to feel like throwing up whenever I have to eat other people's home cooked food

[gettngbetter]

A lady in work baked a cake the other day and brought it in to share around. I accepted a slice as not to seem rude and said I'd have it later with my lunch as I'd just eaten. Then when no one was looking I wrapped it in a napkin and threw it in the bin.

I don't know why exactly but eating something that someone baked at home makes me feel ill. How do I know how hygienic they are? I'm not overly obsessed with hygiene or germs but i dont like the thought of someone I dont know very well touching the food with their hands.

If I'm in a restaurant I have no problem eating anything - even though if I think about it rationally the chef there could be very unhygienic! I've read horror stories about restaurants having to be shut down because they were endangering people's health.

Sometimes I'm in a situation where I feel obliged to accept and eat something - and there's no way of disposing of it - I try to gulp it down as quickly as possible.

I admit it's a bit weird to feel like this - Does anyone have the same issues. Or does anyone else have similar weird phobias? My friend is totally freaked out by cotton wool (I find that weird!)

[frogwatcher42]

Oh God, I would much rather eat homemade than anything shop bought (although I do eat both!). I have previously worked in catering for too many years and unfortunately heard about some of the 'accidents' that happen in restaurants (feel like retching just thinking about it), and the simple unhygienic practices carried out in commercial kitchens sometimes.

Maybe things are better now (I haven't worked in a kitchen for many years) - I hope so. I do sometimes struggle to eat out if I start thinking about it. But will happily accept homemade things as I don't think the person would add any extras on purpose!!!!.

[Floggingmolly]

A colleague I worked with years ago saw fit to charm everybody with the tale of how cute her cat looked sleeping on top of the cake we were all enjoying at the time. Apparently the little rascal always chose the warmest spot in the house for his naps.
I was sitting there with a mouthful of the stuff at the time; nearly broke the land speed record in my race to the loo.
I've never eaten anything homemade since.

[motherinferior]

You lost me at the refusing home made cake.

Yes, you are definitely unreasonable. You seem to have your phobia fairly well under control but frankly I think quite a lot of people on this thread probably could do with a bit of help.

[quesadilla]

Sorry but this is quite unhealthily neurotic IMHO. And irrational. You are just as likely to get sick from restaurant food. Don't you worry about passing this attitude on to your dcs?

[silversmith]

If you feel like this about other people's homemade goodies, please tell them that you don't want any, and explain that it's your issue. Otherwise you'll keep throwing away lovely cake which other people would enjoy. And once people realise that you don't eat anything from a kitchen you haven't checked & approved, they'll stop offering and you can stop wasting cake.

(Another person constantly astonished by the germ-phobia on mumsnet & wondering how any of you ever go for a day out)

[gettngbetter]

I'm not afraid of germs or getting ill from the food. I don't use anti-bacterial sprays in my home - I think soap & water is enough to clean most things.

I was in a cafe the other day waiting in line to buy something and a lady in front of me had taken a cake from the stand and placed it on her tray. She briefly touched it with her hand. Then she changed her mind and put it back on the stand. I felt a bit sick. It wasn't because I thought there was germs on the food or that I'd get food poisoning if I ate it - it was just the thought of her fingers being on it.

The cake was probably handled lots of times in the kitchen before being put in display but I somehow put that out of my mind and pretend to myself it was always just sitting on the shelt

[silversmith]

Well, whatever the fear is - germs/fingers/whatever, tell the bakers about your problem, then you won't have to deal with it any more. Or see someone about the problem if you'd prefer to get over it and enjoy office treats.

[ThursdayLast]

Very unreasonable I think.
And quite rude.

Like other posters have said, what's the use in having an immune system if you don't use it?!

And just WHAT do you think other people do to food before they offer it to you?!

How do you survive dinner parties?

[MooncupGoddess]

'But there seems to be a huge fear of contamination.'

YY. It's really odd as we live in probably the most hygienic society in living memory.

[onlysettleforbutterflies]

When we have a bake sale at work I tuck in but must admit I do steer clear of bakers with multiple pets, I know how hard it is to contain pet hair that's I don't bake and buy shop cake instead.

[gettngbetter]

I don't worry about passing this fear on to my DC's - when we're out and home-made cakes are offered to us then I feed it to them to avoid eating it myself!

[Chottie]

Ok, I accept I am being unreasonable, but I just do not care. I want to feel comfortable at work and just get on with my job and not have to eat unwanted, unasked for cake

[FrauMoose]

There's also some reassurance in that your digestive system is actually extremely good at getting rid of any food which is not quite as it should be. While the odd bout of nausea or a stomach upset is not hugely enjoyable, the body is a wonderful piece of design. After the very occasional day of weak tea and dry toast, I find my appetite for food - of all kinds, from everywhere - is undiminished.

[pigletmania]

You do sound like you have a bit of a phobia.

[Squitten]

YABVU to throw cake in the bin! By all means, refuse to eat it if you don't want to but I would be mightily offended if someone took my cooked food and just dumped it in the bin. Just say No Thank You!

[PeriodMath]

Ugh, the thought of eating food prepared in a home with pets turns my stomach too. Growing up, I used to watch the neighbour's cat (from my bedroom window) prowling up and down her kitchen work-tops. Gross.

[Lweji]

when we're out and home-made cakes are offered to us then I feed it to them to avoid eating it myself!

Nice!

[Nanny0gg]

We often had lunches in the staffroom or evening get-togethers or picnics where we would all bring a plate of something. It was delicious! And some of my colleagues were brilliant cake-makers. No-one died. No-one even felt a little queasy (except from perhaps eating too much!)

I think today's over-obsession with extreme hygiene means some of you are really missing out. In fact, I'd never heard of anyone feeling like this before I read this thread.

[FrauMoose]

However much people may be 'controlled' by such fears, it is nevertheleess very much a first world problem. While reading this thread I have been thinking about my great-aunt, who was an inmate in a concentration camp where the minimal rations meant that people were malnourished. There a willingness to barter for food, and to eat a scrap off food even if it had fallen on the floor, would be essential if you hoped to survive.

[MadeOfStarDust]

hahaha... the dishwasher v washing up thing - you do know that most commercial dishwashers use a tank system and reuse the dirty water numerous times in one wash.... The only one that doesn't is the Miele ...

so all those dishes are washed up in dirty water .....

[CreatureRetorts]

YABU. Not really normal. Sounds neurotic to me.

[GrendelsMum]

I suspect a friend has the same phobia, although he's never come out and said as much. Based on this, I'd say it's easier all round to come straight out, at least to close friends, and explain to people that you don't eat home cooked food. It's much nicer to explain that you won't go to someone's house because of a phobia than to keep coming up with excuses rather than go to social events.

It's not rational, but then the whole point of phobias is that they aren't rational.

[expatinscotland]

You are weird.