The bitter after-taste of Chinese pine nuts

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The bitter after-taste of Chinese pine nutshttp://babyccinoblog.com/2009/02/03/the-bitter-after-taste-of-chinese-pine-nuts/2009 It started yesterday. A strange, bitter taste in my mouth — especially when I was eating something. My dinner, even my glass of wine tasted funny (what a waste)!I didn’t think much of it at first; normally strange things like this just go away by itself. But this morning, my oatmeal tasted bitter, as did everything else I ate the rest of today. This started to become really annoying!Now, I don’t consider myself a hypochondriac, but I decided to do some research on the internet. Was this a neurological disorder, maybe?? (I could be featured in the next Oliver Sacks book!!)Within five minutes of browsing, I found the answer: the bitter taste in my mouth was caused by the pine nuts we had in our salad earlier this week!!!Apparently, according to a scientific article that appeared in 2001 in the European Journal of Emergency Medicine, certain pine nuts, and specifically the ones imported from China, can cause a taste disturbance — a bitter, metallic taste in the mouth, especially prone when eating, can develop and last for days!Lots of people from all over the world have reported on this strange phenomenon — even Wikipedia describes the risk of eating pine nuts!The good news is, that although the strong, bitter taste is a nuisance, there is no evidence of any health concern. The bad news is, that there is no known cure to the taste disturbance. I just have to wait and sit it out!If only my wine wouldn’t taste as bitter…xxx Esther Entry Filed under: Food, Food Items, For Ourselves, Health, Interesting Articles62 Comments Add your own1. Gaelle | February 3rd, 2009 at 3:11 pmThank you so much Esther. I’ve experienced this too lately and eat a lot of pine nuts. As from now i’ll double check their origin. This aftertaste is so annoying. Glad to know what to avoid to get rid of this!2. Michela | February 3rd, 2009 at 3:22 pmthis is quite surprising… just get Italian pine nuts then!!!!3. Courtney | February 3rd, 2009 at 4:14 pmThis is insane!! I can’t believe it happens so regularly, and yet it’s not a very well-known thing.I too am going to check the origin of my pine nuts from now on!!4. Jude | February 4th, 2009 at 12:48 pmYou’re not pregnant are you? Or are you already pregnant I lose track with you guys!5. Esther | February 4th, 2009 at 4:01 pmCourtney said the same! I’m pretty sure I’m not…!!!6. victoria Williams | February 4th, 2009 at 7:44 pmI can’t believe I found this today. My husband has been complaining about a bitter/Metallic taste in his mouth for the past two days. I really started to get concerned when it lasted more than 24 hours. When I got online to find some answers, I found your article and remembered that we just started putting pine nuts in our salad a few days ago. Thanks so much for doing your research and helping us as well.7. Jai | February 6th, 2009 at 6:58 pmThis is funny because I had the same issue and I thought my pine nuts had gone bad so I threw them out!I wonder if you toast them if that kills the bitter taste. I really don’t remember having this problem before. Oh well.J8. Esther | February 8th, 2009 at 9:46 amI toasted them! I always toast my pine nuts! It was really gros - thankfully it’s gone now, but I’m still a bit weary about pine nuts!9. Monica | February 26th, 2009 at 6:34 pmThis is caused by the way the pine nuts was made. I was born and brought up in China. Pine nuts were always bitter. They were sold as sugar covered candies. The thousand years of process method couldn’t prevent the contamination from the taste of pine corn. Since in most cases, bitter taste from the natural food is from Vitamin C, Chinese people live with the taste. They choose bitter melon and tea for the same reason. It prevent the sour taste in the mouth after eating food, and lower your expectation for sweets.After I came to US, I was surprised to find out that pine nuts is actually a little sweet. We need to help them to improve the process in China by our technology. The bitter taste we feel may not be an issue over there.10. camilo | February 27th, 2009 at 10:26 pm2nd link from a search on the net and I find this. My wife said I was just complaining fo nothing but I knew this is not normal as everything I ate had a bitter after taste. I had those nuts more than 8 days ago as I recall….interesting.11. Cate | March 3rd, 2009 at 3:37 amStupid Pine Nuts. I, too, got a little weirded out because the option you find before pine nuts is “Brain Tumor.”The only thing that tastes good is garlic. I’m putting garlic in everything right now.Anything sweet tastes really disgusting. I threw out the pine nuts, so I can’t check to see if they were