Sigh anyone got this Pine Mouth thing before? I've never heard
of it until I got it.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1184261/Pine-mouth-puzzle-Why-nuts-leave-bitter-taste.html
They are a favourite with celebrity chefs and hailed as the
latest healthy salad ingredient.
But a liberal sprinkling of pine nuts over your dinner could
also leave a bitter taste in your mouth.
Increasing numbers of people have reported that after eating
pine nuts, typically as a snack or in a pesto sauce, they have
developed a foul, metallic taste in their mouth lasting for up to
two weeks, making practically all food and drink unpalatable.
Pine nuts have been causing 'pine mouth' - a
long-lasting bitter taste in the mouth
The first reports of 'pine mouth', as it has been dubbed, began
last winter in the U.S. from those who had eaten imported Chinese
pine nuts.
Now pine mouth has spread to Britain, and shoppers across the
country are experiencing the same disturbing symptoms.
I, too, fell foul of the metal mouth syndrome after eating a few
handfuls of pine nuts bought from a supermarket.
Though I regained my taste after eight days, the only thing I
could drink during that time was water, and the only food that was
bearable was salad leaves smothered in strong balsamic vinegar.
Drinking wine was like swallowing liquid metal.
Most worryingly of all, neither I nor my GP had the slightest
idea what was wrong with me.
Until, that is, I typed the words 'bitter taste' into my
internet search engine, and came across several hundred web
postings from pine mouth sufferers all over the world.
When approached, they are only too happy to tell their
story.
'The bad taste in my mouth lasted for a fortnight, and for the
first ten days it didn't improve at all,' says Danielle van Duin,
from Holland.
'I was conscious of it all the time - I thought I was going to
be condemned to have it for ever.'
Kristin Donnelly, editor of online magazine Food & Wine, had
the same problem. 'No matter what I tasted, there was a medicinal
flavour at the back of my throat,' she says.
He has since started a pine mouth website in the hope fellow
botanists might be able to offer help or an explanation.
Those who found out about pine mouth via the internet were the
lucky ones.
Others sought medical help and were sent for blood tests or
liver scans, while some approached their dentist to see if mercury
was leaking from their fillings.
Home remedies recommended by sufferers include drinking liquid
aloe vera and taking activated charcoal tablets (charcoal is often
used as a detox in cases of drug overdose).
So what's actually happening here? And should we be worried?
In reply to a group of pine mouth sufferers in Wales, the Food
Standards Agency contacted doctors at the Brussels Poisons Centre,
who have carried out tests on the pine nuts, but have been unable
to identify any chemical differences between those that cause pine
mouth and those that don't.
The good news is that no pesticide or heavy metal contamination
has been found in the pine nuts. The puzzling news is that while
some people get pine mouth, others don't, even though they've eaten
the same batch of nuts.
'It doesn't seem to be an allergic reaction, either,' says John
Collard, clinical director of charity Allergy UK.
'It may be there is a chemical constituent in the nuts that
causes the taste; possibly the oils in the nuts have gone rancid
because of poor storage.
'Just as caffeine increases some people's heart rate more than
others, some people may be susceptible to these oils, and some
not.'
But in the meantime, food retailers are not rushing to warn the
public, despite shoppers at most of the major supermarkets claiming
to have experienced the problem.
While Tesco says it will look into the matter and Asda is not
aware of any complaints, it's a different matter for Sainsbury's
customers.
Clearly displayed on its customer web-forum are seven pages of
postings from pine mouth-afflicted shoppers.
'This appears to be a rare occurrence associated with a small
quantity of pine nuts sold in Britain as well as in other
countries,' said a Sainsbury's spokesman.
'They do not represent any health concerns, but we're happy to
exchange the product should customers want to return them.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1184261/Pine-mouth-puzzle-Why-nuts-leave-bitter-taste.html#ixzz0uSasqWEI