I quietly say no thank you to pork/pork products. It goes well usually. Sometimes I just request a Kosher meal. Of course, I dislike being challenged on it. I am glad to hear that the poster above has never seen her friends or family have an allergic reaction. It shows they have good control over their food intake.

My main pet peeve re food in the office is strong smelling food. I love fish and Indian food, too, but stinking up the office is not ok. Obviously most food will smell when warmed up, but there are milder options that are less overwhelming.

I have seen "No fish" signs posted near workplace microwaves. Good idea.

"I am glad to hear that the poster above has never seen her friends or family have an allergic reaction. It shows they have good control over their food intake."

No, I think you misunderstood -- they're not allergic (or sensitive) to anything...

I tend to not try to make choices for others, including what they eat. Although I like to cook and try new things, I'm happy with peanut butter if it's shared with someone I care about. People are more important to me than whatever my opinions about their food choices.

I did have a secretary, before I retired, who ate pizza EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I don't particularly like pizza, but shrugged it off, in spite of the fact that the break room was adjoining my office. I didn't normally use the breakroom, I ate at my desk and had my own coffee pot in there, as the constant procession of lawyers and police officers wanting a cup was disruptive to the rest of the office. That secretary decided that the smell of my coffee brewing was bothersome and "stinky", and that I needed to start bringing a Thermos so she didn't have to smell my coffee. I informed her that (a) I was the boss and (b) when I didn't have to smell the pizza, I'd consider doing something about the coffee. She had a kind of minor tantrum, but the rest of the office was tired of her drama and started coming to my office for coffee and carrying their cups past her desk. She finally gave up, and I realized that the rest of the staff didn't call her "Baby D" for no reason.

She's still working there and I'm retired, but I met one of the other staff for lunch recently and she told me "Baby D" still has pizza every single day, and that the new boss kept the coffee pot, LOL.

Annie

I keep thinking this thread is about our pets' food peeves. Such as, my border collie won't touch a raw vegetable but my choc lab loves broccoli stems, green beans, cauliflower, summer squash, etc. Border collie stands and looks askance as choc lab happily cronch-cronch-cronches. Maybe it's the loud chewing noises that are objectionable? lol.

Mxk3, I'm thinking that people don't have pretend allergies around people who have real ones. I rarely have occasion to mention my allergies IRL, though I'll bring them up in the Cooking Forum to remind people that adding common allergens to cooking for groups has issues. Considering that bacon has become almost a universal condiment, it must make Elizabeth's ability to share meals difficult.

Something I've noticed is that there are a lot of people who seem to feel better when they give up ”gluten” whether they have a real reaction to it or not. Some just have a mild sensitivity, with a cumulative effect that magnifies it because there's so much gluten in unexpected places. Some are actually sensitive to FODMAP carbohydrates which are in the same grains as gluten proteins, so they have no issues with isolated small exposures to gluten itself, making their friends think they're faking, when they do indeed have reactions to the grains themselves. FODMAP reactions aren't usually life threatening, but range from uncomfortable to distressing, or sometimes just general malaise, And another group of no-gluteners just try it because they don't feel as well as they should, and whether it was the gluten, something in modern hybridization (some can't eat modern wheat, but do fine on ancient grains), FODMAPs, some other allergen, an insulin-related issue, or just being forced to be mindful of their intakes and eating a more balsnced diet rather than bopping from carb to carb, grain to grain, they do feel better when they change their eating.

I get the peeve of having to hear about it all the time. That can be a bore! Though they probably go on about it because they're still trying to figure out what it is that bothers them. There are a lot more interesting ways to make oneself interesting than carrying on about fake allergies. People will do all kinds of odd things, so I'm not doubting that you know fakers. Just, please, try to have compassion before labelling them all as fakers just because they don't have it all figured out yet, and aren't sick enough for expensive medical interventions,

An amusing reference to office lunch odors, used to express dislike of someone, was offered by Al Franken with respect to Ted Cruz:

I think a lot of people confuse intolerances for allergies. My mother would say she was allergic to scallops (which she loved) , but according to the medical definition, she was only intolerant of them.

"Mxk3, I'm thinking that people don't have pretend allergies around people who have real ones."

Um...that would be me with the actual allergy that requires emergency treatment and my family with the play allergies....so my situation doesn't align with your statement.

I'm well aware of food intolerances and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. But funny how if there's something the pretenders really want to eat...say a piece of delicious chocolate cake....suddenly it's ok. I call BS on that.

