This blog post discusses the pine mouth syndrome, provides remedy suggestions and supplies information about the FDA’s take on the issue and the related FDA website to call for reporting.

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Pine nuts are, well, nuts from the pine cones. They are a great source of protein and dietary fiber. As such, they are mixed with fish, meat, bread, pasta and several desserts in many different cuisines all over the world.

My son and I spent the early years of our lives in the Aegean region where pine nuts are simply a part of the local cuisine. As such, we eat a lot of pine nuts. Recently, we had a very weird experience with them.

When I was making a hot dessert, I had some leftover pine nuts sitting on the kitchen counter. It did not take my son too long to discover that they were leftovers. He consumed probably two handful of pine nuts as I was cooking.

The next day, he started complaining about this horrible taste in his mouth. According to him, the taste would come when he tried to eat or drink something. When he would not eat his favorite dish that day because eating it made his mouth taste bad, I started to worry. He immediately called his uncle, who is a medical doctor, to ask what the potential reasons could be. He was asked several questions and told not to worry about it but to make sure to watch it. When the taste got worse, I did a little research online entering the following: “bad taste in mouth when eating.” The results were interesting. Many people had the same problem if they had eaten pine nuts the day before. Not having made the connection earlier, we both looked at each other in disbelief and continued our search for some remedy.

Apparently, this is a very current phenomena that has not been studied in detail by the medical authorities. According to the records, the problem was first reported by a Belgian doctor in 2001 and several reports were published in the Medical Journal of Toxicology.  Additionally, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) received more than 50 complaints and took an active role in asking anyone with similar symptoms to report it to the FDA. Below is a photo of the pine nut packages at Kroger that caused our specific problems.

So far, the reports and discussions have some aspects in common: smaller pine nuts grown or processed in China seem to cause the symptoms of bad taste in one’s mouth while eating or drinking. There does not seem to be an effective remedy to the problem and the common term of the discomfort seems to be one to four weeks. Even though some websites suggest using aloe vera juice or active charcoal tablets, these can cause further problems if taken without consulting a doctor. Another suggested remedy is to gargle with salt-water solution, which is fairly harmless and perhaps effective to some extent. As the pine mouth problem is fairly new, remedies will probably be found through trial-and-error and medical studies of the issue will increase.

Meanwhile, as responsible individuals, we must take certain actions to encourage further study of the problem and to inform those who are in the position to do something. For example, when you find yourself suffering from pine mouth:

  • Make sure to check the label of the pine nuts and see where the product was processed. European, American and Asian pine nuts are distinct in their size, looks, taste and nutrition. If the pine nuts you purchase are small, lack pine smell and strong taste, they are likely to be Asian pine nuts and more likely to have been processed in China.
  • Call the store that sells the product and explain to them that this is a new phenomena that can cause a lot of problems to the consumers.
  • Report the case to the FDA using their website and the information provided there. For Kentucky, the toll free number for the FDA’s Consumer Complaint Coordinator is 800-437-2382. For all other states, you can find the information here.
  • Make sure to try safe but potentially effective remedies, such as salt-water solution, garlic, etc. If any of these prove to be effective remedies, share your thoughts and experience on the forums where pine mouth syndrome is discussed.
  • As this problem can cause the patient to be hesitant about eating or drinking anything, it can further result in weakness of the body. Make sure to encourage some type of food intake even if it tastes bad. The last thing you want is to create a weakened immune system which will be vulnerable to bacteria and viruses.
  • Reportedly, sweet and hot foods and drinks seem to be more tolerable to consume when one is suffering from pine mouth. These may be the appropriate food to eat during this time.

After our experience, I called our local Kroger store and spoke with the manager. He was able to confirm that the pine nuts I purchased there were in fact processed in China. After my complaint, he told me that he was going to pull them off the racks until further research looking into the problem.

I also called the Kentucky Consumer Complaint Coordinator and reported the problem.

The problem for my son has not subsided. As we try different remedies, I will make sure to report if we find anything to be effective. I would appreciate any comments if you had the same problem or found an effective solution.

Here is a link to an NPR story on the subject: