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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Invited to buffet but bring your own food

104 replies

Daffodilstulip · 04/04/2023 20:56

AIBU to think if you are invited to a buffet a good host should offer to cater for allergies or dietary requirements?

I’ve been invited to a buffet on Friday but told to bring my own food as I can’t eat gluten.

AIBU to find this but rude?

OP posts:
knittingaddict · 05/04/2023 06:48

I think I would happily bring my own food in your situation, but bring and share meals are standard amongst our friends and family. Not great if you're the only one bringing food, but at least you know there will be food that you can eat.

My sister in law once hosted a buffet and insisted we didn't need to bring any food for my daughter's vegetarian boyfriend and that she had it covered. The vegetarian option was a cheese and BACON quiche. No idea what she was thinking, but I will never make that mistake again.

Baabaa75 · 05/04/2023 06:49

If it's externally catered YANBU but if the host is preparing the food YABU, cross contamination is a risk a lot of people would want to avoid and can't be guaranteed in a domestic kitchen.

Judgyjudgy · 05/04/2023 06:53

RampantIvy · 05/04/2023 06:32

We are in a cost of living crisis and buying special bread, flour? What else? I have no idea where even I would start.

Unless you are only going to provide pork pies and sandwiches for guests it really, really isn't difficult to prepare a selection of gluten free foods - a selection of cold meats, cheeses and salads, poached salmon, potato salad (check that the mayo is GF), rice salad, crisps, Spanish omelette, hummus and crudites for example.

Are people so lacking in imagination? Don't they have access to google? All supermarkets have GF sections in these days.

I was at a friend's house the other day and nearly everything on the table was GF as we had two coeliacs there. The pretzels and crackers were from the GF section, but everything else was naturally GF.

This is probably why this thread is confusing. I'd provide a variety of foods, including a vegetarian if someone was one. My assumption would be if you came then there would be something you can eat. But also if you have specific requirements, allergies, you're fussy etc then also bring your own so you don't risk going hungry. It's unreasonable to expect someone to cater for everyone's needs given now people have so many!

purplehair1 · 05/04/2023 21:18

If you’re invited to a buffet but have to bring your own food- aren’t you just invited to a table?

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