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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I am in Canada. Thanks to the contributors for sharing their horrible experiences. The past two days have been “nuts”. I was ready to check myself into emergency!
My husband and I have been suffering these symptoms for a few days now after eating raw pinenuts from Asda, we really cannot stand anything we eat or drink due to the bitter taste, we tried a hot curry tonight thinking it would over power this taste but alas no… The only thing we can tolerate without any side effect is weak black tea, and a couple of beers that were pretty bitter to start with – hope it passes soon!
I am truly relieved to hear all of these testimonies to “Pine Mouth”. 4 days ago I cooked a fabulous meal which required toasted pine nuts. Also, I made homemade hummus and placed a few of the pine nuts on that. By the next morning I started tasting this soapy taste in my mouth. It tastes like I accidentally ingested lotion or something. By evening time it seems worse to the point that I don’t feel like eating. The taste is so annoying that I’ve felt nauseous to the point of just taking a Tums to absorb what I thought was indigestion or something. My husband mentioned a metallic taste in his mouth for a couple of days but hasn’t noticed anything as persistent as my symptoms. So, for now, staying hydrated seems to be the answer. I’m glad to see that this lasts around 10 days. It may be a good jump start to my diet that I’ve been needing to go on. The pine nuts I used were purchased at our local grocer and the brand is “It’s Delishii” packaged by Universal Merchants in LA, CA. It doesn’t say where the nuts are actually from.
I purchased “raw pignolias” (pine nuts) from trader joes that were a, “product of korea, russia or vietnam.” I had some this past Monday the 25th and the metallic taste started later that evening after I ate some ice cream. The strange taste always subsides between meals but comes back without fail after eating. Today is Saturday and I still have the taste after eating but I think it is less intense.
I’m glad to find this to be so common. I found the smaller, raw pine nuts from Korea/Russia at Trader Joe’s. Two nights ago, I ate some for snacks. This morning, everything tasted bitter. 7-10 day is too long… I will do a nutritional cleanse at cellular level to see if I can get rid of the bitter taste sooner!
Wow, thank heavens for the Web. Just had the same symptom today, a persistent bitter taste I couldn’t shake with drinking water, toothbrushing, or chewing gum. I finally in desperation googled the phrase “my mouth tastes bitter” and came across all the pine nut postings. I did eat pine nuts a few evenings ago, they seemed unusually small and I thought they might be a bit rancid as I had had them in the freezer for awhile. This is the oddest thing ever; how comforting that I am not alone and it isn’t serious.
Hello,
I live in Belgium, and I have the same problem. Everything that I eat has a bitter taste : I ate pinenuts a few days ago… Strangely enough, my husband (who ate the same meal) has no bitter taste in is mouth!
I think we should all write/call/mail the food safety agencies in our countries, in the hope a sollution for this world-wide problem will be found.
For the moment I eat and drink as much as possible things that go well with bitterness (chocolate, coffee, …) and hope it will not last too long.
I ate a passion fruit this morning, wich surprisingly took away the bitterness in my mount for a few minutes, so I could enjoy eating some other fruits, but unfortunately the bitter taste returned…
This is so bizarre. I have pine nuts regularly and had some Asda Wholefoods (product of more than one country) on Wednesday night on top of pesto. Friday lunchtime I had a small glass of red wine and thought it tasted disgusting, although my friend thought it tasted fine. Have also had a bad taste on a off the past few days – I described it like having hairspray on my fingers and putting them in my mouth!!
Had red wine last night again too and it still tasted funny – glad I know what is the cause – was getting worried. Will bin the rest of the nuts and avoid ones from China or which don’t have a origin on the pack.
Thanks for solving my problem everyone!!
@Sue Yu People have been eating pine nuts, roasted and raw for 10,000 years. This problem only developed over the last few years and must be related to processing. I think they are a bit off base.
Penny Frazier
pinenut.com
I too thought i was dying, sadly just before reading this i just ate a handful of pinenuts as it was one of the few things i could face.
