitish coating on my tongue in the back. Any one else? My pine nuts were purchased at Trader Joes (From “Korea, Russia or Vietnam”) in Tucson AZ. BTW, I found that hot green tea still tastes okay (I haven’t tried Cointreau…).
This is from another forum:
I am experiencing the same thing. Ate some pine nuts last Tuesday and Wednesday and Friday morning my tea tasted terrible and then everything after that. I took 300mg Alpha Lipoic Saturday with dinner and the after dinner snack I had a few hours later did not taste terrible. Breakfast on Sunday tasted bitter, but less so so I took another 300 mg and lunch and dinner yesterday were fine. Alpha Lipoic is an antioxidant, it seems to be doing something. Try it if you’re experiencing this, it may help!
hi so glad i found you all. i have the metalic bitter taste and a dry mouth. i was searching to see if it was a thyroid problem or if i had become diabetic of did i have thrush in my mouth. You can all tell that im a complete hypercondriac. but i was really panicking its so revolting cant find a way to make it go away. I have been snacking on pine nuts just a few, say 30 nuts, in the evening as im trying to diet. my nuts are Tesco brand produce of china packed in the uk. its a 300g bag and the sell by date is september 2009. im definately going to complain have we been poisned is it a pesticide being used in china. No one has really said how long this goes on for are some of you ok now?
leanda
hi again, just read sues comments and glad to hear your symptoms have gone and you lasted a week. i shall let you all know when mine have gone
leanda
Okay, my taste disturbance is all but gone now. Ate pine nuts Sunday dinner, noticed bitter/metallic taste Tuesday AM (though breakfast was just turning rancid), threw out lunch — too disgusting, bad tastes all Tuesday through Wednesday. Googled Wednesday afternnon and found this and another thread. Wednesday evening I bought Alpha Lipoic (at the health food store) and took it once Wed (100mg) and 3 times Thurs. (200 mg each). Dinner last night was good — I enjoyed the food (beets and pasta) and only had slight bitterness after swallowing. Food is good today. If anything, there is only very slight hint of bitterness a minute or so after eating, then it dissipates. Not sure if its the antioxidant, a placebo effect, or my metabolism, but mine lasted 3 days.
I ate 2 portions of pine nuts last week and have had a very bitter taste at back of mouth after eating or drinking ever since. If i dont eat or drink for a while the taste goes away. Any cures out there??
Hello everyone. I made a few comments on this site. I had this bitter taste since Christmas. Everyone seemed to get rid of it in less than a couple of weeks but I did not. I decided to go to a Doctor who of course had no clue. I had to tell him to order blood work. I asked for a lead and mercury test. I am a very healthy person except for a high mercury level which the doctor knew nothing about. Good thing I work for Naturpathic Doctors and I know that I need a chelating agent. My theory is that people with mercury in their blood may get more of these reactions than people without toxic metals in their blood. I believe I got mercury poisoning from having a old amalgam filling replaced in
October. I am still investigating, my taste is back 90%. Please let me know if anyone gets mercury test done, I would be curious to know. Having high mercury is nothing to fool around with and most Doctors do not test for it.
I am relieved to find what is causing the bitter taste in my mouth. I bought a packet of pine nuts from Lidl in the UK I have been eating them over the last 3 days and now have this bitter taste that wont go. Now I know the pine nuts are causing the bad taste I have thrown them away. The packet says they were produced in Germany.
Same thing here. Ate a handful of pine nuts with my salad 2 days ago and today I started experiencing the symptoms that everybody is describing. I live in Vancouver, BC – Canada. The pine nuts were from the bulk section of “Save On Foods”. They tasted good, and seemed very fresh.
I also bought pinenuts from Lidl which are the brand Sirius and from Germany. I have the same bitter taste everyone ese is complaining about after eating anything. I ahve had this for 5 days and iys still going strong so I am off to the health food shop for a remedy. I’ll also check out mercury poisoning although my dentist says there are no problems with my fillings
I bought some pine nuts from the Co-op and unfortunatly shared them with my colleagues, we have all experienced the same bitter-death taste at the back of our mouths, intensified by eating. I found this website after googling our strange problem. The nuts did indeed come from China and I agree they should be taken off the market. If I dont find a campaign to abolish this disgusting product then I will try to create one. Before I do I would just like to know if anybody knows of anything that can ease this suffering of being unable to enjoy food?
Sorry, nuts were from Sainsbury’s not Co-op, definately produced in China though! Yuk, yuk, yuk.
I ate them twice this week and I am concerned because my small daughter loves to snack on them and ate heaps. I have been going silly trying to figure out the cause. If anyone can tell if they are poisonous – heck that would be a help.
thanks for posting this, my wife and I both experienced the metallic taste in our mouth and couldn’t figure out what the hell it could be. Well, we cooked in on Sunday and enjoyed some roasted pine nuts from the Farmers Market….looks like PROBLEM SOLVED!
-zack
Quick update. Bitter day #3 has started… and it’s still quite bad. I’m starting to get impatient. So far, mint is the only thing that I found that temporarily helps. Does anybody have other remedies?
