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, I’d like to add my own thanks to the growing list. I am currently experiencing this for the second time. I was afraid to google, as last time I did every page I found seemed to sugest I had a brain tumour. Glad to have found this and made the connection. Ate pine nuts on Monday and again on Tuesday. First noticed effect on taste at lunch time on Tuesday. It is now Friday and it is still there, but not quite as pronounced, which makes me think that I’ll be all clear (which is exactly what I’ll be giving pine nuts in future) by the end of the weekend.
Anyone found a way to counteract this, or speed up the process of regaining your taste buds yet?
Hi everyone – just adding my name to the list. The more names the better. I bought pine nuts from Lidl last week – think they are from germany so the country doesnt seem to matter. The last time I ate them was Sunday and the taste started on Wednesday. Hope it goes away soon
Day 2 of having this bitter taste and now I realize it is from the Food Emporium (59th and 1st, NYC) pine nuts that I ate by the handful when I came home from work the past few nights having nothing else in my house. The article in the literature from 2001 says anaylsis of the offending pine nuts showed they were essentially spoiled and unfit for human consumption. I think we should try to get these off the shelves. Of corse we will look insane while doing so. I did notice when I ate very spicy Thai food for lunch the bitter taste was less overpowering. I suppose I will have Cointreau and Thai for the next several weeks.
We bought pine nuts from Julian Graves and I mixed them with other nuts and seeds. I have not been affected but my poor husband has had the most disgusting bitter taste for a fortnight now. So glad I googled it has put my mind at rest and needless to say we wont be buying any more! Should we report this to Julian Graves, Southampton where we bought them?
Hi, I get the effect after eating any foods which contain oils & fats – meat & fish are worst, but even chocolate has cocoa butter… I’m brushing & flossing teeth after food, then swilling oat milk to absorb remaining food oils (I’m dairy intollerant). Have found hard-boiled eggs are not causing bitter/rancid effect… yet! Hope this helps someone…
Thank you, thank you, thank you……… I thought I was going MAD. I too was snacking on pine nuts while cooking on Wednesday 11th March and I first noticed the bitter taste on Thursday. Friday breakfast time was a nightmare. I was cheking everything thinking that the milk was sour or the yogurt was off. Everything I have eaten since has been followed by this nasty taste in my mouth. I really hope is goes off sooner rather than later, I don’t think I could stand it for 21 days
( I purchased my pine nuts from the wholefoods section at ASDA. Eating sweet foods doesn’t really help, just makes you want more sweet foods. I think I’ll just stick to water for the time being.
I’ve now tried the suggested Activated Charcoal capsules (Thank You Althea) and they’re suppressing the effect – it’s still noticeable with some foods (pistachio nuts, chocolate, port) but now quite faint… hopefully, it’ll go away for good soon…
I live in Fredericton, NB, Canada. Got a plastic container of pine nuts from Atlantic Superstore on Saturday, March 14, 2009. Since eating them have the same burning sensation, as many of you do, on my tongue after any food consumption + bitter taste, very bitter. It is a third day now. Yes, first breakfast (apple) was awful. I did go to the doctor who could not figure out what is that… Now I know, thanks a lot for this info. I wish it could go away soon. Mineral water helps, try. Some sauerkraut helps along with pickles….
I’ll go to the store with some printouts of these comments to show to the Customer Services there.
How amazing and what a relief to read the above comments. A rare reason for getting a bitter taste in the mouth is having a brain tumour, so thank goodness to find a much more likely explanation. Pity, though, I loved pine nuts!
Additionally to my above comment–could these nuts also account for me feeling “poorly” in an unspecifiable way?
Very interesting.. I have been suffering from the above mentioned posts. I just a few minutes ago ate something which brought on the bitter taste once again ( actually 5 nows now)..
Every nite I feed my Macaw and Amazon parrots some Pine nuts from Trader Joes.. and I steal a few for myself. I had read that the particular nut came from China.. and T. Joes said they removed the China nuts from thier shelves 3 months ago and replaced with nuts from Russia and Korea. I believe that I have found the reason for the bitter taste. I will stop eating..and have another family start to eat to see if infact this is it. Will post again after finding the results
Thank you!!