On thing that has offered release is a cup of red bush, whether it lasts or not time will tell.
WOW! This is so interesting…..I purchased some pinenuts from Tesco (UK), and had the odd portion over two days. By the end of the second day, a horrible bitter taste like some bad perfume hit the back of my mouth! I turned to my partner and asked what that awful perfume was she had put on (lol). I was a bit surprised the next day to still have this horrible taste in my mouth…being a bit paranoid, i was worried it might be something wrong with my insides, and may be an initial warning signal for some bad health problem I was to develope! having typed ‘bitter taste in the mouth’ in my google search engine, I instantly came to the culprit ‘Pine Nuts’. I’m a bit relieved as it totally fits in with my latest portion of pine nuts, as I haven’t eaten them for ages. Its so good to know this could be the case. I usually buy the nuts from local Indian/Pakistani food stores and never had a problem with them, with the new packet I purchased from Tesco, i noticed these were from China, so it could well be just the source of origin. Won’t be rushing off me feet to purchase anymore soon…..having to wait so many days on average (7 -10) to overcome this bitter taste is awful, and i’m not looking forward to it. These superstores should have some accountbility if they are aware of this problem, its not good.
It took me a while to figure out what was going on. I am glad I fond information here! I was still reluctant to believe that my symptoms could have been caused by pine nuts… I couldn’t remember eating an pine nus recently. Then my wife reminded me that my symptoms started after eating hummus and there it was! That hummus had pine nuts!!! I am glad it is not the hummus, because I love it. I will get some without pine nuts from now on…
Now, I have to agree with “Goods From The Woods”. It has to be something related to processing, because all these reports of bitter/metallic taste are recent and pine nuts have been around for thousands of years.
OMG, my wife told me that I’m imagining the bad taste in my mouth (only after eating) and that it’s probably being caused by anxiety. Needless to say, I’m glad I just found this website. I thought I had some sort of rare disease. On Thursday night, we had pine nuts in a chicken & tomato dish that my wife makes. The sour taste after eating didn’t start until Saturday. Today is day 2. This has never happened to me before after eating this dish.
We live in Australia and also use tank water. At first we thought it was the water (never had the problem before), then the electric jug (sealing resin?), but after reading the blogs, we are convinced it is the Pine Nuts. We regularly use uncooked Pine Nuts in our salads and have never had the problem until we found a cheaper and larger pack at Woolworths or Coles (not sure which store). We will toss out the Pine Nuts we have and go back to the old pack…after the taste has gone. I wentr away on business for 10 days and the taste disappeared after a couple of days (I was eating potent mining camp food though). To Penny Frazier, it could be the Pine Nuts type, the fertilising/soil nutrients or processing???
Like all of you, i too have had a bitter taste in my mouth for days and i ate a good portion of pine nuts 2 days ago purchased form Tesco (made in China) Funny thing is my daughter also ate them and hasnt been complaining but this bitter taste is just awful and seems to get worse after eating, i thought maybe something was wrong with my salivary glands until i found this site.How long will this last? Must admit i love pine nuts but this has really put me off.
So glad to have found this site…..looked on the package and, sure enough, the pine nuts I ate were from China! I would have kept on eating them and wondering what was wrong with me. It sure ruins the taste of everything! Thanks for the info!
On friday I made a pesto sauce with pine nuts and a tomato salad with roasted pine nuts. Since then, almost everything I eat or drink tastes bitter. I’ve eaten pine nuts all my life and this is the first time this happens. The pine nuts came from a supermarket where I don’t usually shop. I never thought some pine nuts could do this.
same thing happend to me..dad was having some pinenuts and gave some to me..and now im having this bitter taste..its bad..hope it goes away soon..not injoying my food at all… happy that i ran across this blog!
After googling found this website. I have also had a bad taste in my mouth since eating a crumble on Sunday night which contained Asda wholefoods pine nuts (produce of more than one country) was relieved to find this was the cause and not something health related.
