The Butterfly of Metallogeusia

Ever heard of Pine Mouth Syndrome? It’s this strange condition some people get when they eat pine nuts — in the opinion of some, though, it only happens with pine nuts harvested in China (which account for most in the US market). In 2010, we made some pesto, but I was the only one who ate it. I had this awful metallic taste in my mouth for a couple of weeks. (“Metallogeusia” is the condition of having a metallic taste in your mouth). We found out later, at our food co-op, that some people have had these complaints with Chinese-grown pine nuts. They switched back to the more expensive European pine nuts, and had no complaints. If you read the linked-to article  above, you’ll see that scientists have been able to find no chemical difference between pine nuts that trigger metallogeusia, and those that do not.

I bring this up because that happy little Lunesta butterfly who is supposed to be in my bedroom right now putting me to sleep has instead given me metallogeusia. I hate that butterly now. And Chinese pine nuts.

But I wonder if the small number of people who are subject to metallogeusia in Lunesta are also subject to same in Chinese pine nuts? (N.B., this week my wife made a chicken, spinach, and pine nut pie with Mediterranean pine nuts. I ate two pieces, and nothing happened.)