Pine nuts

Thought I would share incase anyone else has this happen 'cos it is kind of freaky.

The other day I noticed that everything I ate tasted weird, kind of bitter. I kept thinking that my food was bad, then I was convinced that I had been poisoned or at least had some terrible disease!
So I looked online and it turns out this can happen after eating pine nuts! I had had lots of them in a salad and for snacking whilst making the salad 2 days before the strange taste started. Never noticed this before. Very strange.
Anyhow, it is now almost a week after eating them and my food still tastes really bitter. It is awful. Awful enough that I will avoid pine nuts from now on!

[alison]

Wow! Sounds like a nightmare! I've never experienced this before. I was going to make a tomato mozzarella salad tonight, and I usually put pine nuts in it...

[Momo]

We use them all of the time! They are common in Arabic pastries, as well as all sorts of dishes. I usually toast them,or saute in olive oil / clarified butter. We even eat baklava that has pine nuts instead of walnuts.
Oh and I use a ton of them when I make pesto. I have never heard of this happening before your post?! Hope your palette returns to normal soon.

"Risks of eating 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.
This phenomenon was first described in a scientific paper in 2001.[6] Since the article, experiences of the phenomenon have been reported by hundreds of people worldwide (US, Canada, South Africa, Finland, Iceland, Germany, and many more).[7] [8]
The pine nuts involved typically contain triglycerides formed by 16-18° unsaturated fatty acids. No contamination with pesticide residues or heavy metals was found.
Some of the pine nuts involved were imported from China. However, in many countries packaged pine nuts are not required to state the country of origin or the species, and thus it is impossible to conclusively link the effect to a particular species or source country."

All I know is that my oldest DD is deathly allergic to them. Can't even saute them without her having breathing problems. I love them and wish we could have them more at our house.

Yes I saw that it was even on the wikipedia page. I had to show to DH as he didn't believe me! I am not making it up, honest!
The ones I had were from TJ's and not from China. I think the label said "Russia, Korea or Vietnam". I always buy them from there and use them a lot in pesto sauce and that has been fine.
Anyway, today the taste is still there but it is getting better!