Would you be grossed out by homemade baked good in care package?

[BusyTraybake]

I am helping my sister put together care packages for her wedding. She is paying for the wedding party to stay in a posh hotel for a few nights. We are going to leave little care packages on the bed. I have an exceptional brownie recipe and was going to leave a trio of favours in the box. But sister’s SIL says she would never eat a homemade treat due to hygiene reasons.

obviously I will be clinically clean and wil even wear a hair net as I couldn’t think of anything worse than someone finding a hair.

Who is being weird?

The people who don't eat homemade food are often very blunt 'in the bin' is a common phrase I see. I wonder if they are just like that generally.

I own a holiday cottage in my garden. I bake for my guests (I have a hygiene certificate) and out of nearly 400 stays its been left 3 times. I'd notice if it was 'in the bin' because I also put the rubbish out, it's presented in a cake box so the box would be obvious.

Bed and Breakfast accommodation don't get their kitchens inspected routinely, unlike cafes/ restaurants. So if you go to a bed and breakfast you had better scrape it all 'in the bin' too!

Also, are you happy to eat UPF over natural ingredients?

MN is so massively weird about hygiene things. Does every poster have germ-based anxiety? I would happily eat home made brownies.

Some people obviously have hygeine anxiety but sometimes I think (and it comes across in all types of thread) a superiority complex.
Of course their own kitchen meets the expected levels of hygeine but can't imagine anyone else does?
I completed most of a hygeine course for volunteering at a sports club. It was so dull, and almost all of it was fairly basic common sense - keeping food at the correct temperature, washing hands, keeping surfaces/utensils clean etc, it's not rocket science. Posters talking about people who are filthy , have mouse droppings in the kitchen, cat hairs in food etc as if that's the standard level of hygeine for everyone except themselves

Yup, definitely

Totally agree that some people see it as a competition - they are super clean, everyone else is manky with their multiple cats shitting everywhere and trifles with dog hair as a key ingredient.

I’ve done a food hygiene cert - most of the emphasis was in hand washing (fair enough) and recording when ingredients were bought, fridge temperatures, cleaning schedule etc etc. nearly all of it is common sense and most of the emphasis was in safe cooking of meat, dairy and eggs. Brownies are not high risk, it’s just the ewwww germs people trying to demonstrate to anyone who’ll listen that they are better individuals, what with their vastly superior hygiene standards.

Exactly. And if your sense of superiority is coming from inane hygiene requirements, that's very sad.

I eat street food in India- way better than five stars- but I am clearly a Dirty Gertie!

I'd definitely eat them, wouldn't occur to me not to! Yum!

What are the chances @Savemefromwetdog is going to be the first to leave today, can’t wait to get away. Because nothing is quite good enough. Also the “random” cake making school mum, maybe in attendance and that just won’t do!

Now if SIL had bought one of those delicious Costco cakes.

Disappointing, but still edible. I never met a cake I didn't like, unfortunately.

We don't accept invitations to pot luck meals.

It's not fear of germs or illness. It's aesthetics. I've seen too many people cooking in their homes oblivious to toddler grime, pet hair and other distasteful things to look upon homemade food as appetizing.

It's a turnoff, that's all. I'm never so desperate for a brownie or cake or whatever anyway, so passing them up is no hardship.

Some people place a higher value on snacking and aren't bothered about where the food comes from. They can have at it.

You might be, but the number of people I've read on here who use pans, bowls, etc to vomit in would put me off eating home baking, no matter how clean they appear.

I don’t expect you need to turn many invites down.

Some people place a higher value on snacking and aren't bothered about where the food comes from. They can have at it.

Hmm.... Venn diagram crossover between the "teeny tiny how on earth can you manage a WHOLE CHERRY TOMATO" crowd and the "ewwwww germs" crowd.

@whatthefuk curious to know what you and your family vomit into?

I'd think it was a nice touch, but I wouldn't eat them if I didn't personally know the maker. This is because a colleague went through a home baking phase and was bringing things into the office to share. She always had filthy fingernails and I had been shown pictures of her cat (I like cats) all over the kitchen countertops, with the litter tray in the kitchen corner too. I just felt like the cat pooed and then jumped up to a work surface. Nobody got sick from her food though.

I would absolutely eat them but only if I knew roughly what was in them, home baked is fabulous! Not to be awkward or wasteful but simply for allergy reasons though I would need a label or a wee note in the box. We are a multi allergy household and my youngest dd has a sulfite allergy which means she can eat next to nothing out and with no label it would be an automatic no. I have several serious allergies too but can eat a much broader range so could probably chance cakes but I would still hesitate at an event like this in case of disaster.

I agree.

When my dad was in hospital for several weeks I took the nurses a box of home made cakes. After reading threads like these I put on that I owned a café and had a five star rating, plus allergens. The nurses thought it was hysterical and I suspect that they thought I was showing off! They said they’d eat anything.

Op you can do your level 2 food safety exam online for about £15, which is what most food handlers have. Might appease the ones that are paranoid. I’d put your sil a cheap and nasty bought brownie in!

If unable to make the toilet, then emesis bags (available from Amazon, etc). Prior to that, a bucket lined with bin bag.
Never ever would have considered food items a suitable receptacle.

Not in that point, no. I don’t want to eat home-made food from any home that might not practice good hygiene. I e been to friend and family houses where the cook has touched a pet before going back to handling food or has a cat jumping on he worktop. Turns my stomach.

One of my fondest memories with my kids . Licking the bowl ! One daughter said she preferred that to the actual cake !

@Sahara123 I still lick the bowl, benefit of DC being at uni, don’t have to share! I think it is the best bit. Like raw pastry too!

I bet the non brownie eaters would ever have let their DC do that.

Wonder how many posters know of anyone who was sick from eating a home made cake

I would be very pleased to receive this and would happily it

Yes, but were these cakes then sold, or given as wedding favours? 😂

I'm always up for a homemade baked item unless I know the person is particularly dirty.
For example a woman at work often brought homemade cakes in, her house was filthy she had cats climbing on benches, washed the cats dishes with her own, and leaving them sitting in dirty water. 🤢 It literally was a health hazard. She looked clean, and put together on the surface. It was a huge surprise when a colleague visited her house.
I realise that's an extreme example, I always graciously received a cake and told her I'd keep it for later! Another lady I knew always wore gloves to bake. Her house was spotless, and we always loved it when she brought stuff in.

Op's brownies sound great, and I think she sounds lovely and clean. I would definitely eat them.