Sensation of bitter taste in mouth_What could it be?

Mad in PA · Newbie Joined: 02 Jun 2008 Posts: 3

I'm finally over it (I think!). It took over two weeks for me to get rid of the noticeably bitter taste. Now, I will only occasionally get that bitter sensation if I eat something sweet, but it's barely discernable. I believe a lot more people are affected by this, but they just don't relate it to pine nuts because it takes almost two days for the symptoms to appear. I contacted the Pennsylvania branch of the FDA, and he had never heard of it before. He was going to investigate it and call me back, but I haven't heard back from him (probably too busy with the salmonella in tomatoes). I also wrote a letter to Ann's House of Nuts who manufactured the pine nuts, but I have not heard back from them either. Here is the website to complain to the FDA in the United States by state. http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/complain.html.
If enough people complain, then maybe something will be done about it.
Hang in there. It will go away, eventually.

Mad in PA · Newbie Joined: 02 Jun 2008 Posts: 3

P.S. I did try peppermint tea (unsweetened) and that did help a little. Also, avoid anything sweet or sugary (including fruit) and coffee or wine.

Guest · Guest

Me and my husband have had a bitter taste for a second day already. We have also eaten pine nuts and I am almost certain they were from China, because the price of the nuts was considerably lower. The reason why this happens must be found because the problem seems to bother people from all over the world - I have seen post from the USA, Canada, South Africa, England and I am from Lithuania. Please report it to the responsible authorities - don't let Cina poison the world:)

All food now tastes so bad...ughhh...

Rainbowbaby · Newbie Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 1

Unbelieveable - I am in France and hada pine nut salad monday lunch and Pesto pasta in the evening. Tuesday night I felt like I had washed my mouth out with a sickly tasting room freshener as I have a really bitter taste and it won't go away. I am so relieved to read these as it makes sense now and I have now idea why I have reacted as I have had no problem with pine nuts before. I don't know where they are from as both meals were in restaurants but I do think that this should be looked in to as I thought I was being poisoned or something. Anyway, I hope that it goessoon as everything tastes disgusting. Amazing to discor other people have the same reaction.

mark113 · Newbie Joined: 27 Jun 2008 Posts: 1

I have suffered from Pine Nut Bitter Taste in mouth for about 10 days now. I think with all of these people having problems we can test different foods and mouth rinses and report back here to find a cure. Both temporary or permanent cures.

This taste is a chemical or an infection and there should be some way to clean it or kill it! However I think we would all agree that only foods and human safe chemicals should be reported on or tried.

I know nothing about how forums work so if someone will start a new topic or add in a link or something... but I have read everyone elses post and here are the results...

Posible Cures
Mint and Mint teas are said to help. I guess this is a temporay remedy for right after to get the taste but not a permanent cure.

Oranges - I have read on a few posts that say oranges help. I have personaly tried a couple of oranges and have even eaten the peel strait (washed very well first). I notice little relief form these.

Alcohol and Mouth Wash - I have tried Mouth wash with 21% Alcohol content and it only masked the taste a little. I have started trying Rum with a 40% (80 proof) alcohol contect. Rinsing my mouth with the rum for 30 seconds and then spitting it out or swallowing depending on the mood. JK. The Rum removed the taste but it came back the next time I ate.

Guest · Guest

I am in my fourth day of symptoms & have lost almost 10 pounds. A call to Wholefoods Market in Cambridge MA got me only a company brushoff. They would keep an eye out for other complaints. The fact that there is a two to three day delay between ingesting and the onset of symptoms, plus the necessity to connect those symptoms to the nuts by doing research, makes this approach ludicrous, in my opinion. I have contacted the local Hearst TV affiliate and am documenting my history of symptoms at my doctors office. These things need to come off the shelves.

Guest · Guest

Does anyone know why my reply from yesterday was not posted. Any ideas what I could be doing wrong?

phinn · Newbie Joined: 09 Jul 2008 Posts: 1

Tyhnk god for thid site which I found six weeks ago when experiencing the very scary symptoms.Food is my job and not only did I think my liver had packed up I couldn't actualy work as I couldn't tell if any thing tasted good or not...I threw awat gallons of milk and cream before realising that the problem was me and the pine nuts...I had eaten a lot over the previous weeks. It has taken about six weeks of not eating them to recover. But....I wrote to many retailers in UK telling them of all the reports on this site and others and suggested maybe trying some pine nuts from a different country...as it is the chinese ones that seem to be a problem....and guess what...
Julian graves,Morrissons, sainsburys, Highland wholefoods...are still supplying them...I think there may be a case for sueing if we could get a lawyer intersested,

linlu · Newbie Joined: 09 Jul 2008 Posts: 1

I fixed a stir-fry dish with pine nuts on Sunday night, and by Tuesday morning I had the same problem as everyone else here. I, like many other posters, did indeed snack on raw pine nuts as I was cooking... This is also the first time that raw pine nuts have had this effect on me.

Before I found these posts, I was trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I had a son come down with strep throat over the weekend, so I was looking at my throat to see if this bitterness was a precursor to me getting sick, too. I found that I have huge, swollen taste buds at the back of my tongue. They are positioned in a V-shape, and I believe they are right where the bitter taste buds are supposed to be on the tongue.

If anyone else here is currently in the midst of a pine-nut-bitter-mouth reaction, I would be interested to know if you also have inflamed taste buds at the back of your tongue. Also, I'd be interested to know if they are positioned in the same V-shape.

This is so bizarre, but I am so thankful for the internet. Otherwise, I'd be going nuts! (Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.) Smile

dlncmora · Newbie Joined: 09 Jul 2008 Posts: 1

AMAZING!!! I did a google search today for "bitter taste after eating" and this was so NOT what I was expecting to find!
I've been in Mexico for the last 3 weeks and have been complaining, too, of the bitter taste after eating. Like one other poster, my sensation is the worst with bread. Nasty!! I had been given a bag of candied pine nuts in Mexico and had been eating a small handful almost daily. I liked them so much I even bought some to give as a gift. I've eating MANY pine nuts in the past and have never noticed this before.
As asked by the previous poster, I just looked at my taste buds. Since I'm not in the habit of analyzing them, I can't really "compare" them. Some do look a bit enlarged, but I don't really notice a v-pattern.
The internet is an amazing thing!!!

Sensation of bitter taste in mouth_What could it be?

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