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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Are you a fussy eater?

224 replies

Bimgy85 · 08/09/2018 20:26

I can't comprehend adults being fussy eaters. Fussy is for children surely, and at that, children aged up to 14/15

I truly don't understand fussy adults eating habits, I work with a woman who's 26 and she won't eat anything out of the ordinary. Ham sandwich for lunch and crisps, she cringed when I mentioned I was going for sushi for dinner, or even a basic Chinese buffet with vegetables noodles etc.

Are you a fussy eater, and why?

I understood everybody grew out of that

OP posts:
itssquidstella · 09/09/2018 11:05

I abhor pulses of any description. Chickpeas, lentils, baked beans etc. Absolutely will not eat them, they make me gag. Apart from that I'll eat pretty much anything if it's served to me, although there's plenty of stuff I wouldn't choose to cook myself.

I think attitude is key - it's immature and potentially offensive to show revulsion at food other people have chosen to eat, but fine not to eat it yourself.

Original poster
Bimgy85 · 09/09/2018 12:04

Yes I agree with someone below saying you can't get out of the war time mentality about food. 'It's just food, just eat it, many people don't have the choice' your so right! This is what annoys me

And yes there are foods I don't like but it's different as they are not everyday foods they are foods with strong smells that many people love or hate, like liqourice and pickles. They are not everyday foods some of you do not eat like peppers mushrooms cheese steak fish.....

OP posts:
crazycatlady5 · 09/09/2018 12:07

@Bimgy85 it might annoy you but if fussy eaters suddenly start eating mushrooms peppers and fish it isn’t going to solve world hunger - it’s not a magic spell that means if we eat what we’re given, starving people all over the world will suddenly have food to eat - THAT annoys me Wink

Original poster
Bimgy85 · 09/09/2018 12:12

I know, I know I guess it's just the attitude that annoys me, it upsets me in this day and age that we have people who just decide they don't like certain foods for certain reasons. Embarrassing for our country really.

OP posts:
RebelRogue · 09/09/2018 12:18

I was born and raised in an ex communist country. For the first 4 years of my life food,water,electricity etc were rationed. The years right after weren't that great either. I still was and am fussy.

sonlypuppyfat · 09/09/2018 12:19

Again if someone is fussy, who cares. But it's the face pulling when you eat something that drives me mad

AintNoCista · 09/09/2018 12:32

t upsets me in this day and age that we have people who just decide they don't like certain foods for certain reasons. Embarrassing for our country really.

Really?

Some people in the world don't have Internet access. How embarrassing that we are here using it for such frivolous activities such as mumsnet!

We have a choice of food I this country, why on earth wouldn't people use that choice and eat what they like rather than what they don't?

Sparklingbrook · 09/09/2018 12:36

Lol at embarrassing for the country. GrinGrin

Sarahandduck18 · 09/09/2018 12:39

Why would you assume that people in this country are daddies than other nationalities?

Do Chinese people come here and immediately eat a high dairy diet?

PinguDance · 09/09/2018 12:47

I hate mushrooms - hate the texture, the taste, they make me gag. Also fresh tomatoes- cooked fine but raw also makes me feel sick. I also hate tuna and mayonnaise separately so imagine how disgusting they are to me together. To my misfortune these are all very common. However, I love seafood, olives, capers, blue cheese, had lambs testicles once and they were pretty good, I don’t mind liver or pâté, quite a lot of stuff other people don’t like. So in some contexts I am an extremely fussy eater but in others I will happily tuck in to a plate of stuff other people are avoiding. Also, it’s not like i chose not to like mayonnaise- it would make my life easier if I could stand it but i don’t like it - what am I supposed to do Confused

PinguDance · 09/09/2018 12:53

‘Everyday food’ is a very subjective category. I find it easy to avoid the foodstuffs I don’t like even at other people’s houses as we’ve kind of moved away from ‘lettuce and tomato’ as a salad in the UK now. Olives and stuffed vine leaves are an everyday food for me so ppl coming to my house might find themselves being considered a fussy eater if they weren’t keen

AspieHere · 09/09/2018 12:53

YABU. I am 'fussy'. People always see fit to comment on my eating what I do and don't eat and how I eat it (certain order, don't mix things, don't like some food touching). I find that ruder. It doesn't affect anyone else's life so they can fuck off quite frankly. I hate these threads because you always get posters commenting on stuff that has nothing to do wth them and doesn't affect their life. Just be happy that you don't have any sort of issues with food.

crazycatlady5 · 09/09/2018 12:59

@AspieHere I couldn’t agree more! I find that incredibly rude, whose business is it anyway?! My husband is always calling me fussy along with his family members because I don’t want to order fish from a menu or something similar. I am no longer a child I can make decisions about what I eat without being lectured, thanks 😂

Gottagetmoving · 09/09/2018 13:00

I'm not fussy at all. Some things I will eat because they are good for you not because I particularly love them.
I think you can grow to like things you are not initially keen on.
I think many people will only eat things they love and often it's not the healthiest stuff.

throughtheeyeofaneedle · 09/09/2018 13:05

Some many would describe me as fussy. I actually eat a huge range of foods, but have a particular dislike of most of the traditional British bbq/buffet foods.

