Metallic tasting pine nuts are from illegitimate Chinese sources

[Guest guest]

Follow up from yesterday's posting

‘Counterfeit' pine nuts may be the reason why consumers have been

experiencing ‘pine mouth’, according to a statement made by the Danish food

authority Fødevarestyrelsen.

Fødevarestyrelsen (Danish food ministry) says the *‘illegitimate'* Chinese pine

nuts<http://www.foodnavigator.com/content/search?SearchText=pine+nuts & FromNews>h\

ave

a different fatty acid profile than 'genuine' pine nuts and are

responsible for the bitter metallic tastes.

Metallic tastes

Pine nuts are a popular addition to salads, and a crucial ingredient in

pesto sauce.

But over the last few years, there have been reports of some consumers

experiencing *“strange metallic tastes”* around one day after eating pine

nuts.

The bitter metallic tastes seem to only affect a small group of consumers,

but no explanation of how or why they are affected has ever been found.

‘Pine-mouth’ was reported by Fødevarestyrelsen to be related to certain

species of pine from China - *Pinus armandii* (Chinese white pine) and *Pinus

massoniana* (Chinese red pine).

Both species have smaller, round or triangular nuts that are only

occasionally for exported pine nuts. However, with a growing demand for pine

nuts, they reported that these species of nut are being increasingly mixed

with 'real' pines.

They say since the European Commission have been aware of the problem, they

have stopped Chinese exports of these *'illegitimate'* pine nuts to the EU –

however there may be smaller batches of the ‘counterfeit’ Chinese pine nuts

on the market.

*Other investigations*

Reports of ‘pine mouth’ initially circulated in Belgium in 2001, prompting

the Poisons Centre to conduct a comparison of affected and unaffected nut

batches - no chemical differences were found.

Last year the UK’s Food Standards Agency began an investigation into such

reports of lingering metallic tastes, sometimes lasting as long as two

weeks.

Over recent years the ‘pine mouth’ problem has grown, with reports of

incidents occurring globally.

Many reports were said to have followed consumption of nuts imported from

China. However, until now there has been no official link between Chinese

imports and the *‘metallic taste’* problems.

Earlier this year the Swedish Food Administration (NFA) decided to carry out

an investigation into the reports, but failed to find any chemical reason

for the problems associated with ‘pine-mouth’. Concluding that there were no

significant differences in the content of pesticides or mycotoxines of nuts

with and without the ‘metallic tastes’.

The statement from Fødevarestyrelsen claims that the Chinese pine nuts that

can cause ‘pine mouth’ have a different fatty acid profile than 'genuine'

pine nuts.

However, it is still uncertain whether the symptoms of ‘pine mouth’ are

related to these differences in fatty acid content, or other substances.

LINK<http://www.foodnavigator.com/Legislation/Metallic-tasting-pine-nuts-are-fro\

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--

Ortiz, MS, RD

*The FRUGAL Dietitian* <http://www.thefrugaldietitian.com>

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