Maybe it's just my family.... {sigh}

Mxk3 - I know exactly what you're trying to say. I see it in my world too.

I think (?) sometimes some people try to hang a "medical" label on their reason for not wanting to do something, rather than owning that they don't want to do or eat something because they just don't like it.

I've seen this play out a few different times - had someone claim they were "highly allergic" to even the smell of onions. Nope. They don't like onions and don't like the smell of them, but there is no medical basis underlying it. I agree with you gluten is the new hot topic du jour, and a whole lot of people are sure they have gluten allergies or sensitivities. However they don't seem to be very clear what that actually means...

There is a difference between not liking something, vs. actually being allergic. So yeah, it's not just your family and I hear you. :)

Fish can be heated gently in a toaster oven without smelling up the whole room - it's the microwave that causes problems. The texture of fish changes in the MW, and so that is another reason not to use it.

I make a Japanese Shrimp Udon Noodle soup, and when I make it, I cook the shrimp separately and the peel and devein it at that point. When I serve the soup, I put cold shrimp in the bottom of the bowl and add very hot soup to it. This heats up the shrimp without overcooking it and gives you more control. I never add all of the shrimp to a pot of soup - only to individual bowls when serving.

I would also take this soup to work and heat up the soup in the MW without the shrimp and then add cold shrimp to the soup after it was hot. It tastes much better this way, and there is no problem with the smell.

Shrimp should never be put in the MW anyway, as they can turn rubbery.

I don't know why people have a problem with someone else eating Ramen noodles. There are a lot of noodle restaurants on Sawtelle in West L.A. A lot of them use pork broth, and so you have to be careful if you do not eat pork. This neighborhood used to be called Little Osaka until 2015, but I still call it that.

I guess I share a Peeve with Elizabeth….. people arguing over your not eating an allergen. My GS and I are highly allergic to fin fish, and we get people always telling us that Fish Stock is OK. NO IT’S NOT! Or some other food fried in the same fat as fish. IT’S NOT OK!

I agree that certain foods should NOT be reheated in a common setting.

Lars, I’ve found that doing what you do with shrimp works really well, and I do it too.

I can agree with the allergy comments. Yes, people have allergies and they can most certainly be life threatening. Cashews is one of those-I merely don't tolerate them anymore. Lots of people have tree nut allergies. I think the main reason people will bore you senseless with their imaginary food issues is to give themselves something to talk about. Still it is not as bad as having to deal with someone who is Vegan. I don't personally care but it makes going out to eat or cooking for them a chore. Why does the vegetarian get to choose the restaurant?

Food intolerances are just aggravating. I am intolerant of onions and garlic. This is tragic for me but I keep it to myself mostly. I can take something for it. Oddly it doesn't include the whole family. I tolerate leeks, shallots and spring onions in reasonable quantities. Watermelon is the other tragedy. I would have to just not eat it at someone's home. Still I am the only person who needs to know. It isn't that interesting a thing. I knew a woman once who claimed she was allergic to lemons. It formed the majority of her conversation and apparently people found it tiresome as I was told by more than one person that they had fed her something with lemon in it. I am not sure if they actually wanted her to die. I personally would not encourage people to do that of course. She had no discernable reaction. Well thank heaven for that. You can usually find something to feed people but I don't want to hear about what you cant eat when you show up at my door.

You are so right about not wanting to hear all the details about others food allergies and sensitivities. I don't explain mine and often just say I keep Kosher. While not actually true, it shortcuts the conversation.

"Why does the vegetarian get to choose the restaurant?"

One of life's mysteries, indeed.

With allergens it can depend on quantity. I can eat a bite or two of fish and not die, but had one of the worst reactions ever to some shrimp (which I can eat) which was cooked in fish stock. That's lots of broken down fish. And we were on an over the ocean patio, so the ambient smells overrode anything that might have come from the food. My worst reaction to coconut was when it wasn't actually eaten, but my mouth had been exposed to raw coco-fibers. Hiding an allergen in food doesn't disprove the allergy, because if it was below the tasting it level, unlike my strong reactions, it might have been below the noticeable reaction level. Noticeable, because inflamed mucous membranes or queasy tummy or weird tingle or itch, or (Heaven forfend) a slight swelling of the airways, from a small reaction, might not have had the blame put on it from an unnoticed allergen. The sneaky stuff is VERY dangerous. Be rude if you want, and say, "Yeah, we know you can't have lemons, but it's time for a new subject." Potentially killing someone because you never know when just a little bit is going to provoke the life-threatening reaction is evil. So I'm adding poisoning people to my list of food peeves!