I’d been doing searches on the internet and all I could come up was that I might have an abssess or serious head injury!. None of these apply and then I found you site and all was explained. I bought pine nuts from Sainsbury’s (UK) and the nuts come from China. Thank you again, you’ve saved me a trip to the Doctor and I shall let Sainsbury’s know. Hope it goes away soon it’s ruining my food.
I bought a package of pinenuts on 3-14-09 from a Vons in Canoga Park, California for a falafel dinner that I had with my roomates. Since that Saturday, I’ve also been experiencing that real bitter taste while eating foods except when drinking water. The package is labled from Good Sense Pinenuts and is a product of Spain, China or Portugal.
I bought pine nuts from Bosa foods in Vancouver near Boundary and 1st. I have developed a bitter taste not unlike the lidocane that dentists use to freeze teeth. It has been three days since the bitterness started…it seems to be subsiding a bit. I hope it will go away soon.
Judging from all of the comments I am reading about this, it seems this is for real…there is no way that so many people would report these symptoms in association with pine nuts unless there was a real effect. The only other unusual thing I have eaten has been coated wedding almonds bought from Michaels. That was my original hypothetical culprit, but now I suspect it was the pine nuts.
Where is Health Canada on this?!!!!
I just ate a few pine nuts on Sunday or Monday that I bought in the bulk section of my Giant food store. Have had the bitterness since lunch on Tuesday and it does not seem to getting better. It makes me not want to eat anything. I will wake up in the morning and think it is gone, only to take my first bite of Kashi and taste it once again. Are there any early sufferers who can tell me how long it lasted for them?
I bought pine nuts at Andronicos in Berkeley, CA on March 14th from the bulk section. I called the store to complain/inquire about where the nuts are from. They say it’s a company who supplies all the nuts weekly and they will call me back with info on where they are from, etc. We’ll see if they actually call. I’ve had the exact same symptoms that hundreds of people are describing on message boards online and I am getting angry. I’m on day 4. I agree with others that coffee and oranges should be avoided. Sweet things taste bad (cereal, cake). Balsamic vinegar (or probably any kind, but balsamic is sweet), makes things taste better and doesn’t leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Pour vinegar on everything you eat. I’ve been chewing peppermint gum all day and that seems to help after meals.
I live in Modesto, CA. Not far from Sacramento. I purchased pine nuts from Trader Joe’s and have been experiencing a bitter, metallic taste for three days now. Food is disgusting. I’m wondering how long this will last. I’m going to take the nuts back to the store. I’m glad I found this thread.
Happened to me too. It’s been a week and the symptoms are exactly how everyone else describes them. Has anyone gotten a blood test to see if there is anything wrong with the liver or traces of heavy metals or toxins?
Tips: Try eating things with vinegar. That’s the only thing that tastes OK. The worst is coffee, oranges, or anything sweet. I’ve also been eating mint gum and breath mints all day long. I hope it goes away soon.
I bought pinenuts from TraderJoes on Tuesday. Ate in salad that night and the next. Friday Morning had a pear and it tasted bitter. I thought it was the pear. All day after eating things didn’t taste right. I chewed alot of gum. Then came home and ate 3 cookies and they tasted terrible. Didn’t find info on this till today so this is my second Day. Everything leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, especially sweet things. I am staying away from those. Even my beloved coffee does not taste right. Most people say 4days to 2 weeks. I’ll take the 4 days!!!This is gross. My pinenuts are RAW Pignolias(Pine Nuts)from Trader Joes.They are small and say product of Korea, russia or Vietnam. I live in NJ. I love Pignoli cookies and never had a problem with those. Maybe because they are baked???I will never take the chance eating them again. Not worth it. There are alot of other nuts out there!!!!