I have also been suffering the same problem and was surprised to find that it was caused by the pack of pine nuts i ate a few days ago. I am in Israel, and didn’t notice where the pinenuts were imported from, but wouldn’t be surprised if it is China too.
Thanks for this great discussion. Same thing happening to me — from pine nuts purchased at the Fairway market in Brooklyn. Ate the offending nuts over the weekend and the death-metal-bile taste started on Tuesday night. I’m hoping it’ll fade by the end of the weekend. Has anyone had any luck with the various “cures” mentioned further up the discussion chain? I find that I can still taste food “around” the problem but I’d love to knock it out completely!
Bitter day #4. Still about the same, or slightly better — perhaps I’m getting used to it. It’s like the sweet component of foods enhances their bitter component. Can eat just sugar without problem, just coffee without problems, but sweetened coffee tastes bad. So does chocolate. I also confirm that salty and sour food is OK.
OMG! I’m sitting here with my mouth hanging open! Those damn pine nuts! I made a dish with pine nuts in them yesterday. I had the leftovers today, and the bitter taste has begun. I made some fresh juice and couldn’t figure out why it was so bitter. I’ve had oranges (bitter), spinach salad (bitter), rice (bitter)…I thought I was dying of something crazy. And this morning my husband asked me to try this “great” apple cider we’d bought this morning and it was so nasty to me, but I didn’t say anything because I hadn’t made the connection yet. I just bought some pine nuts while we were out this morning. Mine are “Ann’s House of Nuts” Pine Nuts. It says the nuts are product of China, Spain, and Portugal. Oh, and I started minor cold/sinus symptoms yesterday too. I will be putting this on my blog.
On day 6, the bitter aftertaste is probably down to a 20% of what it used to be. Looks like it’s going to be gone soon. A big relief.
I live in australia, adelaide, and ate at a restaurant had a salad and have been experiencing this bitter taste for the last 3 days. ill think twice about eating pine nuts
I may have found a solution – well it worked for me – vinegar! Before you go rushing off to down spoonfuls of the stuff, I ate it by grating some cheese and mixing this with generous quantity of vinegar from pickled beetroot. You will need to add extra vinegar to the juice -its got to taste like vinegar. I ate mine in a sandwich (it was really nich actually) and it worked. The day after eating, the bitter taste had reduced and after that, disappeared. Sounds a bit weird I know but my fiance is always going on about the benefits of vinegar and may he was right!
I too ate the pine nuts from Trader Joe’s this past week. I’m on day two with the bitter taste after everything I eat and today is worse than yesterday. I’ll update to inform how long it took to go away. Thank you for posting this string. I thought I had something seriously wrong with my stomach.
So glad I found this I was wondering what the heck was going on but I started munching pine nuts instead of chocolate at work this week. I guess I will go try the vinigar idea now.
I’m experiencing the same thing, got worried about it and googled. It’s nice to know I am not alone. I have recently rediscovered pine nuts and have enjoyed snacking on them. I live in Cardiff in the UK. Perhaps it would be interesting to see a distribution map of sufferers
I ate Trader Joe’s Dry Toasted Pignolas (product of Russia or Korea) a few days ago. I have had the bitter taste ever since. Was blaming it on all sorts of things. I was told by my husband yesterday that my breath was bad and an “unusual” smell. I am miserable. I hope it goes away soon. Listerine breath strips seem to help the bad taste (don’t know about the bad breath). Candy, fruit, citrus, coffee with milk, is bad. Most prominent a little while after eating. I was annoyed that I had not checked labels since I usually only buy USA foods.
thank gooodness for this website and everyones comments!! , we no longer feel alone .After eating my third bitter tasting meal of the day i decided it was time to google it as many of you have done . i got my bag of ‘cheap’ pinenuts from lidl on friday and only this morning have started suffering from ‘Pine nut mouth ‘ heard it can go on for week’s!!!
desperatley trying to find a cure A.S.A.P
you will be the first to know if we find one
=]
I also ate pine nuts from Trader Joe’s on Friday and have had the horrible bitter taste all weekend. I live in San Diego and I got the nuts from Carmel Mountain branch- I will try the vinegar solution!
I have been suffering from ‘Pine Nut Mouth’ for 5 days now, after munching on a bag from Lidl from Porthmadog, N.Wales. Has anybody thought about the manifestation of this toxin – and how it only arises after all food except water – could be related to mucus production in the oesophogus? Has anyone found any credible references discussing this strange and only symptom of ingesting possibly tainted pine nuts?
Thanks for all the info so far – the internet at work is a magical thing!
I wrote post #77. The solution that worked for me was ACTIVATED CHARCOAL. When I told my friends at work what happened, the all said the same thing: activated charcoal. Apparently that is what hospitals give people who’ve had food poisoning.
I ate the pine nuts on Thursday and Saturday. I took the charcoal at 4:00pm on Sunday. By Tuesday night, the bitter taste was completely gone.
This NOT the charcoal you grill with. This is a dietary supplement you can get at health food stores, GNC…I got mine at the Vitamin Shoppe. 50 capsules cost me @ $5.40. 100 capsules ran @ $9.00. Take 2 capsules every 2 hours.