from China.12. Lille | March 3rd, 2009 at 6:14 pmCan it happen if you only have a small amount? I only ate a few, but I don’t have any other explanation for the weird taste in my mouth. The timing seems right…13. Esther | March 4th, 2009 at 7:45 amI think so! If you had pine nuts and now the strange taste, it must be it!14. Wayne | March 6th, 2009 at 5:32 amI bought 10oz of pine nuts from Albertson’s in Santa Fe last week. Valued Naturals, Dover NJ is the brand. I gobbled em down in a few days because I’m a nutaholic. I didnt notice anything until after they were gone, then the awful bitterness started! Its been 3-4 days since I ate any and the awful taste is starting to go away a little, but its still there. I’ve eaten small quantities of local New Mexico pine nuts before with no trouble, but I never gobbled down 10 oz in a few days before. I think I’m going to pass on them until someone figures out what is causing it, if its possible to get from any pine nuts, etc.15. Meredith | March 9th, 2009 at 8:58 pmI am experiencing the same phenomenon. It’s terrible! Could you give me some sense of how many days this bad taste will last? I’m on day 3 - seems to be getting a bit better but still pretty bad…16. Esther | March 10th, 2009 at 8:40 amI think in my case it didn’t last longer than 4 days, but i’ve read stories of people where it lasted over a week!17. Carla | March 19th, 2009 at 7:12 pmMy friend and I have been experiencing this bitter/metallic taste for several days now. We thought it was the pickles on burger that we both ate. But now, after reading these responses, I think it was the pine nuts that we both shared at this same time period. Is it a bit coincidental that many people noticing it at this time? I have consumed Chinese pine nuts many times in the past, and have not had this reaction before. These pine nuts that we had were left over from Christmas time, and though they tasted good when I ate them. In fact, I was surprised that they hadn’t turned a bit rancid as they had been sitting out on counter, and most nuts with so much natural oils would show signs of degradation. Could there be some additive or preservative that causes this reaction?18. | March 27th, 2009 at 9:28 pmI find this amazing! I am on day 5 and it doesn’t seem that much better. On the bright side I have lost 5 pounds because everything tastes so bad. I found one place where they felt this reaction was more common in people with O blood type, which is what I have but I can’t figure out what connection there would be. What blood type do others have?19. Andrea | April 4th, 2009 at 11:32 pmThank you all so much for your comments. I too am experiencing this bitter aftertaste and have lost a few pounds. I had a dish at Cheesecake Factory with pine nuts and today is day 3 for me with the yucky aftertaste. I don’t know where they get their pine nuts but i’m glad this aftertaste could be due to pine nuts and not some health issue!20. tony | April 7th, 2009 at 7:57 pmI never, ever want to see pint nuts again! I thought I had cancer or something. I was afraid to google my symptoms. About 4 days ago I was drinking beer and got hungry for some nuts. I didnt have any peanuts, but found a bag of pine nuts my wife uses for recipes. I ate a couple of handfulls. About a day later the symptoms started and 4 days later I still have them.21. Sharon | April 9th, 2009 at 1:02 amLike so many others, I went on-line tonight searching for a possible cause for an unexplained bitter taste in my mouth. Unbelievably, I discovered the cause was a couple of pine nuts that I ingested two or three days ago. I thought I had a tumor affecting the taste sensation part of my brain or something. Glad to know it’s nothing serious, but I will be very wary of buying pine nuts from the bulk section of the super market from now on. Only the really expensive ones with an Italian label for me from now on.22. carol | April 13th, 2009 at 3:36 amThank goodness for Google! I was surprised and relieved to find that the pine nuts that I ate caused this horrible taste in my mouth after eating. I have been eating pine nuts for a year or more with no problem. But I opened a new package last week and evidently they are from China. Yuck. I am afraid to eat anything now-the taste is so awful after eating anything good. I expect to lose weight until this goes away. Maybe it is a blessing in disguise!23. Alice | April 15th, 2009 at 3:14 amThis saved me a trip to the dentist, and doctor as I too suffer from this horrible taste in my mouth. The pine nuts were from Korea, Russia, or Vietnam purchased at Trader Joe’s.24. Guest | April 15th, 2009 at 2:46 pmThanks so much for all your comments! I thought I had a serious health issue because of this horrible, bitter, metallic aftertaste in my mouth when I eat anything. However, I am wondering a few