Hi – I’m pleased I came across this website as I was really worried I had something wrong. I bought a bag of pine mix from Julian Graves (a mixture of nuts including baby pine nuts)and was snacking on them for a couple of days. The following day I woke up, cleaned my teeth only to find a stong bitter taste all over my tongue. I had a cup of tea and the same reaction. I then had a biscuit to take the taste away which worsened it. It has now been 3 days and is still as strong. I can only drink water and any food especially sweet stuff leaves a nasty taste which last about 15 minutes. It has ruined my weekend and I shall be contacted Julian Graves tomorrow. I still have the bag of nuts so may take them to environmental health for analysing. On reflection, whether or not connected, I had severe stomach pains on one of the days eating the nuts and have also had headaches which I seldom get.
Ate a small handful of Pine Nuts bought from a Morrisons store (Glasgow, Scotland, UK) which i found in an already opened bag in the cupboard whilst cooking me dinner on Friday, now on Sunday I have the horrible bitter metallic taste after eating anything. I at first thought this was caused by myself trying to cut down smoking, but obviously it’s the darn Pine Nuts. No country of origin on the bag.
These things should be illegal, or used only as a form of Torture.
Hi – I’m pleased I came across this web site as beginning to worry there was something wrong. This bitter taste after eating almost anything started last week although I’ve not been eating pine nuts as such. However, I have recently eaten on 3 or 4 occasions sandwiches from marks and spencer which contain pine nuts[avocado salad with pine nuts and tomatoes]. Not sure there have been that many in them and whether I want to experiment by eating more! Besides pesto, I’m sure I’ve eaten them before without any strange effects but in this case, no obvious way of finding the source of nuts.
8 days after eating the pine nuts and I think it’s starting to go away! Yay!
For those of you that have been affected by this, how long did it take for it to completely go away? I some pine nuts with a salad a friend made on Friday night, started to get the horrible bitter taste while eating on Sunday afternoon. It is Monday today, and everything I eat is just giving me misery. This taste is simply unbearable and am worried about any effect this is having on my body.
Ate Pine nuts on thursday from Sam’s Club (Diamond Brand) and since sunday morning (it’s monday afternoon now) everything I eat I get a metallic, bitter taste. Can’t find out where they are from, but figured I should mention this brand as well. I was going insane thinking I was dying and am now convinced it’s the nuts. It’s such a weird phenomenon.
Has anyone tried calling the FDA to report this? I tried a few times with no answer and no response to the message I left. I think the more people that call, the more reason they will have to look into this. If you search for “FDA food complaints” there is a list of region specific phone numbers to call.
I am so glad I found this! I thought I had some serious disease. I bought pine nuts from Trader Joe’s in Hyannis, MA. They were the small dark nuts instead of the big white ones I usually buy at Trader Joe’s and Costco. Glad to know what is causing this problem. I usually like bitter veggies but everything is significantly more bitter and unpleasant.
Please check this out on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_nut
Had Pine nuts in a fish and salad dish (it tasted fine) at a bistro in Bellingen, NSW Australia on friday night and on Sunday lunch got the first bitter taste in my mouth. It is now Tuesday evening and its still there. Its always there even between meals. I’m getting cravings for sweet things but they dont taste sweet. The pine nuts looked like the short ones that usually come from China. I’m of Lebanese background and often eat the long pine nuts that come from Lebanon and dont have a problem with those. I wonder if this is a one off thing that the body will adjust too or will it happen every time I eat that type of pine nut.
As per post number 123, M&S avocado sandwiches with pine nuts in them and since then (a week ago now) bitter taste on eating or drinking anything. Thought I was going mad – and Dr seemed very uniterested when I mentioned it while consulting on something else.
I ate pine nuts on Monday and exactly 24 hrs ago, I had a horrible taste in my mouth. I also have a cold so thought maybe it was a sinus infection. I am floored after finally discovering the cause. I have been eating pine nuts my whole life and this has never happened before. I guess I could stand to lose a few lbs and this is really going to make it easy. I fear food, nothing tastes good especially after I eat. I want this to go away!!!
On day 5. Taste has certainly come down, but is still there. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Never having pine nuts again.
I ate these small round pine nuts 2 days ago, and now I am experiencing this horrible taste. I am glad to find that I will be OK and it will not last too long.
