Puzzle of the Pine Nuts

It may not be something that's ever caused you a problem but there is trouble about in one of the most essential ingredients of many delicious vegan foods. The issue is Pine Nut mouth or "cacogeusia" to offer up an entirely arbitrary medical sounding name for the phenomenon.

After eating certain types of pine nuts some people develop a nasty metallic taste in their mouths which persists for days or weeks even. It's not an immediate effect and can vary in intensity. There have been reports of stomach pains and upsets as well although this is less well supported. It's not obvious what's causing the problem.

Although the issue has been registered with the British authorities since the middle of 2009 at least no formal answer is yet forthcoming, indeed it's not clear whether any official scientific efforts are being made to resolve this, although you can register with Food Standards by emailing here; toxicology@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk.
Let them know the details of the pine nuts you consumed and the length of time you experienced the bitter taste.

The Danish food ministry have released some details of their researches which suggest that it may be related to Chinese sourced pine nuts, perhaps from species of pine which have not been traditionally used for eating but which are now being exploited because the world market in these nuts has grown but it doesn't seem to be as simple as merely avoiding Chinese sourced nuts although I must admit this has been my strategy for some time now.

Then, today, my attention was drawn to a website run by a graduate student in the Netherlands, The Great Pine Nut Mystery. This looks like a really useful resource for gathering together all the information about pine nuts that can be found and helping Grace and the researchers at Wageningen University unravel the mystery.

Slipped off the MoFO wagon for a spell but I'm out to dinner tonight so look forward to some bleary phone photos of my dinner tomorrow!