Mine were from Safeway/Woolworths in Australia – Freshlife brand from China. I’ll be writing to the supermarket and the distributer!
Like everyone else on this post I was quite worried about the symptoms (bitter metallic taste at the back of my mouth every time I eat), at first thinking certain foods I was eating must have been bad. After I realised the taste came with everything I started googling and was quite relieved to find the cause was pine nuts! I’m surprised I’ve never heard of it before – it looks like around 10 people a day are posting to this blog at the moment from around the world…
I’ll be cancelling any dinner plans in the next two weeks and might have to experiment to find some tolerable foods!
I have also had a bitter taste in my mouth the last couple of days and I had pine nuts on Saturday night. It’s so strange as it has never happened before. It’s horrible and it has put me off eating them again. I’m glad I found this site as I had no idea what was going on.
Hi all…im from Melbourne, Australia…firstly let me say how grateful I am to have found this site…i too thought i’d developed some nasty mouth disease. Have also concluded that the pine nuts I consumed four days ago (from china)are responsible for the vile bitterness in my mouth whenever I eat, drink or smoke. I wont ramble too much about symptoms etc. but did want to acknowledge the gratitude I feel for forums such as this. Thank you all so much ….and to think that we’ve been warned never to consult the internet for medical related stuff…good luck to all and I hope your symptoms start to ease
The bitter taste in my mouth was gone since yesterday afternoon (day 3). For testing, I did a nutritional cleanse at cellular level on day 2. It only improved a little. Then on day 3, I used mega dose of top quality antioxidants in the morning (as I remembered someone in the blog mentioned about oxidation). By noon time, it improved a lot, and late afternoon, it was gone. I waited till today (day 4) to report.
This is indeed very interesting. I have exactly the same symptoms as everyone else has described and was also starting to worry that the strong bitter and metallic taste in my mouth over the past 2 days was the result of some internal problem…what a relief to find an explanation that matches, and is not serious.
I have eaten lots of pine nuts in the past, and have never noticed this. The kind I bought recently were smaller, with a slightly different taste (I did not see where they were from, and I threw away the package when I put them in a jar). Re: ‘goods from the woods’ comment above – I agree that we should not villainize ALL pine nuts. I would like to find out if it is the variety of pine nut, or if it is related to the processing as s/he suggests.
I decided to look this up for myself…this is so strange. For two days now I’ve had this awful metallic taste in my mouth anytime I ate something it taste bitter. I live in Texas, the Southside, I don’t know where my mom bought these pine nuts but I know what the problem is now.I had to admit I was worried. I thought I needed some kind of cleansing and I even went so far as to think it was the mercury filling in my teeth. I’ve been skimming through these blogs and I see that this last 7-10 days?!!?
I am so relieved to read other peoples’ comments on this as I thought that I had liver/gall-bladder problems as the taste is very bile-like. I was even considering giving up my occasional glass of wine!
I ate a small amount of pine nuts, bought in Tesco and sourced in China, a couple of days ago and have had this wierd taste at the back of my mouth since. I will still consult the doctor if it has not gone in a weeks time incase it is a coincidence, but am hoping it is the pine nuts.
Hi all i cant believe that so many people have suffered the same symptoms.I came across this site whilst trying to find an answer to this vile metallic taste ive had in my mouth for over a week.I made a pasta dish last week with pine nuts in (bought from Tesco uk) but my husband picked his out saying he had gone off them .My symptoms started the day after and have continued even after eating massive amounts of mints and obsessively brushing teeth to try to get rid of the taste..All this hindered by the fact i finished the pine nuts off yesterday as a snack which i know now wont have helped.I do like pine nuts and looking back have experienced this symptom before which had now got me worried that i had something wrong with me so thank goodness i came across this site.
interesting…I ate some from Prezzo about 3 days ago and for the last few days I have had the bitter mouth…Might stay away from Prezzo for a while now I know they use cheap pine nuts!!!