I live in France, but the nuts came from Asia
I bought the raw pine nuts (pignolias) from Trader Joe’s. I ate the whole package between Tuesday and Thursday night. The bad taste started on Friday, and I thought there was something wrong with my apple. I was hoping that I wasn’t being poisoned, but I don’t think I have any enemies. I google “symptoms, bad taste in mouth” and found this. I had thrown away the package, but I dug it out of the trash. It is distributed by Trader Joe’s, Monrovia, CA. PRODUCT OF KOREA, RUSSIA OR VIETNAM. I’m going out for dinner on Tuesday. I hope this taste is gone by then.
I ate some pine nuts on Wednesday night – they were from Asda in Edinburgh, Scotland. Asda Wholefoods, batch number 90686A Best Before 16.01.10. This morning (Saturday) I experienced the bitterness from the very first drink I took in the morning and am now getting it every time I eat or drink. I’m going to try the vinegar and shall purchase some alpha lipoic acid to see if that helps too (if it doesn’t help with this hopefully it’ll keep my cholestorol down anyway!).
I’m so glad I found this site.
Thank goodness for the internet and being able to google your symptoms.
Bought two packets of pine nut,raisin,pumpkin seed and walnut mix a couple of days ago from Julian Graves.
Now after eating the stuff I have got this fowl taste in the back of my throat which resembles having eaten a bit
of the skin/pith of an under ripe banana.
Husband going to take the other packet back to the shop to complain, the packet is in date but the raisins have all crystalised and the mix looks off, I suppose it may be caused by the pine nuts, who knows.
Glad I am not the only one suffering. The only trouble is everything taste bitter, one way to loose weight though.
I’ve had the bitter taste when eating sweet food on and off for 6 months or more. I regularly dip into a tub of mixed nuts, raisins and, would you believe, pine nuts! Only today I finished off the tub, thoroughly cleaned it and refilled with nuts. Then I discovered this forum. Thankfully there are no pine nuts in the pack I used to refill my tub and I tell you, I will never be going near them again! Hopefully, my problem will be solved and I will be able to enjoy sweet foods again, especially coffee.
i ate pine nuts purchased from trader joes (rhode island) in a salad late thursday night. while eating a breakfast sandwich saturday morning, i thought i was poisoned! ever since, i am experiencing a strong bitter, poison-like taste after eating ANYTHING!! has anyone found any info from people on long -term effect, or is this a relatively new phenomenon?
I am finally feeling some relief one week after eating the pine nuts. This is the craziest phenomena I ever heard of anf thank goodness for the internet. I ate the pine nuts at the Doral Hotel and Spa in Miami and am now in the process of speaking with their risk management department, trying to explain to them to pull those nuts out of their supply. I was at a luncheon that had almost 600 people and am dying to know if i am the only one who experienced this issue. Anyway, I can eat again so my “pns” (pine nut syndrome) is resolving. So much for the “pine nut diet”!! The real issue is why the heck does this happen to some people, is it toxic, does the length of time it needs to work it’s way out the system have to do anything with metabolizing some kind of toxin or WHAT???????????
This happened to me last night after eating some pine nuts from Trader Joe’s. The bitterness, I assumed, was from the wine I was drinking. With each drink the bitterness increased so I was convinced that it was the wine. I had the pine nuts from the same package previously so there wasn’t a thought that it could be the pine nuts. Wow. This is amazing! What is the deal?! It stuck around till morning and popped up every once in a while and then later in the afternoon it got bad after eating some Cheese Nips.
The taste has been with me for about 1 month now. It is worse with any type of meat, nuts, and Red wine. The taste started after eating a Tuscan gourmet pizza, which contained pine nuts. I am not too sure where the nuts are from. I ate the pizza again a couple weeks later. Lets see how long it lingers. The bitterness seems to be from the saliva excreted when eating. Albuquerque, New Mexico
Like everyone else I am quite relieved to have found this site. I ate some raw pine nuts last week (didn’t seem to have a problem with them toasted which is how I prefer them) and a couple of days later at dinner – WHAM – everything started tasting bitter. That’s two days ago and the horrible bitter taste is with me in full force. Will be getting activated charcoal on the way home tonight. This is unbelievable – I’ve been eating pine nuts for years, I love them, and I’ve never had anything like this before. I don’t know where the nuts were from for certain, but I do know they were cheaper and I thought China was mentioned on the package.