things.1. Does the pine nut bitterness have anything to do with O positive blood, as some have stated?2.How long will this last? (I’m on day 3 and don’t know how much longer I can take this)3. Does anyone have any idea what causes this reaction?4. Is it something in just Chinese pine nuts or all pine nuts?If anyone knows any of these answers it would be awesome.thanks everyone!25. Karin | April 16th, 2009 at 12:22 amThank God for the internet!I also thought I had some kind of disease. What a horrible taste! I’m on day 4 and still strong.I always use pine nuts in certain dishes and I have never had this encounter before. Maybe the bitterness goes away when they are cooked or mixed with other ingredients? But the other day, I ate a bunch before using them in the main dish and the next day I thought I was dying. Bleh!I too, have seen a few posts with the whole O blood type relation, but my blood type is A+, so it might not have anything to do with just the O type. Weird…just weird!Thanks to everyone for providing input on this!26. Mary | April 18th, 2009 at 2:12 amWow, thanks! I was worried that I had something wrong with me. The bitter taste started this morning. I had this amazing breakfast with homemade whipped cream and strawberries and I kept getting this strange, metallic taste in my mouth. I have been munching on pine nuts all week. So bizarre! Oh, I have B - blood, so I think that theory is false.27. melanie | April 19th, 2009 at 8:32 pmThe previous bag of pine nuts I bought were so good on our salads, and for snacking, we fell in love with them! But, this time when I got some more from the grocery store, my husband started complaining about a bitter taste in his mouth afterwards. The taste remained severe for 4-5 days, so he googled the symptom and came up with this site. What a relief to know what is causing this bitter taste for both of us. EVERYTHING tasted bitter for about a week. This last bag came from International Foodsource, LLC Dover, NJ.28. RR | April 24th, 2009 at 6:54 pmI have been having the symptoms for over 2 weeks now, its just terrible. It was the first time in years I bought some pine-nuts to make pesto and ate a handful before making the pesto, (which I threw away) Like others mentioned drinking water tastes weird, anything sweet is gross. I have given up eating all nuts altogether till the taste goes away and I hope it does as *Im really misearable*. Never realized how much the sense of taste meant to me. I cannot drink any wine as it tastes awful. Funny thing is that I find sour things taste fine, I can drink lemon juice. “DOES Anyone know what the cause of this is??” We are all speculating and it could be something really bad in this batch of pine-nuts from China. I called our local FDA office and complained and was asked to call back if my symptoms hadnt gone away in 2 weeks. It will be 2 weeks on monday. I urge each and one of you to call the local office of the FDA to investigate this and ban chineese pine-nuts if they contain some pesticide residue or heavy metals (these usually cause taste problems) in themThanksRR, MA29. Louisa | April 25th, 2009 at 3:04 pmIsn’t strange that so many of us are experiencing this now?I would liken the taste to washing up liquid. It is awful!! I too am glad it is just the pine nuts though, mine too were from China and are now in the bin.!! I30. jess, CA | April 26th, 2009 at 12:12 amso last night it started with the raspberry pastry. had another pastry for breakfast and the same thing happened. i thought the pastries were bad until i drank a glass of water and realized the bitter, disgusting taste affected everything i consumed. i am very happy to read that it was caused by the pinenuts i ate from trader joe’s just two nights ago (and i am also O positive which brings more interest to this peculiar effect)needless to say, i am super relieved that i do not have a brain tumor.31. keri | April 26th, 2009 at 12:34 pmthe bitter taste is unbelievably gross- i thought for sure there was something seriously wrong with- thank goodness for google! used pine nuts in our dinner 4 days ago- the rest of the family seems fine (but i ate a couple of raw handfulls)- i could barely eat yesterday- everything tasted gross! my pine nuts say they were package in dover nj, as well, but ‘product of china’ is also printed on the label as well– this is unbelievable!!32. Alison | April 28th, 2009 at 2:46 pmWhat a relief to know that it’s not serious and the disgusting taste will eventually go. Thank you so much for putting my mind at ease!33. SLB,OH | April 28th, 2009 at 6:26 pmI’m having the same problem and I ate a bunch of Chinese pine nuts last Friday, I think it was a large batch that caused this. YUCK…….34. Esther | April 28th, 2009 at 8:37 pmThis is just absurd, so many of you experiencing the same thing!I’m O+ (OOOOhhh