I also called around to pharmarcies. None of them had it, but they all knew what I was talking about. So get on the phone and find this stuff!
I stumbled upon this site after having the exact same symptoms that many of the readers have brought up – bitter taste at the back of the mouth. At first, I thought I was having gastritis but after reading your entry, realize that I did purchase a bag of pine nuts from Trader Joes on Sunday and had added it to a cauliflower curry salad I had made. Glad to find a reason behind this bitter after-taste but I wonder if more should be done to look into this problem!
I ate pine nuts from China, purchased under the Kirkland label from Costco in Utah. I’ve had the bitter taste for 5 days and am looking forward to some of the home remedies helping. This is miserable.
I’ve been eating pine nuts forever and, for the first time, have just experienced this whacky taste-bud reaction. When googling “bitter saliva” I came up with a bunch of sites that indicated jaundice, dental caries, etc. But I had none of the other symptons. This morning, I noticed the bitter taste was not there when I woke up, but more pronounced after eating. Googled “bitter saliva eating” and a bunch of references came up relating to pine nuts! After clicking on your blog and reading it, I checked the back of the bag of pine nuts I purchased from Trader Joe’s last week and found that it was a “Product of Korea, Russian, or Vietnam” ;-> Thanks so much, printing your page and some of the other references out and taking my bag of pine nuts back for a refund ;->
Hi we live in Germany. My wife and I were about to head to the doctor this afternoon as we thought we may have ingested some sort of poison from the cookware in the furtnished flat we moved into last weekend. Monday night we snacked on a bag of pine nuts as we often do and we both have this rancid taste at the back of our tongue during and after eating. Not sure where the nuts were harvested from. Sweet food is worse.So glad we found this site.We are now on day 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Like everone else I’m extremely pleased to have found this forum. Does anybody know whether the food standards agency is informed about this problem? It should be relatively straightforward to identify the pine species or local variety using genetic makers. It would then be easy to impose inport restictions. I could do such an analysis in my lab but have unfortunatley none of the offending nuts left. Anyway I’ll look into it
Hi!
Pine nut victim from the Netherlands here. Bought them at Jumbo supermarket and used them untoasted in a veggie dish with pesto.. I’ve used the pesto before, that was fine, but I threw the nuts away right after reading all this.
Everything tasted afwul after 2 days.. especially sweetened food.
Cheap red wine seems to help a bit, as does hot food: chillies, sambal. Trying cointreau, vinegar and Norit (charcoal medicine) tomorrow. Máán, wednesday I’m having a fancy engagement dinner…
Thanks for all the feedback!
I live in San Francisco Bay area, and experienced this after having Pine Nuts for dinner on Saturday. This was at the Frankie Johnnie & Luigi, Italian restaurant in Mountain view. The salad contained chicken, spinach, and tons of pine nuts. I thought I was losing my mind, when the bitter taste (accompanying everything I ate — particularly carbohydrates & sugar), started on Monday morning. I am so glad I found you guys.
Two days ago bought and ate pine nuts from Save on Food ScotsDale mall Delta (Vancouver’s lower mainland (after 24 hours almost everything tasted very bitter) including honey or Milka milk chocolate . Now is March 10 / 09 The second day .
Today I complained and they took it seriously but in this forum #67 is in the same city … they don’t communicate Hey Save on Food’s management ….. we are poisoned by your products, imagine if it was you.
For all you beginners that suffer and want to eat something that is not too bitter taste, try “PURE CHOICE” CERTIFIED ORGANIC CRANBERRIES (Sweetened and dried a little bit) Everything else other than water …. bitter tomorrow I’ll try Unicum fight bitter with it’s own enemy… and of course the pickled red beet juice .
Cheers
Two days ago bought and ate pine nuts from Save on Food ScotsDale mall Delta (Vancouver’s lower mainland (after 24 hours almost everything tasted very bitter) including honey or Milka milk chocolate . Now is March 10 / 09 The second day , still the same.
Today I complained and they took it seriously but in this forum #67 is in the same city , the same company… they don’t communicate Hey Save on Food’s management ….. we are poisoned by your product, imagine if it was you.
For all you beginners that suffer and want to eat something that is not too bitter taste, try good quality bananas or “PURE CHOICE” CERTIFIED ORGANIC CRANBERRIES (Sweetened and dried a little bit) Everything else other than water …. bitter tomorrow I’ll try Unicum fight bitter with it’s own enemy… and of course the pickled red beet juice suggested here.
Cheers
Same as everyone – ate some pine-nuts – bitter taste – read this forum and tried an experiment – have temporary cure – Bicarbonate of Soda – 1/3rd teaspoon in small glass of warm water cleared the bitterness – until I had something more to eat – note: clean teeth very well after eating, then Bicarbonate, otherwise small food fragments stimulate bitterness over again…
i am giving this a go. its not tha i dont believe you guys but i have to try it to believe it. i have eaten some pine nuts that had ‘poisoned’ my friend. i willl keep you guys posted.
I am Leila’s friend and would like to confirm that she is an utter psycho and deserves all the bitterness she will get! Whoohahaha taste it and weep Leila!!
See above message for clarifications of this one.