Bad Pine Nuts

[Kraftwerk]

The newest bad food story comes from the humble pine nut, some of which are said to be from China. Though it is difficult to actually trace as there was no label most people agree these are coming from there. The Italian ones are supposedly okay.

They leave a bad aftertaste which would be okay except it doesn't appear for a few days and then ruins everything you eat for about 4 or 5 days. Its a bad metallic taste.
Anyone else have this problem?

There should be total recall it is hard to describe how horrible this is unless you have actually fallen victim to it. This fits in with how everything made in China is suspect of premature failure or shoddy production values. Apologies if they are actually not from China, I am just going on what I read here:

Pine Mouth: Mysterious, bitter aftertaste from pine nuts - General Chowhounding Topics - Chowhound

[LWJ]

Oh yeah! My wife had this. The FDA wanted to talk with her. It took about a week to go away.

She was told it was something about the Chinese Pinenuts. Funny, I had some and didn't get it.

Larry

[Kraftwerk]

I would love to have a word with the FDA on this. Its just like that tainted sheetrock! Damn the Chinese!

[Buckterrier]

Not sure it has to do with Chinese pine nuts per say but pine nuts in general to some people, like an allergy.

Isn't The Internet Grand?

[cgarr]

Could be they were old or rancid? We pack a lot of these and never had a complaint. They are a very strong tasting nut.

[vash]

i thought it was an allergic reaction.

i wish i was allergic to them. they are expensive!! but make a boring salad oh-so-delicious..

btw, i'm friggen chinese and i worry about stuff from china. we only hear a fraction of the horror stories. the chinese newspapers paint a grim image. i have people translate for me.

[Kraftwerk]

This from The Daily Telegraph:


" Scientists have been investigating the cause of the short-term illness since it was first reported in 2001.

Now China – which supplies most of the world's pine nuts – has admitted some exporters have been mixing the Pinus koraiensis variety with the cheaper but inedible Pinus armandii.

The latter are deemed "unfit for human consumption" by food safety experts at the European Commission but the lack of long-term harm means regulators have stopped short of a recall or a ban on imports. "

Cheap Chinese pine nut exports blamed for rare condition - Telegraph

I have been eating the pine nuts for years but never had this bad reaction until now I think the quote above explains things pretty well.

[Tobra]

Wow, I have some pine nuts at home I bought to make pesto, guess I will be returning them tomorrow.

Generally I buy the Blue Diamond ones from California, but they did not have any last time I went to the store. The first time I ever knowingly bought something from China that you could potentially eat, as that is on the "don't do" list.

[Kraftwerk]

Page 2: 'Pine Mouth': Pine Nuts Can Leave A Bitter Taste That Lingers - ABC News


ABC from July 2010

Also from Wikipedia:
Risks of eating pine nuts:

A small minority of pine nuts cultivated in China can cause taste disturbances, lasting between few days to a few weeks after consumption. A bitter, metallic taste is described. Though unpleasant, there are no lasting effects. This phenomenon was first described in a scientific paper in 2001.[11] Some publications have made reference to this phenomenon as "pine mouth".[12] The Nestlé Research Centre has hypothesized that a particular species of Chinese pine nuts, Pinus armandii, is the cause of the problem. The suspect species of pine nuts are smaller, duller, and more rounded than typical pine nuts.[13] This finding has recently been confirmed.[14] Metallic taste disturbance, known as metallogeusia, is typically reported 1–3 days after ingestion, being worse on day 2 and lasting typically up to 2 weeks. Cases are self-limited and resolve without treatment[15] Möller[16] has postulated an hypothesis that could explain why the bitter taste appears several days after ingestion and lasts for as long. A well known physiological process known as enterohepatic recirculation (EHR) could play a key role in the development of PNS.

The FDA is currently investigating “Pine Mouth”.[17