Mxk3, I apologize. I didn't realize you were talking about family. Family do weird stuff for weird reasons. I get why it drives you bonkers.

The worst workplace microwave smell is burnt popcorn. Awful. Had a coworker who would sometimes bring in some type of fish and it smelled rotten. Other people would bring in fish dishes but it never smelled that rank. I'm so glad I work from home.

Got a salad from Zaxbys today to eat at work. A grilled Cobb salad with ranch, no fried onions please. I have had it in front of me for 10 minutes and have had comments on it by every single person who has graced my presence. "The fried chicken one is better." "Man that looks good, I am STARVING." "I do not like ranch, you should have got Thousand Island." "You on a diet???? If you are on a diet a salad like THAT wont help." "Let me get that bread, you don't need it." I told them all that it is dangerous to disturb The Night Minion during feeding time. Ugh.

Another only slightly related to food pet peeve. About a week ago, not even a full week ago in fact, I cleaned out our shared fridge at work. It is shared by 5 people, and it was absolutely disgusting. I wore 2 pairs of gloves and a mask to prevent the gagging that always comes with such a task. I filled up 4 trash bags of old or unrecognizable food and used an entire bottle of Lysol all purpose cleaner to get it all cleaned out and ready to use. I wrote a very kind and gentle email to my coworkers asking everyone nicely to stay on top of the items they put in there. My boss responded by adding that everyone needs to take any items they keep in there HOME when they work off their last shift of the week. Well, not even a week later, and it is jammed full again. I mean stuff falling out and stacked up on top of other stuff. It is a standard size refrigerator so its not like its a mini fridge. And everyone of course claims that none of it is theirs. And no, no one uses our fridge but us. SO annoying. All I tend to keep in there are drinks, and I bring my food for the night, so its not like I need the room, but it is annoying that I did all that nasty work for them to do that again. I guarantee the food that is stacked in there now will be rotting away in there 2 months from now. I would really really hate to see the state of their houses if that nastiness does not bother them. Gross!

And do not get me started on people who feel free to help themselves to others peoples food or drinks with out asking..... I have had many many drinks go missing here, and of course, no one admits to taking them.....

The shared office refrigerator - one of many things I don't miss about working in an office.

Annie, the smell of coffee makes me very nauseous. BUT I still make 2 pots every morning, one for the day shift people and one for my truck drivers. My problem is not theirs, after all. And my SO drinks coffee when the weather is cold, I would never ask him not to make it. My problem is not his either. The scent fades and so does my ill feeling. And I make coffee scented candles to sell because they are popular. I hate them, but they make me money..........Just one of those things. The audacity of your secretary though!

Amylou, you are just going to have to make peace with people commenting on a big meal sitting in front of you at your desk! Getting angry isn't going to help anything and people are just going to say something because it's just human nature to do so! I am quite positive if I saw a delicious looking meal sitting in front of me at someone's desk, I would also make some sort of a comment. I'd probably say "where is that from, it looks delicious! How is it?" I'm always curious about what restaurants around our town are any good and what they have.

Before you put your drinks in the fridge, use a permanent marker and write your name or initials very boldly over the label so it is clearly visible when someone is drinking it.

Put a bottle filled with summer pond water in the fridge. One gulp of that, they’ll think twice about stealing again.

I don't know about that AG. It being human nature that is. I do not ever feel the urge to comment when someone is trying to eat in peace. Just as I do not see someone reading and interrupt them to ask about the book they are reading, express my disdain or delight for the genre, and then listing my reading recommendations. (people do that to me at work as well. I cant read, watch something, listen to anything, or eat anything around other people it seems. So irritating) I leave people in peace. But maybe that is just because I do not like to be bothered in such a way. My meals are often interrupted by work duties, which is fine, it doesn't bother me to have to pause to do my job. But I do not like people giving commentary on my life and my every action. I remember being frustrated into tears in kindergarten because this little busybody brat would NOT SHUT HER STUPID MOUTH UP about the cherry pie filling my mom packed in my lunch every day. I finally just asked her to stop packing it, which hurt both our feelings because it was one of my favorite things. I still get frustrated thinking about it.

Amylou I had the same issue with cleaning out our office mini fridge. It was disgusting at times so I got a great idea. I emailed everyone and posted a sign...

Fridge will be cleaned out on this day and time.

