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Pine Nuts Left a Bitter Taste in my Mouth

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Are you suffering from a bitter taste in the back of your mouth every time you eat or drink?  Has it lasted for more than a day?  Are you starting to worry that perhaps there’s something terribly wrong with you?  Don’t worry, it’s probably not a brain tumor.  Perhaps pine nuts are the culprit!

So I woke up yesterday morning with a headache.  Nothing terrible, it happens.  Instead of taking ibuprofen on an empty stomach, I grabbed a Ritz cracker out of the pantry to eat before I took the pill.  I ate the cracker and noticed that it tasted terrible.  Now, it was from a sealed package, but those crackers have been sitting in there for months so I figured they were just stale.  Whatever.  I took my pill, then sat down with a cup of coffee.  The coffee tasted bad, too.  I just had this weird, bitter taste in the back of my mouth.  But, I figured maybe there was just something wrong with my throat.  Perhaps I was coming down with something, there are lots of nasty bugs floating around right now and I had woken up with a headache after all.  Later that morning I decided to try some of the chili (breakfast of champions!) that my friend Amanda had dropped off on her way to work.  The chili had the same bitter aftertaste as everything else I had consumed up to that point.  Now I knew there was a problem.  Amanda doesn’t make bad food!  Sure enough, every other thing I tried to eat yesterday tasted horrible, and it seemed to get worse as the day progressed.  There was definitely something going on with my tastebuds.  So I did what any red-blooded, internet-obsessed hypochondriac American would have done.  I googled my symptoms.

Well, it took all of about 2 seconds to find several accounts of people suffering the exact symptoms, and scanning the page, the words ‘pine nuts’ jumped out at me.  I had been eating a TON of pine nuts for the last few days.  So I refined my google search to include the phrases “pine nuts” and “bitter taste.”  With 30 seconds of my original search, I had the answer to the bitter taste mystery!

Apparently, if you are one of the lucky people who runs into a bad pine nut or two, you could develop the taste disturbance that I am experiencing right now.  There’s a scientific article about it and it’s even mentioned in the Wikipedia entry on Pine Nuts:

The eating of pine nuts can cause serious taste disturbances, developing 1-3 days after consumption and lasting for days or weeks. A bitter, metallic taste is described. In general, a minority of pine nuts on the market present this problem. Though very unpleasant, there does not seem to be a real health concern. — Wikipedia

Nobody seems to be able to explain exactly why it happens.  But after reading several accounts, I am satisfied that pine nuts are the culprit in my case.  It seems that this bitter taste can last anywhere from a couple of days to over a week.  Ugh, lucky me!

Now I am not writing this to start a pine nut panic!  Several blog posts are blaming this issue on pine nuts from China, but my pine nuts weren’t from China.  I bought them at Trader Joe’s and the package states that they came from one of three places: Korea, Russia, or Vietnam.  I don’t believe that this a case of China selling poisoned pine nuts to the United States, although the Chinese variety of pine nuts may be more susceptible to the problem.  I think that there are some bad nuts out there that appear to be coming from several undetermined sources and unfortunately at least one of them ended up in my mouth. But since it seems that this is happening more with Chinese pine nuts than with Italian pine nuts, I think I’ll stick to the Italian ones from here on out!

So, will this keep me from eating pine nuts in the future?  Hell no!  I love them too much.  I will, however, be more careful about where I purchase them.  I will spend more money and make sure they are fresh and that I know exactly where they are coming from.  Sorry, Trader Joe’s!

Here are some general guidelines I suggest you follow when purchasing/storing pine nuts:

– Buy the more expensive Italian pine nuts and make sure it’s from a store with a high turnover.
– Pine nuts turn rancid very quickly, so buy in small quantities and store them well-wrapped in the refrigerator for short periods of time, or in the freezer if you need to store them for an extended period of time.  Just make sure you keep those suckers cold!

Now I know that google is no substitute for a doctor, but after my research I’m satisfied that my taste disturbance is indeed caused by pine nuts.  I’m not sick, I have no symptoms other than the bitterness in my mouth (I’m positive that the headache I mentioned at the beginning of my story had more to do with the wine consumed the night before than with pine nut poisoning).  The bitter taste is annoying, but I don’t feel that my health is in danger.  I eat a lot of pine nuts and have been doing so for years.  This is the first time I’ve ever had a problem and I’m confident that if I’m careful with my pine nut purchases in the future, it won’t happen again.

So, has this happened to any of you?  If so, where did your pine nuts come from?

Related stories of pine nut problems:

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. k says

    I read an article about "Pine Mouth", the bitter taste people can get in their mouths after eating pine nuts. This article said the problem was that some companies are selling the inedible variety of pine nuts. Pine nuts are in high demand and expensive, so some companies are passing off inedible pine nuts as edible ones since you can't tell by looking at the pine nuts (at least consumers can't tell the difference). It is really consumer fraud, not a case of rancid pine nuts.
    Reply

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  4. bob johnson says

    First, I LOVE Trader Joe's. I've shopped there for years and continue to shop at a great grocery store! With that said, I bought pine nuts at Trader Joe's a couple months ago.. I ate most of the bag in salads with no ill effects. However, twice I popped a handful into my mouth before bedtime. The 2nd time was lead to two WEEKS of my taste buds telling me everything was bitter and metallic. A horrible experience. the only way i figured it out was finding other people's comments on the internet. Googled "metallic and bitter taste" and up popped a very long story about a person eating pine nuts and 2 days later the bitterness occured. Same for me. I tossed the nuts in the trash. Later I found a 2nd bag in the drawer and before tossing those it the trash I saw on the bag printed clearly, "may cause bitterness" or something like that. Here is my complaint with Trader Joe's. If they did more research, they would probably find that pine nuts are not the problem. Most likely it is the source: that is, chemicals used (China) or substituting inedible pine nuts for edible. If i recall on the package it said the nuts come from Russia, Vietnam and someother place. Trader Joe's should get their pine nuts from a reputable source!!!! By the way, it took several weeks before all the bitterness went away!!!
    Reply