I can't stand raw tomato (it's fine cooked in a sauce) or raw onion, or cucumber and iceberg or gem lettuce does very little for me. I dislike mayo although will put up with small amounts, but hate salad cream so put that all together and your basic English salad is my worst nightmare! Give me a pile of rocket and other peppery leaves and let me add a dressing and some nuts and seeds, I'll be happy as a clam.

I despise those shop bought sausage rolls and scotch/party eggs. Give me a fresh home made sausage roll that's still hot and a pile of prosciutto and chorizo, I'll be thrilled 😁

To some I'm fussy, if they serve me the things above I have said I don't like, but if I served them smoked salmon or mackerel they would be repulsed, which to me seems madness.

It's all just personal taste.

evilharpy · 09/09/2018 13:10

I would like to apologise to the UK for bring shame to it by not liking ketchup.

thereareflowersinmygarden · 09/09/2018 13:15

Fussy eaters aren't a problem.

It's fussy eaters who make a big deal of it that I dislike. Those who dictate restaurant choice, make a fuss when ordering and get emotional if something they dislike is on the table. Saw a grown woman (and mother) cry once because I ordered seafood.

User878929333 · 09/09/2018 13:18

Fussy is in the eye of the beholder though, isn’t it?

By most standards I’m not at all fussy. I can’t really think of anything I wouldn’t eat out of politeness, if I had to.

But, there are things I don’t really like. We went to visit family recently, and they would often take us places that only served mussels for example, or gritty sea food. If I suggested elsewhere (it’s boring to keep eating food you don’t enjoy, many other places with wider menus) they’d scoff at me being fussy.

Same with cheese, at mealtimes very strong ammonia smelling mould cheese, or blue would always be served. I would politely decline after the first couple of nights and was again called fussy and derided.

It’s annoying on both sides.

theSnuffster · 09/09/2018 13:19

I'm very fussy and always have been. I have issues with certain textures. I don't like many fruits- only apples and can manage watermelon. Same for vegetables or salad- I only eat onion, carrots and broccoli if it's mixed in and cooked soft eg in a stew.

I do eat a range of meals though- I like all sorts of meats, fish (but not sushi, seafood, or anything with it's eye ball still in!) pasta, bread, potatoes, rice etc, I like spicy and hot foods so it's not strong flavours that are an issue.

I do try new foods but it can be a real struggle. Over the years I've got better with various foods, watermelon is only recent, I didn't like fish until I was about 20. I know it frustrates my OH massively and he has been known to get cross with me- it's a waste of time though, that's not going to make me like new foods!

Lookingforadvice123 · 09/09/2018 13:20

Fussy adults annoy me! SIL doesn't like ANY vegetables, or anything that's not junk food or white bread, basically. She's been steadily gaining weight in the 8 years I've known her and she's now massive, but blames it on medication whilst turning her nose up at anything remotely healthy in favour of junk food.

PolkerrisBeach · 09/09/2018 13:26

The problem is that fussy eaters rarely keep it to themselves. Everyone else has to know about it. Organising a night out - oh we couldn't possibly go to X restaurant because I won't eat fish, or chicken, or anything with a sauce, or anything vaguely spicy, or ......

Then there's the fussy people who grimace and pass comment on people eating anything out of their (tiny) comfort zone - ewwwww sushi, how can you EAT that??? It's just ewwww, fish and rice and YUK.

People are free to eat like toddlers if that's what floats their boats. What pisses the rest of us off is that we have to come into contact with them and their pickiness, then they expect us to bend over backwards to accommodate them. (Of course all the picky eaters on here will be on saying of course they wouldn't do that, and they'd be happy to go to an Indian place and just sit quietly sipping on their water as everyone else tucks in but we all know that's not how it is in real life).

thereareflowersinmygarden · 09/09/2018 13:27

Oh and refusing to eat something you don't like, when someone has made it, is childish. Just eat a bit- it won't do you any harm.

That drives me mad.

Frosty66611 · 09/09/2018 13:32

After doing charity work in Ethiopia a few years ago I think it’s impossible for me to be a fussy eater now when I saw the starvation everyone had to deal with over there

crazycatlady5 · 09/09/2018 13:39

The problem is that fussy eaters rarely keep it to themselves.

What a ridiculous generalisation 🙄

Sallystyle · 09/09/2018 13:56

I am fussy. Why? I just can't help it.

FTR I do not make a pain of myself. I do not expect people to always eat in places I like. I don't pull faces over other people's food. I try not to let it affect other people when socialising. I am much better than I used to be but there are still foods I just can't stomach. Some foods will still make me gag and no matter how much I have tried to get used to a variety of different foods I am still limited.

I do find it embarrassing. I do miss out. I am not childish or any of the other things fussy eaters are often accused of.

I can mostly always find something I like at any restaurant, unless it is a seafood place.

I was raised by a mum who eats everything and she tried her hardest to get me to be the same way. It wasn't her parenting. It is just how I am and I don't know why people care so much.

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