Eat It...Take it Home or Out it Goes.

Ended up throwing out a lot of disgusting containers...including Tupperware.

We no longer have a fridge as it broke. I carry a small Coleman cooler for my lunch.

One of the places I worked had a Clean Friday Fridge policy. Meaning, every Friday afternoon about 2:00pm ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING in the fridge went into the trash. No exceptions. Nothing allowed back in until Monday morning. If you wanted it you'd better have it out of there before the designated Fridge Police arrived.

I think it worked because most of us in that area valued a clean fridge. If the majority had been slobs, they might have over-ruled us non-slobs.

Am I the only one who hate those stupid adhesive labels on every fruit?

And how do you know if the adhesives are food grade?

dcarch

I asked this question at lunch today. One lady said that one of hers was food in a man's beard/or mustach. Yah, I have to agree. (Sorry guys.)

Another peeve—changing the ingredients. I got a weird feeling on my first bite of a new container of my favorite grocery store gelato, and checked the ingredients. Sure enough, there's an allergen listed as ”or”. It was too little to have a reaction, but I can sense it. Ugh.

"Am I the only one who hate those stupid adhesive labels on every fruit?

And how do you know if the adhesives are food grade?"

That's to identify the item at the checkstand.

Yes, always food grade adhesives.

Speaking of work place fridges, we had mostly women in our department, 2 men. They had the most crap in the fridge and neither one ever put themselves down to clean it. We had to do it every month and sign off that we did it. I only ever used it when we had potlucks, maybe once a year. I still put myself down to clean it but would get annoyed that those two never cleaned it.

Being a government facility we also had to throw out anything not dated and outdated.

"---- That's to identify the item at the checkstand.---"

So the checkstand clerk can tell which are bananas and which are oranges?

Why only fruits? why not carrots and squashes?

"---Yes, always food grade adhesives.--"

And the ink?

I am going to collect all the labels and stick them on each and every grape, and put them back on the store shelve next April First. I want to see the reaction on customers' faces. :-)

dcarch

I dislike the fruit stickers also. I swear some are super glued on the fruit. Last tomatoes I bought the stickers wouldn't come off without tearing the skin.

"So the checkstand clerk can tell which are bananas and which are oranges?"

Large avocadoes and oranges vs medium ones, different prices. Gravenstein apples versus winesap. Too many reasons to mention.

There is a number code on fruit and veg stickers that corresponds with the price in the checkout computer.

There is a number code on fruit and veg stickers that corresponds with the price in the checkout computer.

Am I the only one who hate those stupid adhesive labels on every fruit?

They are PLU codes. Price look-up.

“PLU codes are 4- or 5-digit numbers and appear on a small sticker applied to the individual piece of fresh produce. The PLU number identifies produce items based upon various attributes which can include the commodity, variety, growing methodology (e.g., organic), and the size.“

And who reads those codes? Not me, the shopper. And who has to waste time to peel them off? Me, the shopper.

If those sticky codes are good, why not put them on all produces, carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes,----- why only fruits?

I was in a huge banana plantation in Costa Rica. There was a large area with lots and lots workers sticking those stickers on each banana. And who pays those workers? Me the shopper.

dcarch

Tomatoes have stickers. Items that are bagged have a bar code.

dcarch, I don’t read them either even though I have time to. Some folks do read them, though.

I suppose it is like ingredients, nutritional values, origins on packaged and canned goods. More information for the consumer.

I read them on apples, to make sure that I'm getting the variety I want. Sometime the Galas or Fujis wind up in the Honeycrisp pile.

"There is a number code on fruit and veg stickers that corresponds with the price in the checkout computer."

To be more precise, the number corresponds to a unique product item in the store's computer system that when entered returns the proper price for that day.. The computer system also records the sale of the item for inventory tracking purposes. At anything larger than a mom and pop operation, IT systems have records of inventory levels, individual item ins (deliveries) and outs (customer purchases). When the on-hand level declines to a certain, pre-defined amount, a reorder is triggered without human intervention.

Such systems save money by increasing efficiency. If you're too busy or too bothered to pull off a sticker, you can eat it or cut it off. Or develop a higher threshold of things to get upset by.

There used to be highly professional checkers who knew each piece of produce by code name. One, who was a family favorite a couple of decades ago, was a checker while getting an advanced nursing degree. And after, because she couldn't deal with the pay cut she'd have to take to work as a nurse. Now, they have less well paid workers, who know how to push things past scanners. And there are a heck of a lot more codes, for the variety we treasure. In addition, the PLU's become good trackers for contamination issues and the like. Instead of just "banana", the code identifies the source.

