Does This Taste Bad, or Am I Just (Pine) Nuts?

by Naomi Shulman, Posted Mar 8th 2010 @ 3:00PM

Raise your hand if it's happened to you: A couple days ago, you loaded your salad down with pine nuts, adding a nice crunch to your greens. Now, two days later, everything you eat tastes bitter, metallic, and just plain foul. And no matter how you try to cleanse your palate, things continue to taste bad for the next week. Even more confounding: family members who ate that same offending salad have no idea what you're talking about.

Pine nut mouth (yes, that's what it's being called -- who comes up with these names, anyway?) is a poorly documented phenomenon, but it's starting to gain more attention in foodie circles, and scientists are beginning to take note, too. There's not enough scientific data yet to draw any conclusions, but there are a few theories as to what causes this vexing condition. Gregory Moller, a professor of environmental chemistry and toxicology at the University of Idaho, pointed out to the Bay Area News Group that what we call pine nuts are actually not just a single species; 29 different pine trees produce edible nuts. "It could be," he explained, "that some of these species are mildly toxic to some people."

A study conducted by Belgian scientists and published in the European Journal of Emergency Medicine posits that the pine nuts in question could have oxidized, making them no longer fit for consumption. The study, along with several anecdotal accounts, also points out that many cases of pine nut mouth occur after eating pine nuts imported from China.

In any case, no need to be alarmed; we're not talking about a life-threatening situation here. It bears repeating that not all species of pine nuts appear to have this effect, and the ones that do only appear to affect certain people. Still, if you've experienced a week of mysteriously bad-tasting food, it's worth thinking back to remember if a pine nut might have been the culprit.

Filed Under: Health & Medical, News
Tags: pine nut mouth, pine nuts, pine nuts toxic, PineNutMouth

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Reader comments (Page 4 of 4)

3-10-2010 @3:24PM harold said... To: Ms. Naomi Shulman, Author,

Excellent article on Pine Nuts---Are you familiar with the American Native "PINON NUT?
Pine Nuts, as opposed to PINON NUTS -- are a varietal grown all over the world; whereas the PINON NUT is unique to the American SW and Northern Mexico. The Primary Producing Region in the U.S. is New Mexico--"PINON NUTS" are grown by nature in the Wild, therfeore they are without petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides, the PINON NUT is harvested by ground squirrels as a winter food source--in turn their winter stores are harvested and replace with corn--try them (labeled as "PINON NUTS") and you will be surprised--no more trash mouth--their is a diference..
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3-10-2010 @5:50PM Judy said... This happened to me last year. The thing that really upset me was that I purchased by pine nuts from a local Whole Foods store. It lasted for 4 days and was awful. I haven't, nor will I, eat them again...not worth the risk.
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3-10-2010 @7:06PM Annie said... Pine nuts contain tannic acid. Many people are allergic to this kind of acid. It can be absorbed immediately into the body thru the tongue once placed in the mouth and ultimately thru the digestion system. When you eat something that is bad for your digestion system, it can also effect the taste in your mouth as well as your breathe. Some people have no problem at all with tannic acid and as a result can not relate to the difficulties that some of you are having.
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3-11-2010 @8:51AM Larry said... I hate skinny girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! News flash ladies most men (at least me and my buddies) don't like tooth picks!! Skinny A** models look Friggin cadavers!!!!!! Men like it when you have some meat on your bones!!! You know a little cushion for the pushin'!!!!!!! If was stoned enough to be with a skinny toothpick woman it would feel like a stinkin' skeleton. Who wants a skeleton with skin stretched over it. Now I'm not saying we want some obese fat cow either but somewhere in the middle within reason you know nice and healthy!!!
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3-12-2010 @1:33AM Paulina said... The simple answer is....don't buy food from China!! I always read the labels to see where food comes from. If I see it's from China, it stays on the shelf. As far as I can tell, they have no agency that monitors what they do with the food sold to other nations.
Think back at the pet food that killed so many pets!!
America better wake up!! When we start to depend on food items from foreign countries, we're really going to be in trouble....unless the food comes from countries in Europe or Canada. A lot of other places have practically no regulation on what they do, and what pesticides they use!!
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