so positive!), and I think I roasted the nuts before I ate them! I always do!Hang in there, it will go away…35. Becky | April 28th, 2009 at 10:39 pmI heard that pine nuts were a natural appetite suppressant and now I know why! I bought a large bag at Jewel. The pine nuts were imported from China. Just like everybody else, after about 3 days anything I ate tasted really bitter. My husband was thinking I was nuts until the next day when he too, had the bitter aftertaste. I went online and found we weren’t alone. I have had pine nuts before but never had this reaction before. I wonder what cause the bittertaste to last so long? Its been at least 3 days so far. And it is so odd that it is mostly evident when eating.36. Melissa | April 30th, 2009 at 10:03 pmWell, same thing here. I made a salad Monday night with pine nuts (which I never do) and then had the constant bitterness starting Tuesday. After googling and finding all of the horrible possibilities (poisoning, diabetes, jaundice, tumors) I found several blogs on pine nuts. Thank you by the way!!! Thank you so much. I’ve already called my Trader Joe’s to tell them what happened to me and they were in the dark about it. If any of you could update how you’re doing now that would be so helpful. I’ve still got the strong bitter sensation…day 3 for me.37. AF | May 2nd, 2009 at 1:17 amI h ave the same thing. What can you do to make the taste better? Sour lemon drops?38. J | May 2nd, 2009 at 2:18 amI also have this taste but i ignored it for a few days and have eaten a tons of pine nuts since. Has anyone else experience sore throat and dizziness? Any feedback would be great, I’m starting to worry that i have liver damage or something.39. Gabe | May 3rd, 2009 at 5:18 amWho knew!?This funny taste in my mouth has been popping up out of no where for the past couple of days now. After hours of research, I find something having to do with PINE NUTS. Then, I put it all together. Close to a week before any strange taste in my mouth, I shared handful after handful of pine nuts with my mother.Ha! Pine nuts… Who knew?40. AP | May 5th, 2009 at 11:32 pmBoth my wife and I have the same problem. Hers has been going on for more than a week. Mine started 2 days ago ( she at a lot more of them) We got them from Trader Joes as well. No other symptoms just a bitter taste that comes when we eat. Just aweful!!!41. Melissa | May 6th, 2009 at 5:24 pmjust updating my experience. It’s a little over a week and it is much much better! Almost completely gone! That was so terrible. I really think there needs to be some kind of disclaimer when they sell pine nuts. Hang in there everyone- it gets better.42. Mary Robinson | May 6th, 2009 at 8:28 pmI too have this bitter taste, day 4, my pine nuts were bought from Tesco but were lables ‘produce of China’. I am very pleased to know I am not alone. Thank you to the internet.43. debbie | May 9th, 2009 at 3:32 amI’ve had this bitter taste in my mouth for 3 days now and just realized I had a handful of pine nuts at lunch back then. The bitter taste isn’t going away. How long does this last? It’s awful. Everything I eat or drink tastes bitter! Now the roof of my mouth is breaking out. What the heck?44. nicole | May 9th, 2009 at 3:45 amI also have had this for 3 days now, I work in a culinary school and was eating pine nuts the other day that we just got in.. I didnt even THINK that that could be it.. I am also having loss of voice problems, I lost my voice a day before the bitter taste in my mouth started and still have both problems, I hope it goes away soon, my stomach is growling I’m so hungry!45. Holly | May 10th, 2009 at 5:29 amI’ve experienced this bad aftertaste now for about 3days. I thought something was seriously wrong with me. Yes, thank goodness for google, bells went off when I saw the words ‘pine nuts’ . It all connected when I remembered that I ate some of those too… probably about 2 days before experiencing the aftertaste?and I had a bunch of them.I hope it doesnt last long.. I hate it and it’s weird.46. Judy | May 10th, 2009 at 7:46 pmSame with me…. I am on day 3…my husband is planning this wonderful Mother’s Day feast, and I can’t stand to eat anything!!! How long will this last. We should probably attach this blog to a letter to the Food And Drug Administration or Health Dept. going to do that this week…thank goodness I am not alone. I don’t think anyone would have believed me without the internet!47. linda | May 11th, 2009 at 12:20 pmI too have had an annoying bitter taste in my mouth for two days and looked it up on the internet. the only thing different in my diet was PINE NUTS from China! I’m going to throw away the rest. 8.99 for the container…what a waste. i have never had this problem before. Maybe it’s just because they are imported from China. What is going on over there? They need