Wow! This horrible bitter taste just struck last night and was enough to strike fear into my heart. Then I stumbled across the link to pine nuts, which I had been indulging in earlier in the week. Wow, just wow. My pine nuts came from Trader Joes. But I’ve been eating pine nuts for years and this has NEVER happened to me. Now, I’ve lost all interest in eating them again. So sad. Perhaps the FDA needs to be notified?
I too ate pinenuts (product of Spain, or China, or Portugal)(Good Sense brand)two days ago. I only ate a small amount. Everything I eat today seems to have a bitter taste. I plan on throw the pinenuts out! I hope this nasty taste goes away soon.
Hi all…just wanted to give an update …is day 5 now and the bitterness is still there. Am still peeved that this has happened…
I am currently suffering from this condition for the second time. The first time I did not google well enough to find all this pine nut info. I simply blamed the bread that I have been eating from the same bakery for 3 yrs. I was eating the 6 grain bread when the horrible taste struck so I assumed something had gone amiss with baking that batch of loaves and told the bakery who had no idea. It happened again and when I saw pine nuts reports online, I thought impossible. I had been eating them this time around on a salad but not previously – but then I suddenly remembered I had bought Trader Joes Mediterranean Hummous just around the time the previous incident struck. It is their best hummous, delicious but it must have been that (it contains some pine nuts, I think only for decoration not ground in but I am not sure) and I have been eating it again recently.
What I can say for sure is that I ate Pesto 4 or 5 times over the summer09 in Italy and it was all fine as it has been all my life. I used to crack the nuts out of the cones as a child. I can reassure you all that it does go away but 8 days – 10 was my experience first time around and the bitterness gradually recedes to the back of your tongue till it eventually fades. Good luck all – and much empathy felt. I love to cook and thought I had been poisoned for life the first time around.
It will go! It is more likely to last 8 days and then 9 and 10 will be just vague. Horrible I know!
Francesca@Paul
WOW – I am totally shocked to see how common this is! I have been eating pine nutes for a while now and have never experienced a problem with them. I noticed that my local Tesco’s had stopped stocking them over the last month which I thought was strange (maybe they had received a few complaints) however they were back in last week to my delight and I quickly snapped up a bag. Well since opening them the taste in my mouth has been horrendous, i have been blaming it on everything, dodgy milk in my coffee, coming down with flu etc…(funy thing is, i kept eating the pine nuts to get rid of the taste – not realising they were the cause) it’s only the 4th day for me but it’s felt like forever… everything tastes vile. Like others I was starting to think something more serious was wrong, so thought i’d google it before seeing a doctor… Thank you all for writing your comments, this has totally put my mind at ease and I will be avoiding all pine nuts from now on. I just hope the next 5-6 days will go quickly!!
So glad to read this. I started eating a nut mix at work this week as a snack – Brazil nuts, pumkin seeds and pine nuts – and developed this much discussed foul metallic taste when eating and drinking anything. I thought maybe it was too much selenium from the brazil nuts. Looks like its the pine nuts. Dirty little fuckers.
I too thought there was something seriously wrong with me until I googled “bitter taste in my mouth” and found this forum. My wife and I purchase pinenuts from Costco in Utah on 1/30. I usually dont eat them, but ate a significant amount. Nothing unusual until almost exactly 2 days later. I was joking and told my wife I felt pregnant because my taste sensation was all messed up. When I found this article, I checked the bag we purchased…A Product of China. Well, my symptoms started on 2/1 and I am still suffering…everything from popsicles and milkshakes to breakfast cereal, I have the worst, bitter, metallic sensation, especially after eating. If I get interrupted while eating, it is difficult to start again due to the sensation. I am anxiously waiting for this to pass to treat me and the misses to a special dinner out…probably with the kids
. I likely will never eat pinenuts again…so unfortunate I started a love affair that was apparently forbidden. Adieu my short-lived little firends. Funny thing, my wife has had no reaction to the same nuts and has continued finishing the bag.
