Disappointed that these Kirkland Pignoli nuts are a product from China. Chinese pine nuts won't make you sick just because they're from China. They are “safe” because they are edible, they have passed EU and US food administration standards. Department of State and they know how one would expect them to do it.
After all, they are the most readily available sprockets and most people don't have any problems with them. American pine nuts have been prized for thousands of years. So why do we import from China? I bought Diamond sprockets twice in the past few months, and only got Pine Mouth from the second pack. For those of you who have had previous reactions to pine nuts or who reacted immediately after consuming tiny amounts (2 or 3 seeds), it's probably safer to avoid pine nuts or perhaps consider taking an allergy test.
While the bag is not marked as import, the name of the source supplier makes me wonder if at least some of the nuts in the bag are imported. I've never eaten Bocca de Pino, but I stopped buying non-Italian pine nuts because they didn't taste good. Yesterday morning I realized that I was in the middle of Pine Mouth, and I didn't want my family to suffer, but I didn't want to disappoint them with another menu either. The last time I did, there were many discussions in blog posts and discussion forums about “pine mouth,” a condition in which some people who ate certain pine nuts began to experience very unpleasant flavors (often described as bitterness or metallic taste) starting a day or two after eating the nuts, and with a duration of up to several weeks.
I experienced pine nut syndrome last week three days after eating a few small Chinese pine nuts in a salad. They are Neal's Yard, Pine Kernels, Produce of China, better before March 10 (so dated but not stale). I've been eating pine nuts here and there for more than a decade and I've never had this problem before, so this was a real shock to me. Trader Joe's) contain only sprockets of this type, while others are mostly a mix with the medium-sized angular ones that I think are Korean sprockets that have been on the market for eons.
Although based on a single observation, this research suggests a connection between genetically determined bitter taste perception and the occurrence of pine nut dysgeusia events. The pine nuts that are traditional in pesto and Italian pastries are from the Mediterranean stone pine, Pinus Pinea. There is still no proven answer about the causative agent, but for now, I advise you that it is best to avoid pine nuts that look like these in the photos I have attached. I have been looking for information about Nur Pine Syndrome after developing the most disgusting bitter taste in my mouth.
As for the taste of pine nuts, the problem may be whether the scientific theory is correct that some people have a reaction if they have certain genes, while others do not.