to clean up their act.48. Christine | May 12th, 2009 at 5:45 amLike everyone else I was so glad to find these comments.I buy pinenuts every time I buy groceries - that is a lot of pine nuts - but have never had a problem before.I shall ask my grocer if he has changed his supplier, as the resulting bitter taste is truly grosse and ruins the flavour of all drinks and foods - evn double chocolate ince cream ha ha ha!Thanks everyone for the tip!Pine nuts are now a thing of the past!49. Sandra | May 16th, 2009 at 4:24 pmSuch a relief to find the answer to my problem - what did we ever do wihout the internet. Like everyone else I was convinced I was seriously ill until I googled “bitter taste” and linked it with a large pack of mixed seeds (containing pine nuts) that I had been consuming over two evenings. This taste is dreadful, a bit like really naff Campari, and it kind of blossoms minutes after you eat or drink. I am only on day two, I hope it goes away soon!50. Leanne | May 16th, 2009 at 6:32 pmI’m joining the “crowd” - ABSOLUTELY same story - saw a recipe with pine nuts - went to COSTCO - the bag was STILL $15 - I almost didn’t buy them because it seemed so extravagent. Ate them Wednesday - starting Thursday night yep bitter taste - today (Sat.) is horrific I too was freaked out - did the Google thing and here we all are. The ones from Costco are made in China - go figure!!! This blog absolutely should go to the FDA and they should be banned - granted it’s not a life-threatening illness but it truly has ruined food and how I hear it’s going to last a lost longer - UGH. Thanks all for posting and hang in there.51. eric | May 17th, 2009 at 12:20 amthank you for researching this! i did a google search for “bitter aftertaste health” and your blog came up. i have been experiencing bitter, metallic tastes in my mouth for two days. after reading your blog, i realized the sensation began after i ate some raw pine nuts in a salad two days ago.thank you for solving this riddle!!!52. Chris | May 17th, 2009 at 11:00 pmI had a handful of pine nuts while on vacation and a day later I had this awful metallic taste after any food I ate. I still have this taste, it is day 2. I hope it does not last much longer. I am glad that I know what the cause of the taste is. I don’t know where the pine nuts came from. It is amazing that this many people have complained about this in such a short period.53. Esther | May 18th, 2009 at 7:38 amI called the Dutch FDA today (the VWA) and they told me they are aware of the problem, but as there is no direct health concern they are not taking any action…54. Deborah | May 18th, 2009 at 11:47 amPine nuts are off my menu for good! This bitter taste is the pits. I had no idea what was causing it and thought I probably had some digestive problem; then my husband found this and a few other sites on the web highlighting the bitter after taste people are experiencing after eating pine nuts. We had them last Thursday and I woke up Saturday morning with a horrendous taste in my mouth and it’s now Monday and it’s still there. I had the same thing happen about 2-3 weeks ago when I popped a few of the nuts into a pasta dish. The taste lasted for about 4 days in that case and I had no idea what caused it. It’s too much of a coincidence for it to be anything else. Unfortunately, I no longer have the packaging to confirm the origin of the pine nuts I bought. The supermarkets need to be aware of this as it becomes a health matter if it’s making people reluctant to eat because of the bitter taste.55. Kelly | May 18th, 2009 at 8:09 pmI’m with you all! TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE Pine Nuts! BAD, BAD Pine Nuts!! I have always bought my pine nuts in very expensive small bags and never had a problem. This time I bought a larger package with 2 stayfresh sides. I ate the package on salads (as well as a few handfuls) over a weekend. By Sunday night I couldn’t eat anything! I’m breastfeeding a baby and I’ PRAY that this doesn’t influence his milk. Pine nuts have never been an issue for me and are actually quite healtful (as they have the highest quantity of protein of any nut). If I DON’T eat anything the tast goes away, but whenever I ask my buds to go to work they start-up full force with the bitter blues!!! I HATE IT! HELP ME!!! I guess there is nothing to do but wait it out. I truly pray that this is nothing toxic as I am a breastfeeding mother. THANKS for posting all of these responses and THANKS for your site 56. Wendy | May 21st, 2009 at 6:22 amI was ready to throw a whole lot of apples out, as every time I ate one it was sooo bitter - I’d take a bite or two, then give the rest to our pet rabbit! I finally Googled this bitter taste I’ve had, thinking maybe some new vitamins I started taking was causing it - thinking some of the mineral