I mostly have just mild pet peeves....putting the aforementioned hot sauce (DH) or ketchup (friend) on everything, only eating spaghetti when going out to eat no matter what restaurant and if the restaurant doesn't serve spaghetti she doesn't eat (45 yr old former co-worker), buying 6 different jars of salsa to painstakingly create just the right combination (friend).....

Some of my siblings and their families and I travel together internationally maybe once a year. All of us love to try new food with the exception of my almost 50-yr old sister-in-law. She doesn't even make an attempt to try something new and if she can't find something on the menu that might work, she ends up on the verge of tears. If we rent a house together in another country, she is the one buying sliced white bread, pb and jelly, while the rest of us are tossing all kinds of cool and interesting stuff in our shopping carts.

"Still it is not as bad as having to deal with someone who is Vegan. I don't personally care but it makes going out to eat or cooking for them a chore."

I don't mind at all eating with someone who is vegan. Someone close to me developed a dairy allergy at around age 20 that causes almost instant, explosive D, if you know what I mean. It has become easier to find a restaurant to suit everyone the last several years, and it's been kind of a fun challenge to find delicious recipes our whole group can eat, dairy allergy girl included.

"There used to be highly professional checkers who knew each piece of produce by code name. One, who was a family favorite a couple of decades ago, was a checker while getting an advanced nursing degree. And after, because she couldn't deal with the pay cut she'd have to take to work as a nurse."

I used to be one of those, during pre-scanner, pre-sticker years, working part time at a journeyman level during my university years. I worked at a large and busy chain (Ralphs, if you are in SoCal). They'd give us speed tests quarterly and I was usually first or second for speed and accuracy in the store, scoring higher than most of the full timers. I will tell you, as familiar as I was with produce (I'd walk through the displays each day on my way in, before punching in), I made mistakes. Usually when there were different sizes of the same thing at different prices. When trying to recognize something with a brief glance, it's easy to make a mistake.

I would have loved to have had scanners and stickers.

Unlike your nursing student example, I willingly chose to take a pay cut, trading a journeyman's hourly wage at a mind-numbingly boring job that went no higher (union job) for an entry-level professional position. The professional position led to a great career with almost unlimited upward mobility. Manual labor is manual labor. Usually the less thinking such jobs require, progressively lower levels of thinking anyone doing it will apply.

I think my biggest food pet peeve is why does everything have to be so sweet nowadays? I know, not a big deal but I never knew that BBQ was supposed to be covered in honey until I moved to Ohio! HA!

Why does the vegetarian get to pick the restaurant?

As a mother of 1 vegan, 1 vegetarian, when we go to dinner, they are my priority. If you don't have a specific diet, you can eat anywhere.

We had a friend who used to try to pick off our plates. I am still friends with the wife but webno longer go out as couples. It's one thing to share what are you eating, but only if you want to.

To be fair, I will share something that I do that peeves people.

If there is anything that requires a knife and a fork, or something that is meant to be eaten a chunk at a time, I cut mine up completely into pieces before I begin eating. Steak, pancakes or waffles, a piece of chicken or any meat really. I will cut it up before I eat. A few people have noticed and mentioned it for whatever reason.

I maintain that if people STOPPED watching what and how I eat (and thus irritating MY pet peeves) then they wouldn't be bothered by it. BUT I do know that some people just like to comment on such things out loud so that they can hear themselves talk.

Regarding people who choose to follow a specific diet for whatever reason, if they do not comment on what I eat, I will return the favor. I will not try to coerce a vegan or vegetarian or anyone else into eating something that is not in their diet, and I do NOT want to hear the reasons why they follow said diet, or why I should too. Eat and let eat, and NO WHINING from either side!!!!

Amylou, You reminded me of my cutting up all DH's meat for him to eat.. when he couldn't. People would see him eating and comment, which made him feel bad. grrrr

One time we were at Ruth'sChris and had ordered steak. Staff could see how DH was and that I was going to cut up his steak so he could eat. They wisked away his plate, sliced it in the kitchen, and assembled it perfectly so as to seem whole. (Sharp knives?) They did this every time we came in... I guess they remembered us. He would be served his meat and veggie, etc. already cut and perfectly assembled. To say that this was my husband's favorite restaurant is an understatement. I was/am sooooo grateful for their kind service.