  5. Pinenuts did it again! says

    2 days ago took frozen Trader Joes pinenuts out of freezer and enjoyed them. (When I checked the date it was 2010- probably too long to keep them even for the freezer). Today, I experienced the yucky bitter taste in back of mouth - googled it and found this site. Now I am thankful that this will pass in a few days and I can enjoy my food thoroughly again!
    Reply

  6. Jackie says

    I am sure glad I found this information. I have been having a horrible taste on my tongue for the last few days. It worsens when I drink or eat something. I could not figure out what was causing it. Now that I have read what you stated, I have been eating pine nuts for the last several days in a salad. They are Frieda's Brand and state Made in China. I bought these at a Kroger store in Michigan. I feel so much better knowing what is causing this horrid taste in my mouth. I hope it goes away soon. Thank you so much.
    Reply

  7. Dave says

    I thought it might be a bitter pesticide on the Medjool dates I was eating, but when I goggled the words bitter, aftertaste, and Medjool I came up with "pine mouth".... I also thought the bitterness might be coming from bananas, juiced tangerines, etc.... Now I realize that the level of bitterness I have tasted when eating things (that are not spicy) has been going up and down over the last week or so as I have gone through about a half a bag (8oz/bag) of Trader Joes Raw Pignolias from Korea, Russia, and Vietnam. Spicy foods offer some relief. My guess is that this batch of pine nuts are repackaged from China. I remember tasting one bad pine nut but not bothering to spit it out. I wonder if it was rotten with a molecule similar to aflatoxin (tasteless). Perhaps the "pine mouth" molecules are not bitter until they are broken down in the liver. I don't feel inflammation, so maybe the molecules are not carcinogenic. Maybe the bitterness is suggesting that the molecule prevents the metabolism of sugar or depletes the body of a needed nutrient. I'm just guessing here. In any event, this "pine mouth" condition does not seem healthy. I tried eating a bunch of celery to cleanse my palate but the dates still have a bitter aftertaste. Maybe if I go to they gym and work out then whatever this condition is might go through my system faster. I doubt I will ever risk eating pine nuts again.
    Reply

  8. Mcneila says

    I have the pine mouth.2 days ago had one small handfull of pine nuts from Sam's. Bitter/mean ugly taste with coffee and any food or drink. Tried drinking vinegar..burned my tongue. Just awful.
    Reply

  9. ROCKY (pilsen chicago) says

    I've been pined! I woke up sunday morning with a bitter taste in my mouth.I had gone out with some friends the night before so i just figured it was from drinking to much alcohol.but when i woke up monday morning for work i still had the same taste so i started to worry about it.until i decided to finaly google as i sat in class a couple of minutes ago is when i found this page & got the answer to my problem and remembered that i had some pine nuts friday night around midnight i just think its weird how it took over 24 hours to take effect...something i definitely dont want to go through again...and happy its nothing crytical.PHEWWWW!!!
    Reply

  12. Gaius Gracchus says

    Yes, my spouse and I had the exact same symptoms after eating Chinese pine nuts from Winco. They sure are cheaper than the ones grown in the US, but we ended up thinking we'd been poisoned. Everything tasted bitter and horrible. The real worry was that my spouse, who has kidney problems, noticed severe kidney pain right after eating the nuts, as well. Of course the contaminated nuts are from China. No surprise there.
    Reply

  13. S says

    Trader Joe's - reported to TJ's & FDA. Over 5 weeks of symptoms. This is not a "easy way to diet", it is life altering. This is not like asparagus, or any other reaction that is consistent over time. I have eaten pine/pinon nuts my entire life and never had an issue until now. I have also eaten TJ's Mediterranean hummus many many times before (for years) and never had this issue. I have tried every remedy I have seen online in forms (listerine, gargling with peroxide, scraping & brushing my tongue, gum, oil pulls, tomato juice, lemons, charcoal, exposure to sweet and sour extremes, etc.). I have not tried anise or wonder fruit, but will today. I have done tons of online research about this and found some good resources, but no cure. https://pinenutsyndrome.wordpress.com/pinenutsyndrome/ https://pinenutsyndrome.wordpress.com/healtheffects/
    Reply

  15. LEanna says

    FAMILY OF 4 ALL EXPERIENCING A NASTY TASTE IN THE BACK OF OUR MOUTH! This just happened to me and my family. We were vacationing in new Mexico and stopped at a local Pizza place that served Pine nuts (Pinon) on the pizza.. So we indulged! This was Sunday, the Tuesday we all began experiencing the same naty taste in our mouth. Each thought nothing of it and it was not discovered until I mentioned to my husband the nasty taste and to his surprise, he said "me too!' Then we got home and asked the kids (teens) if they have experienced a bad taste in their mouth and attempted to throw them off by asking "is it on the tip of your tongue" and they said "no, its at the back of my mouth" We called our doctor, who said it could be anything from a gas leak in our home, exposure to a natural gas leak in New Mexico (which was discovered), or exposure to something at a natural hot Springs that we indulged in while vacationing. But Pine Mouth seams to be a closer fit!!!!!!
    Reply

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