Pine Nut Mouth

[LisaInN.Idaho]

How weird. A few days ago I noticed a very bitter, almost metallic taste in my mouth. I had no idea what caused it and this morning it was bad enough that I thought to google it.
Immediately I saw a hit connecting it to pine nuts which, coincidentally, I had eaten a few days before the bitter taste started. The article said that pine nuts from China were causing this problem, and sure enough, when I checked the bag....my pine nuts are from China.
Sounds like it will only last two weeks, but YECH. Everything tastes like metal.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...ter-taste.html

[SFM in KY]

I don't generally pay a lot of attention to where things come from in the grocery store, but the last year or so there has been so many problems with food products coming out of China, I have started checking.

[LisaInN.Idaho]

I usually do too but I guess it never occurred to me that pine nuts would be from China. At least I know what's going on...I thought I had an infection or something.
Maybe it will help my diet along!

[SFM in KY]

Oh, don't even talk to me about diets! If I'm going to get up on Blarney and the new grey mare I HAVE to drop some weight.

The only weight-loss program that has ever worked for me is "don't put it in your mouth" and the other part of that is ... if it's in the house it's going to go in my mouth ...

One small package of chocolate/raspberry cups per month!

[LisaInN.Idaho]

I still have some pine nuts if you want me to send them to you...:happy0035:

[SFM in KY]

Originally Posted by LisaInN.Idaho

I still have some pine nuts if you want me to send them to you...:happy0035:

[Peacock]

Lisa, this happened to me a couple years ago. It was really weird, and unpleasant, and lasted about 10 days. I haven't eaten pine nuts since.

[Travis in Louisiana]

When I first read the THREAD, I thought it said: "PINE NUT MONTH" I thought it was going to be some kind of celebration!!

[Tom VH]

Originally Posted by edayna

Lisa, this happened to me a couple years ago. It was really weird, and unpleasant, and lasted about 10 days. I haven't eaten pine nuts since.

Me too, my wife figured it out on line, for me, we didn't notice the China connection, can I eat US or Italian pine nuts? I've substituted walnuts in pesto but I prefer pine nuts;

[oregon woodsmok]

Thanks for the warning. I had no idea pine nuts came from China.

I was going to plant some pinon pines until I found out it takes them 30 years before they will bear.

Oh, what the heck, I think I'll put some in, anyway. Someone will enjoy them.

[NickieL]

It's not becasue the nuts came from china, they were rancid. You get that from eatting rancid pine nuts.

Nickie<----grew up in pine nut country

[LisaInN.Idaho]

They don't know what the problem is yet but I talked to the FDA yesterday and they said they were still stumped, but they can;t find any problems with rancidity or toxins. Mine were still fresh and in date...no rancid taste and none of the accounts involved rancid nuts.

[LisaInN.Idaho]

The FDA rep also said that 90something percent of pinenuts sold in US come from China. I wouldn't have guessed that.

[LisaInN.Idaho]

Interesting...just read this on wikipedia:

Risks of eating pine nuts. small minority of pine nuts cultivated in China can cause taste disturbances, lasting between few days to maximal a week after consumption. A bitter, metallic taste is described. Though unpleasant, there are no lasting effects. This phenomenon was first described in a scientific paper in 2001[11]. Some publications have made reference to this phenomenon as "pine mouth"[12]. The Nestle Research Centre has hypothesized that a particular species of Chinese pine nuts, Pinus armandii, is the cause of the problem. The suspect species of pine nuts are smaller, duller, and more rounded than typical pine nuts[13]. This finding has recently been confirmed[14]. In 1998 the FAO published a list of edible tree nuts, containing 29 species of pine nuts that are regullarly consumed somewhere in the world[15] and the aforementioned Chinese pine species were not included. Metallic taste disturbance, known as metallogeusia, is typically reported 1–3 days after ingestion, being worse on day 2 and lasting typically up to 2 weeks. Cases are self-limited and resolve without treatment[16] Möller[17] has postulated an hypothesis that could explain why the bitter taste appears several days after ingestion and lasts for as long. A well known physiological process known as enterohepatic recirculation (EHR) could play a key role in the development of PNS.

[Tom VH]

Thanks for the info. Lisa, if I find some PNs of better origin, I'll try them.

[Irish Pixie]

Thanks for the information, Lisa. I have never run into the metallic taste with pine nuts and I use them quite a bit in cooking. I do have a similar experience with cilantro, but found out that many people who are mildly allergic to it react this way.

[Molly Mckee]

Lisa, save the bag and the rest of the nuts--there are several Ag chemicals that give me a funny metallic taste in my mouth if I get a wiff of them or get even a tiny drop on my skin. The nuts might have some type of chemical on them.

[Nellie]

This happened to me, too. The nuts were from China, and I've eaten pinyon (pine) nuts from New Mexico and never had a problem.

[Harry Chickpea]

Sounds like a prank food. Invite DDs unsavory boyfriend over, serve pesto, and let it slip that her last boyfriend developed a rare illness from her that started out with a metallic taste in the mouth... and... (you go from there)...

[MARYDVM]

I checked the Trader Joe's bag. Their pine nuts come from either Russia or Korea.