OMG! I am crazy! I too ate pine nuts (many) in a salad 2 days ago and not I cannot stand the metallic taste I have in my mouth. I looked the brand and it is Melissa’s (they were smaller than normal) and a product of China. I am trying EVERYTHING to get rid of this but nothing has helped. If anything has worked please let me know-I am dying!
Me too, me too. I ate quite a lot of Tesco pine nuts (manager’s special, origin China) raw over the last few days and have been very worried today, why this awful taste has developed in my mouth.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I’ve reached day 5 and the bitter taste is subsiding now. It was the first (and last) time I have ever eaten pine nuts. I have thrown the rest of the nasty little things in the bin. To be honest, it’s shame as I actually liked the flavour of the pine nuts.
I was really surprised and relieved to have found the answer to a bitter taste in my mouth the last few days (which also affected the taste of the food I ate), I too have just started to eat pine nuts!! I love these nuts, but will certainly stop eating them now.
I bought them from Holland and Barratt and they were also made in China. I will be phoning them on Monday to tell them and return the extra packet I bought.
This is amazing! It definitely explains my symptons. I started experiencing the bitter taste in my mouth on Thursday – the day after having pesto sprinkled with a few extra pine nuts (purchased from Tesco). I’m kind of relieved the cause is something so trivial although the horrible taste is becoming annoying now.
Amazing! I am so relieved, I too have been suffering with a horrid bitter taste in my mouth only after eating or drinking. So having convinced myself that there must be some sinister cause I decided to Google it. I first noticed this on Friday morning and then remembered that I had sprinkled the end of a packet of Tescos pine-nuts on my salad on wednesday evening! Strange that the effect is not immediate! Fed up to see that it takes 7-10 days to go but pleased that its not just me!
@greet laureys
I have the same experience. I bought pine nuts last Tuesday in Gent (Belgium) and made a salad. Since than I have a bitter taste in my mouth after I eat. If I wash my teeth it goes away for a while, but if I eat again it comes back. Now after 5 days of eating the pine nuts the bitter taste is less intense, but still there. I hope in few days it will disappear for good. No more pine nuts.
Well what a relief! I too purchased pine nuts for the first time in a long time and have been experiencing this bitter, almost bile-like taste in my mouth. This is day two following consumption and the taste seems to be getting stronger. In fact, its overpowering everything I eat and drink, so much so I thought I was getting a serious digestive or liver disorder and was considering a visit to the doctor because its actually putting me off eating anything. I bought this particular packet in Dunnes Stores here in Ireland but it doesn’t show the area of origin. I will certainly be writing to Dunnes to see what I can find out. Its very strange because I have always enjoyed pine nuts and have never experienced anything like this!
just googled sour taste in mouth after eating and came across this-so pleased i did!
My daughter,partner and i have all got the same complaint-and surprise surprise we all ate pine nuts two days ago!
Cant beleive that they could cause this and would love to know scientific reason so hey any budding profs could you lend a hand?
I can’t believe this, but I have had the same thing happen! I had a small handful of pine nuts a couple of days ago and suddenly I have this constant bitter taste in my mouth. The pine nuts are from Amport Foods/Product of China, slightly smaller than usual.
Now–how do we get rid of the taste?? Chocolate doesn’t even taste good to me. Help!
I too recently thought I was having some type of medical eposide. Thanks to this blog, I can trace the bitter aftertaste in my mouth to the pine nuts I ate several days ago. They taste delicious going down but the aftertaste is very bitter. My pine nuts made in China came in a yellow No Name Brand bag imported by Loblaws and purchased at The Great Canadian Superstore.
After eating pine nuts from China last year, I swore never to go near them again ! Metallic taste in back of the mouth and couldn’t get rid of the taste for weeks until I realized that it was coming from the pine nuts! I’m a pastry chef and have used Mediteranian pine nuts all my life and never encountered this problem
@Anthony
wow i feel better as i see all the comments now, i was very worried, i got the pine nuts from asda. i just got some jamaica white rum to see if that helps stopping horrid taste.the guarva fruit juice and wray n nephew rum has worked only for a little bit of time, taste is back. i again try again.