contents were too high, or something. Here I find out it was the pine nuts I’ve nibbled on and made into pesto! Having never had pine nuts before I wouldn’t know a bad one from a good one, but they did give me an aftertaste each time I ate some. Mine were bought in bulk from Sprouts. It’s a good diet trick - I haven’t eaten much since the pesto and crackers 4 days ago. I even blended up some frozen strawberries and yogurt this morning thinking that would taste sooo good - had maybe two mouthfuls and put the rest in the fridge. Tried again at lunchtime - aweful! My son has munched on the nuts, too, and when I asked if he had the same bad taste after eating things, he said his cupcake after lunch tasted bad! Probably why he hasn’t been finishing his meals, too. Poor kid. Thanks for relieving my worries - I’m taking my bag back to Sprouts and telling them.57. Rita | May 22nd, 2009 at 6:19 pmI’m so glad you all wrote! Count me in - got my pine nuts in bulk at Whole Foods. Their prepackaged pine nuts were from China so I’m assuming that the bulk were probably from the same source. I’ve had some pain (like indigestion) and nausea as well, but maybe that is just a coincidence and not related to the nuts. Anyway, the taste is pretty vile — I wish everyone a speedy recovery!58. miranda matthews | May 25th, 2009 at 9:01 pmMy pinenuts were from China, packed in Italy and sold at Sainsburys. On Sainsbury’s website it says that this horrible taste problem is an “uncommon reaction”. Really??? I find it is particularly disgusting after I have cleaned my teeth; it must react with the toothpaste. But it’s in my mouth all the time now (I’m on my third day) and I’m worried about a dinner booked for Wednesday night at a wonderful and very expensive restaurant. I have been looking forward to it for ages. What a waste - I can’t taste anything except bitter, bitter bitter. I agree there should be a caveat on the packet - I look out for things like that because after an accident my husband has completely lost his sense of smell and taste, and he relies on me to produce food which will not harm him! I hope if anyone has any ideas to dull the taste, they will share them.59. trogstig | May 27th, 2009 at 5:53 pmSame story again: pine nuts in a salad on Sunday night (served at a restaurant in Fontainbleau, France) - then a foul, bitter taste after eating (especially sweet foods), which started on Tuesday morning.I would recommend bitter or acid foods to reduce the effect: I have found that tea works quite well - especially black tea, no milk, no sugar.60. Carole | May 29th, 2009 at 3:03 amWow, I’m #60 with pine nuts from an Oakland, California Safeway. At first, I thought it was basil from my garden, but then “googled” pine nuts. I’m commenting because I think the numbers of us experiencing this phenomena needs to be documented somehow.61. aridnepenthe | May 29th, 2009 at 8:39 pmBleh, I too have the bitterness. I work at a salad bar and one of our toppings is pine nuts…I threw onto the salad I had at lunch that day and now my taste buds are tainted. I started taking dietary supplements on the same day as I ate the nuts so I actually looked up the pills first, but out of desperation I just searched “bitter taste throat” and this site popped up! I am on day 2 now and I hope it ends soon.62. miranda matthews | May 30th, 2009 at 5:29 pmI am posting again because it is now nine days since I ate the pine nuts and I still have the bitter taste. I have contacted Sainsbury’s twice but their staff deny all knowledge of “pine mouth” despite the huge interest shown on their own forum website. It really is strange, bordering on sinister. I spoke to a doctor friend who said the time lapse between ingesting the nuts and feeling the full symptoms could mean the taste is caused by neurological damage.My local branch of Sainsbury’s still has the same batch of pine nuts on display even though I have given them the serial numbers and sell-by dates. This really is becoming a serious problem, not just the random rare reaction claimed by the vendors of these pine nuts. I can only think they do not want to lose the massive profit margin they rake in on the bulk buys from China. After all, pine nuts are hardly a staple. They probably reason that only whining women such as health foodies and vegetarians will be affected, and what’s so bad about a funny taste anyway? I wish they themselves could experience this foul side-effect, perhaps then they would do something about it. Interestingly a posting by a Canadian mentioning a possibility of pending litigation was quietly removed from Sainsbury’s website yesterday. Perhaps they think if they stick their fingers in their ears and go la la la, it will all go away. Every day that passes and I still have this horrible symptom makes me less inclined to shut up and put up with it!