Sensation of bitter taste in mouth_What could it be?

I am reporting from The Netherlands with the same symptoms after having eaten a salad dressed with pine nuts. Dutch language web sites report the same problems, but interestingly, Italian language ones don't. I think this must be because in Italy they do not use pine nuts from China but only Italian ones. I have lived in Italy for many years, eaten lots of 'pinoli' and never had any problem.

I'm so thankful to find these posts -- I had a bitter taste in my mouth all day yesterday and was surprised when I woke up this morning and it was just as strong. I thought it was some fruit I'd eaten, but after reading these posts, I realize it was the pine nuts I used in a salad 4 days ago. I bought the pine nuts from a community store, so don't have packaging to know where they are from, but I wanted to write a note and add that the taste is definitely worse anytime I eat fruit or yogurt (or kefir). Can't wait for this to go away!

Another victim of Pine nuts in Netherlands,

I was horrified & scared for past 2 days, as being an R&D Engineer by profession, for past few weeks working with some solvents & adhesives under very tightly controlled environment & almost no chance of contamination (more over they are not so hazardous).

Since last 2 days started having very bitter taste in mouth. Started looking for the reasons and contamination and reaction possibility, went through Material Safety data sheets, but nothing was there on Bitter taste in mouth.

Then came online for finding some logical reason & Thanks for this web Site, now I know its my Food, that's not Controlled properly by Government Agencies, that is actually creating the problem.

3 days back went out for dinner, that included salad with Pine nuts, well I was munching them happily then, now struggling to even drink coffee, as it tastes even bitter, forget about eating its horrible taste.

I haven't had any problem like it in past 30 years, I had few times years ago back in India but never had any problem like this & in past 1.5 year since in Netherlands, its first time I had pine nuts & I guess Last time.

Thanks to this Forum, now will go & inform the Restaurant, about this & try to find the country of Origin ....

For some People this might also be helpful :
[/url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_nut#cite_note-5[/url]
[/url]http://www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C23003.html[/url]

I hope this taste goes away soon.[/url]

Another victim of Pine nuts in Netherlands,

I was horrified & scared for past 2 days, as being an R&D Engineer by profession, for past few weeks working with some solvents & adhesives under very tightly controlled environment & almost no chance of contamination (more over they are not so hazardous).

Since last 2 days started having very bitter taste in mouth. Started looking for the reasons and contamination and reaction possibility, went through Material Safety data sheets, but nothing was there on Bitter taste in mouth.

Then came online for finding some logical reason & Thanks for this web Site, now I know its my Food, that's not Controlled properly by Government Agencies, that is actually creating the problem.

3 days back went out for dinner, that included salad with Pine nuts, well I was munching them happily then, now struggling to even drink coffee, as it tastes even bitter, forget about eating its horrible taste.

I haven't had any problem like this in past 30 years, I had pine nuts few times, years ago back in India but never had any problem like this & in past 1.5 year since in Netherlands, its first time I had pine nuts & I guess Last time.

Thanks to this Forum, now will go & inform the Restaurant, about this & try to find the country of Origin for pine nuts there and try to update ....

For some People this might also be helpful :
[/url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_nut#cite_note-5[/url]
[/url]http://www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C23003.html[/url]

I hope this taste goes away soon.

thank god I found this sight!!! I went on a cruise recently and towards the end I started geting that bitter taste in my mouth no matter what I consumed even water. I had drank alot so the first thing I thought was that my liver was going bad, Now I realize it must have been the pine nuts that I ate a few days before the end of the cruise. It would be cool to figure out why this is happening, maybe it's like the asparagas thing and urine and only a some people are effected.

I posted back in July. The symptoms lasted about 2 weeks for me. I was really scared to try pine nuts again, but couldn't resist the basil in my garden this summer, and just had to have pesto. I purchased a nice bag of pine nuts from Trader Joe's (which had a country of origin listed, but I can't remember where they were from- not China!) and made the pesto. This time I ate only the toasted pine nuts, and everything was fine. I have had them several times since then (always toasted). I have had no repeat experience regarding the taste disorder. I urge you to enjoy your pine nuts, just be very careful of the source.

Good Luck!

Folks, eat pine nuts again at your own risk. I got the taste disorder from eating toasted Trader Joes pine nuts. The country of origin listed on the label was "Korea, Russia or Vietnam." No one else in my family was affected. I had previously eaten pine nuts from many sources, toasted and raw, on many occasions, with no ill effects.

If you read over the posts in this thread you will observe that many people extrapolate the truth based on their own personal experiences. Some people got the bitter taste from raw pine nuts so they think it's the rawness that caused the problem. Others got the problem from toasted pine nuts so they think it's because they were toasted. People who ate Chinese ones think the problem is limited to Chinese pine nuts whereas people whose pine nuts came from somewhere other than China, don't. The only common factor in all these stories is the pine nuts.

Our own personal experiences are anecdotally useful but they do not substitute for scientific research, with controlled variables, that will finally get to the bottom of what's going on here. Personally, I'm not going to touch the things again -- raw or toasted -- Chinese or not -- until someone finds out what the problem is. Too bad, they are tasty.

Guest wrote:

Attention, all Massachusetts people affected by eating Chinese pine nuts: Please call the MA FDA complaint office immediately and report your symptoms and where you purchased the nuts. Leave a message at 1-800-891-8295. Sheila will call you back within 5 days and take your report. If we are to accomplish anything, we need as many reports as possible.

What can they do if they don't pose a health risk? And at this point,there is no proof they do. I'm from MA,but I'm just not going to eat pine nuts anymore. No need to start a revolution over it!

-Bob

Thank goodness I found this site. I've been looking for two days and was on the verge of going to the doctor. I've had these symptoms too for four days now and it's horrid. I too have had pinenuts in the last week and the bitter taste started after two days. Lets hope the FSA does something about this soon as it's obvious there is hundreds of people suffering with the same symptoms. The taste gets worse after sweet things, but everything just tastes foul. xx

Hello from Australia. Same problem for me, into my 5th day of bitterness. My pine nuts were from China, but also had been open for quite sometime and I reckon I blame that. I eat pesto quite often with Pine Nuts from the same supermarket. I have never really taken much notice of the source or brand until now but imagine I always buy the same sort. Never had a problem till now. No one else in the family effected.