To think that, unless you know the kitchen they were made in is very clean, homemade edible gifts go straight in the bin

[Bearbehind]

Especially this year

Given we’re sanitising things we touch and are ultra conscious about the spread of germs etc - AIBU to think that if you get edible gifts from someone’s who’s kitchen you either don’t know or don’t think is very clean - you’d just bin it?

I’m not saying you can catch Covid from the food but it’s the principle of not knowing how hygenic stuff is

I’m not a fan of homemade gifts at the best of times - I think a sort of rule should be that unless your homemade items are good enough to sell for actual money, then please don’t do it

No one is going to admit they binned it but I do hope those who would make homemade edible gifts, especially for teachers, this year think twice

I can’t believe people think I don’t work and don’t have a clue when it’s them saying communal food will just be fine in offices before Covid is well over
Have you seen the posts from 3 people who are currently in work environments where homemade cake is happening right now, two of them in hospitals?

I have seen those posts - I also know from my experience and friends in several industries that it’s not allowed so as ever, it’s not one size fits all

@Bearbehind

Blimey - some people really are strange

I can’t believe people think I don’t work and don’t have a clue when it’s them saying communal food will just be fine in offices before Covid is well over

It seems there’s

• those who will eat anything regardless of where it came from
• those who think everyone will love whatever they make regardless of whether the recipient wants it
• those who’d rather just not receive such things

Each to their own I guess

No one thinks someone will love what they have made them. They hope they do.

@lottiegarbanzo

This concept, of throwing away homemade food gifts, is one I had never come across before reading MN. I view it as a phenomenon existing only in words online. Everyone I know IRL happily eats homemade cake, sweets etc.

It does depend what type of food it is, though.

I really don't think it's a Covid thing, and you're very unlikely to get ill from someone's home-made cakes. But you could make someone very ill with something like bean chutney, because there's a botulism risk.

My parents are very blase about food condition, and will always insist on scraping off mould/cutting away anything that looks bad. It's been ok for years, but now they're into their 70s and it really worries me.

I do get that there's a big element of snobbery from the 'OMG, you gave homemade gifts not the Vuitton?!' crowd. But there is also a genuine concern here that some people don't take seriously enough.

@Bearbehind

I have seen those posts - I also know from my experience and friends in several industries that it’s not allowed so as ever, it’s not one size fits all

And yet you were the one making statements about shared food being outlawed by HR and anyone being naive to think otherwise as if that was a universal.

@outofthemoon

I love home made gifts and have been busy making.

I love these!

I make things too knitted socks etc

Lol don’t join the made section on Olio lol

- those who will eat anything regardless of where it came from
- those who think everyone will love whatever they make regardless of whether the recipient wants it
- those who’d rather just not receive such things

Yes, that's the ONLY possible categories

You still haven't told us how you check the kitchens before accepting a diner invitation.

My goodness there are some seriously neurotic people on this forum. Can't eat food prepared by other people, can't drive anywhere without someone else in the car, can't manage to buy food for their spouse, can't do a load of washing without fucking it up and then can't cope with their partner being annoyed, can't use a public toilet...

I'm no stranger to anxiety, but I genuinely wonder how half the people on here manage in the real world.

All those of you throwing it out, at least have the balls to decline the gift. That’s someone’s hard work and money you’re throwing in the bin. What a selfish and hurtful thing to do

@Bearbehind

I have seen those posts - I also know from my experience and friends in several industries that it’s not allowed so as ever, it’s not one size fits all

So you know of SOME of the few industries where it's not allowed

which is funny, because I don't know of any.. so who wins?

Workplaces such as hospitals still allow employees to share cakes. Wonder why that is? Maybe staff are capable to accurately assess the risk. The precautionary principle is usually applied when workplaces don’t have the expertise or training to assess the risk fully

I’ve been a teacher for around 35 years, I’ve eaten so many delicious home-made treats...and some less delicious.
But I survived being a child of the 60s and a student of the 70s, so my immune system is robust.
If you don’t want something, have the courtesy to decline.

