Would you eat something homemade in the office?

[Noschky]

husband has a small business. During the festive period I tend to drop off sweet treats as a way of showing appreciation. I have always bought these treats in the past from bakeries/ supermarkets etc. This year I’m on maternity leave and thought it might be name to bake something myself. I’m a decent baker.

im just concerned that some people can be a bit funny about homemade goods due to hygiene concerns. I am a type A clean freak.

but should I just not bother or will something homemade be seen as a nice gesture?

I'm a person that is funny so wouldn't but I'd still think its a lovely gesture. Mainly because I've seen most people have no clue about cross contamination (think its a good idea to wash a raw chicken in their sink or not use different chopping boards or utensils for raw v cooked food etc). I know sweet treats are less of an issue than actual food but I just prefer not to - just preference. I also personally like to know ingredients for things.

I used to bake cakes for 50 staff every year for my birthday. They used to clear them from the break room in no time so I assume they didn't consider whether my hands were clean - they were. In the last couple of years of being there I just went into the small independent bakers to pick up the order of 50 cakes made especially for me. They were eaten just as fast. I interacted with most of them throughout the working week, so they all made my job easy or hard. This was just a little thank-you to them.

In a more recent job I used to keep a fruit bowl full for them. I tried them with dried fruit: apricots, dates, figs etc. but that was not popular.

Once I took in a one kilo bag of sugar-free Haribos (I think) to a male dominated department and warned them all to not overdo them as they could cause intestinal issues. Of course there was one that didn't listen. His Mum also worked there in another department, and he still lived at home. She had a moan at me about his flatulence being my fault!

We do it in our office all the time. Love getting to try other people’s home made food. We’re quite a diverse team so there’s always a nice variety!

I won’t eat homemade at work unless I know the persons hygiene standards. People think I’m being precious; I just get ill really easily and I’m not prepared to risk that for a sweet treat. I’ve seen so many people handle raw and cooked meat together, not wash hands in between handling different foods etc.
I know I’m in the minority though.

I wouldn’t know how neurotic people can be about food hygiene if I didn’t read Mumsnet.

Honestly you can’t satisfy people with food neuroses: there will always be some utterly nonsensical hygiene objection raised.

Crack on, bring your food in and let people live in their hermetically sealed bubbles.

Homemade is good. Just do it. You're overthinking!

No I wouldn’t, seen to many houses in my time that I wouldn’t accept a cup of tea from so just have a blanket policy of no to homemade stuff

I often baked for my husbands team at work.. I also, as a chef and restaurant owner, catered the christmas meal at the factory for 4 different shifts for over 6 christmas events. They loved getting a cheesecake or some fresh cookies (only husband's team of 8) There was a lovely lady on that team. She often would bring in banana bread or some fresh made brownies. THEN one day, she called my husband as her computer had crashed and she was panicking as she was supposed to be on a face time with her very pregnant daughter that evening. My husband went. He never ate anything from her kitchen again! cats on the counters.. 3 dogs that had not really been house trained. While he saw no poop...he sure smelt pee. I have two dogs. they are NEVER allowed in my kitchen even when I am just cooking or baking for us..plus they are non shedders (standard poodles) He never told anyone...just stopped eating her treats.

I've been sick from restaurant food and I've been sick from grocery food, but I have never gotten sick from anything anyone has made for me at home. I think everyone who makes something at home does it with cleanliness in mind and would be very upset if anyone got sick from their food, so I suspect most are DOUBLE careful. I would, I have and I will eat what friends make or bake.

When staff bought in homebaked cakes 🎂 they tasted nicer because the person who baked them made them because thay wanted to and it showed they'd thought about it and made the effort so much nicer than shop bought

I wouldn't worry - I'm sure anyone with any sense at all knows to replace their dishwasher after each occasion on which they have washed the minute traces of canine saliva off their pets' bowls at c.140°F and bury the appliance in a nuclear bunker, as obviously the remaining three microbes that survived the wash cycle pose a mortal threat to everyone within a ten-mile radius. That is if they don't choose the safer option of burning down the kitchen, declaring the site an area of hazardous waste, and moving to a different county.

Love homemade

Oh yes - I would eat a home baked item way quicker than shop bought… I love that someone is so kind as to make it and bring it in. I trust my work colleagues to have normal standards of hygiene.

I LOVE homemade! I will always choose homemade over shop bought. I live near a little cake shed and the lady is a fantastic baker, I go to her shed for cakes rather than a shop x

Yeah this. And sick bowls too 🤢

I also witness first hand how many women in public toilets leave without washing their hands. This makes me heave.

Each to their own but no one knows what another’s personal hygiene is when it comes to the kitchen department in their own homes.

This is why I have never ever bought any homemade cakes from the cake sale at school. Happily will donate but just not purchase .

Horses for courses and all that but not for me I am afraid.

I bake for my team every Friday and can honestly say that it is well received and nothing is ever left! Its a source of conversation on Thursday as to wht will be coming in and sometimes I do get special requests.

I would eat homemade, especially if it’s baked in an oven. Very thoughtful :)

Go for it!

I’m part of a number of groups where shared home baking is the norm and no one seems to question the hygiene of anyone’s houses!
Though I do discreetly avoid one or two bakes from particular folk due to hygiene (shhhhh) !

It’s not at all essential but If you were going to give allergy info I’d supply a full list of ingredients ( ideally including brand) rather than allergens and let any allergy sufferers decide if they want to eat or pass.

Before 'one' pops up? I presume by 'one' you mean someone with an opinion of their own? I think if someone prefers to be politely careful about what they eat, they are perfectly entitled to do so. I'm another 'one' by the way!

If anyone's funny about it, I'll have theirs!

All the more for me!

It depends on the colleague really. Three of my colleagues out of five - yes, I wouldn't think twice. One though, whilst immaculately clean and well presented herself, is a recent graduate living in a shared house who often complains about her filthy housemates - i couldn't eat anything from hers, knowing they leave plates and pans for weeks until they grow mould. And my other colleague has EIGHT cats who are allowed everywhere. I can't hang my coat near hers on the rack because it comes away with hair on it - i don't feel confident a brownie or cupcake wouldn't also have a furry filling!

Me no, because I'm coeliac and have to be very careful not to get glutened. But my colleagues will eat anything, including (as discovered this year) sweets found left in the office garden after Halloween. They'd be in heaven with baked treats.

Why in your mind is washing them in the sink better than washing them in the dishwasher?

I am confident that it’s more hygienic to wash them in the dishwasher.

I wouldn’t, but DH, DD and DS would. DD if it took her fancy, the men would eat it whatever, unless cake. They would all eat savouries.