I am having the same problem. Horrible! I bought the pine nuts at Trader Joe’s in Chicago. I ate them on Sunday in a kale salad, and Tuesday morning the terrible bitter taste began. Thank you for the suggested remedies, which I’ll try right away. I can’t eat anything without this horrid taste in my mouth. My pine nut package is already gone, and now the remaining nuts are in the trash, too. Has anyone been successful contacting Trader Joe’s or other companies about this?
I just put a call into the Southern California Trader Joe’s were I bought my pine nuts. The manager said I was the first to complain about the pine nuts. He said they would send a complaint to the buyers and to the corporate office.
I also put a call into my “scientist friend”. I’m going to ask him if he’ll run some lab test. Hopefully we aren’t all poisoned…
I’ve had the ‘pine nut mouth’ for 2 days now, I ate half a bag of pine nuts 3 days ago in a pesto sauce I made.
So far the only thing I can eat is raw pecan nuts.
Good Morning and greetings from Kajaani, Finland. I have lately bought a couple of times pine nuts at our neighbour city Kostamus, Russia, with no problems. It is known in Russian “кедровый орех” meaning literally Cedar nuts, but as a matter of fact, the term means seeds of Sibirian cembra pine, which has a magnificient reputation in Siberia for human health food. Now as bought 29. March 2009, such bag, we eated a 100 gram package, it was delicious, but already the next day four of us five got a very harsh taste in mouth, one of us did not, indeed. An elderly lady also told about stomach ache. This lady, earlier lived in Russia, told even when eating, that these are not necessarily so good!? Now the symptoms are getting over. Any way, the nut was sold in decent time, the day of package was 2. March. 2009, true enough, in the shop not in a cold place. Packen in St. Peterburgh as a trade mark “Atlanta Fresh”. I have now examined the matter from the net, and found research of the Belgian poison centre. Now I am willing to inform You about this new kind of suspicion. I really want to estimate, whether this is Siberian cembra seeds at all. I still have a bag..
With kind regards
Jukka Peltonen
Licenced Physician
Kajaani, Finland
Well, I am throwing a spanner in the works. I am from Australia, and have eaten pine nuts many times. I had some On Monday and by last night (Wednesday) I started getting the taste. I had just tried a very, very hot chilli, only a tiny bit to see how hot it was, and I have been blaming that, until I found this thread! I am off to Thailand in 6 days, and it will break my heart if I can’t enjoy the Thai food!.. I will keep reading for any ways of getting rid of this!
Same thing. Pine nuts from trader joes. Horrible bitter taste in mouth for the last week. Hope this isn’t some bigger issue or poison we should be concerned about. Anyone do any tests?
#143 was my post. Responding to #147 – I began experiencing the bitter taste when eating spicy Thai food. I had been eating a milder dish and all seemed fine. From my first bite of the spicier dish everything I ate or drank (Thai iced tea) was bitter. I’ve noticed the bitterness is worse for me with spicy or very sweet flavors and seems less pronounced with blander foods. I am on day 5 and have noticed some improvement, I think. I am taking activated charcoal and alpha lipoic acid as recommended here. As did Joanne (#147), I thought the chili in my food may have been at fault until I found this site and remembered the raw pine nuts I’d eaten a couple of days before.
Anyone with more info or remedies – please post!
I tried complaining/inquiring about the issue at Trader Joes in Northern California and they acted like they didn’t really care. The store I bought mine at said they would call me back (but never did). I called a poison control center (a doctor recommended I ask them) and they said that this bitter taste is a documented effect of eating pine nuts and therefore not considered dangerous or poison (she started reading something that sounded word for word like the risk section in Wikipedia). The poison control center suggested I call the FDA to complain. When I try that, I can never get through. I feel that just because it’s “documented” does not make it OK! I encourage others to make complaints so maybe they will do more research or put a warning on the packages.