@Bearbehind

Especially this year

Given we’re sanitising things we touch and are ultra conscious about the spread of germs etc - AIBU to think that if you get edible gifts from someone’s who’s kitchen you either don’t know or don’t think is very clean - you’d just bin it?

I’m not saying you can catch Covid from the food but it’s the principle of not knowing how hygenic stuff is

I’m not a fan of homemade gifts at the best of times - I think a sort of rule should be that unless your homemade items are good enough to sell for actual money, then please don’t do it

No one is going to admit they binned it but I do hope those who would make homemade edible gifts, especially for teachers, this year think twice

Cba RTFT ...so what has covid got to do with it? You'll either eat a home-made gift from someone's kitchen or you won't

We exchange food presents with friends on our street all the time. Bake and share! I'm sure their hygiene standards are quite acceptable.

It depends what it is.

Do you think someone is going to be running their hands through boiling sugar when they make toffee or jam and the intense heat wont kill the germs?

If it was something like home made pate I'd be a lot more worried but chutney or jam or something like that which is usual gift material is hard to infect because of the high temperature. Theyd have to lick it when it was cool for it to be a risk

I'm with you op. Not into home made stuff that could be unsanitary. Not worried it would make me sick, it's just the thought!
Also for whoever mentioned it earlier, I've not had a one night stand nor do I eat ice cream from a van. I don't want to do those things - what's the issue?!

@DBML

I wouldn’t eat anything anyone made me anyway, let alone this year. All the people who know me, know what I’m like though. I can eat at restaurants (hygiene rating checked obviously), but I would never eat at a buffet, especially a home made affair where all the aunts and grannies chipped in. People have given me homemade gifts and of course I tell them that their cakes or whatever were lovely, but yes, they all go in the bin. Sorry.

I'm like this too, I don't want to be like it, it's very difficult and doesn't make me happy. I just can't bear the thought of eating other peoples food. I can't even eat food that my Granny has prepared and I do feel really bad about it.

If someone gave me a homemade edible gift I wouldn't bin it, Dh or Ds would 100% eat it.

OK, so I’m in the majority

Not according to your vote - 72% YABU at the time of writing.

Don't make the mistake of assuming that AIBU is representative of the general population. I have been here many years and get a lot from MN but I strongly suspect there is a much higher prevalence of anxiety and OCD amongst MNers than in other groups.

OK, so I’m in the majority

Lol - that was supposed to say ‘minority’

I’ve always been on the back foot on this one! 😂

Intriguing germ-phobia

How many times have you had food poisoning from someone's house? In my personal experience it's only ever been from restaurants

@Feetupteashot

Intriguing germ-phobia

How many times have you had food poisoning from someone's house? In my personal experience it's only ever been from restaurants

I never had it from anything/anywhere.

Maybe that's why I'm so brave.

I actually wrote a post earlier, but didn't post it, asking whether people like homemade gifts or think they're cheap. OP has certainly offered one side of that argument!

For what it's worth, I love homemade gifts. I love the thought behind them.
I would never throw them into the bin, BC (before Covid) or now, unless I tried them and didn't like them.

If I'd eat dinner at their house why wouldn't I eat a cake they brought into work? Not seeing an issue unless it's prawns or rice that's been left in their car all day in the summer...

People i know will often make treats at Christmas. A lot of them try not to buy new stuff because they feel it's wasteful, so homemade treats are a nice way to give someone a present without contributing as much to all the waste that the Christmas period produces.

I remember one woman from my parent's group brought round a cute little jar of homemade shortbread. I was delighted. After my harvest came in I brought a couple of jars of preserves round for her. I'm fairly certain she didn't secretly bin them because she asked me if there was any left a couple of months later- apparently something I had made isn't really known in this country (I'm an immigrant) and her DH absolutely loved it.

It sounds really joyless and over the top to be disgusted by homemade food. But I do appreciate that some people have their own issues that they have to battle. Each to their own, I suppose.