AIBU to think people are being childish and foolish to think smelling produce is gross?

[UrslaB]

Okay, this has really caught me off guard. In another thread the act of sniffing produce (tomatoes) to check for freshness and quality was mentioned, and some people then responded that this was in some way weird. Puking emojis and hysterical exclamations that people should keep their noses away from food in the supermarket and that this is why they buy pre-packed produce soon followed.

Are people sniffing/smelling in some strange manner that makes it weird that I am unfamiliar with? A good sniff isn't sneezing on it and you should be washing your fruit and veg when you get it home anyway considering it is naive to think someone sniffing it (or squeezing it) is the worst thing to happen to the produce before you get it home. (Pickers/suppliers/packers, shop staff and a half dozen other hands handling it before you potentially, less than spotless machinery harvesting or transporting, being dropped, potential pests in Distribution and storage centers, pesticides, fertilizers, etc etc.)

To me this seems like hyperbolic hysteria. How else do you discover if fruit is good quality if you don't examine it visually, handle it and with some things like tomatoes and melons, give it a good sniff! Otherwise, you could be buying subpar food.

Always sniff tomatoes, peaches, pineapples, melons etc by the stem looking for a sweetish scent to know it is going to taste good. No scent, no taste. Also, giving veg and bread a squeeze, and meat a poke I thought was standard procedure. At least that is what I was taught growing up.

Is it a lost skill? Snobbery? What is causing such a reaction to something I consider good practice?

AIBU to think it is childish and foolish to react so negatively to the idea of someone sniffing their produce?

I have never smelt food in the supermarket, and yes, a lot of salad and fruit i buy tastes like bland crap. So I am going to start!
I honestly never knew. I do think its lost skills and knowledge.

Colour has little connection to flavour.

I sniff pineapples and melons to see if they are ripe. I also stick my thumb in the top of Camembert cheese to check on ripeness

Definitely a lost skill, OP. As you can tell from a lot of the responses here. Totally bonkers.

But then, I guess all those saying you shouldn't smell fruit (or slap melons) are also convinced you do not need to wash fruit or veg from the supermarket. Even more bonkers.

Also, PP is correct that many people don't know what food should taste like. Or that the senses of smell and taste are closely linked.

So how do you do it when you get meat from places where they don't put date on?
Plus, it's been quite discussed use by dates on red meat are unnecessarily conservative and can be longer.
You can absolutely smell chicken going bad. If not before at least when you are cooking. I was airing the kitchen for hours once

Smelling and touching is a great way to choose fruit and veg. Fruit and veg is handled by a lot of people to get to the stalls, supermarkets, veg boxes etc. A sniff is not going to ruin it. Wash your fruit and veg under some water when you being it home 🤷‍♀️

I honestly think there must be some sniff = having a cold = germs association going on in peoples heads because I can't see how smelling (something we all do constantly!) is gross/grim/yuck whereas touching and visually inspecting is fine?

There is a lot of germaphobia on the internet in general though - I watch cooking videos and comments are always full of people freaking out that the chef has touched some food item with 'their bare hand' 😱

That maybe spoilage bacteria. Food poisoning bacteria has no taste/smell/appearance, this is fact. Food poisoning bacteria is the one that's going to make you very ill.

The person who was posting the vom emojis was me.

Its OK to breathe out all over fresh produce? No thanks.

What fo you mean by food poisoning bacteria? E-coli?

Yes totally OK and wash it when you get home.
It will have been breathed all over as part of the supply chain anyway. I grow veg for a local shop and veg boxes, I don't hold my breath while doing it.

I always smell fruit and veg before selecting it.
Honestly, some of the innocuous things that mumsnetters are disgusted by and find ‘grim’. They sound so fussy and childish.

There is a lot of germaphobia on the internet in general though - I watch cooking videos and comments are always full of people freaking out that the chef has touched some food item with 'their bare hand' 😱

Tbh I always judged it as them having poor washing hand and food hygiene standards rather than germaphobia. Always though "prople who know to wash hands understand he washed his hands!"

E-Coli is is one food poisoning bacteria yes, commonly found on beef. Although from chicken it would more likely be campylobacter.

Neither of these have much to do with dates, that's why I was asking. These are contaminants which are there whether you cook it 4 days before or 1 day after use by date, it doesn't really matter.
That's rather issue of food hygiene and food handling when storing, prepping and cooking.

Surely all the food has been breathed over? We all breathe when we're shopping. Well, I do anyway.

I don't tend to smell food that often.

The only thing I regularly sniff are packets of sanitary towels, as the scented ones are so overpowering in the aisle I need to check the ones I'm buying aren't scented ones. Now scented sanpro definitely deserves a vom emoji 🤢

🤦🏼‍♀️ Dates have everything to do with it. Not so much beforehand providing the meat is kept within safe temperatures but afterwards absolutely. Once pathogens start multiplying, they do so very quickly and can reach millions within hours.

I didn't realise it was odd to sniff- have always sniffed melons to see if they're ripe

Never sniffed something, just go on look or a squeeze for an avocado! I try to spend as little time in the supermarket as possible, so boring

This is just vile. Find some manners.

I would never buy a tomato without sniffing it.

But I buy the poncy little packets of little tomatoes, so at no point do I make physical contact with the tomatoes I sniff.

Hopefully that is OK.

Does sniffing a melon actually work??
Never heard of this but totally fed up of buying tasteless melons!!
Not sure if I'd sniff one in Sainsbury though!!🤣🤣

This is Mumsnet, where one wipes the cutlery with Zoflora between bites of food. Batshittery abounds. Ignore it, OP.

^ This. MN is full of people who retch, shudder and have a fit of the vapours at the most normal, harmless things. Take no notice!

The way you get sick from this isn't eating food one or two days after UBD but by not handling and cooking it properly.

I’ve had a rule for years that I won’t buy strawberries unless I can smell them as I walk past. Otherwise they taste of nothing.