A terrifying part of growing up is realizing just how many people either are ignorant of the most basic food safety rules or simply do not care. Add in the folks who have significantly different standards of hygiene and you have a minefield of disgusting food and potential food poisoning.
Someone asked the internet “What is your “can’t eat at everybody’s house” horror story?” and traumatized netizens shared what happened to them. So best to finish your lunch, snacks, or other meal first, then get comfortable and scroll through. Upvote your “favorites” and share your own experiences in the comments section below. We also got in touch with Dr. Joe, M.D. to learn more.
#1
I used to help an old neighbor out w grocery shopping, I’d drop the bags at her door and she’d give me a check for the amount of groceries. She’d give me homemade cookies once in a while, chocolate chips. I didn’t ever eat them because one time I caught sight of her apartment-it was a large studio, a small kitchen and tv and bed/couch. And about 20 cans of cat food, half eaten and 1 million flies and small maggots in diff stages of growth, dishes w crusty food stuck to them, and a wall of empty beer cans. After I saw that, and got a whiff of her apt, I started helping her w taking garbage out and putting groceries away, cleaning out her fridge and making sure her cat was healthy. A couple months later she got Covid, ended up at rehab facility and passed within 2 weeks.
Some people need help and a little company…
325points
#2
My MIL fished around in the green bin (compost bin) with her bare hands, didn't wash them, WIPED her GARBAGE JUICE HANDS on the tea towel, and then WENT BACK TO PREPPING THE SALAD.
She also got horrifically offended if I didn't want to eat at her house.
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199points
#3
Listen up, because I’ve got a story that’ll make you swear off potlucks for life. Meet Carol. She’s that office angel who brings cookies on Fridays and rescues the printer. We all love Carol. Carol decides to host a dinner party and, let’s be honest, we’re all expecting this to be the food equivalent of a TED Talk—inspirational and enlightening.
We get there, and Carol unveils the main dish: her “World-Famous Tofu Casserole.” Now, I’m no food snob, but this thing looked like it had already been eaten and returned to the plate for round two. Being the brave (or stupid) soul I am, I took a scoop. First bite, and it’s like my mouth got ambushed by the ghost of expired vegetables and tofu that had given up on life. It’s so bad, even the dog won’t touch it, and this is a creature that eats its own vomit.
But wait, it gets worse. I’m trying to power through when I hit something crunchy. I dig it out and find—no s**t—a whole-a*s acrylic fingernail, complete with chipped glittery nail polish, looking up at me like the Eye of Sauron.
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178points
Bored Panda got in touch with doctor and TikTok creator Dr. Joe, M.D. to learn more about food safety. We wanted to hear what items are safe to leave unrefrigerated. "Most dishes that are safe to leave out at room temperature are those with low moisture content or those that are high in sugar or acid, which can inhibit bacterial growth."
"Examples include whole fruits and vegetables, bread, and baked goods that don't contain cream or custard. Dried foods like jerky or fruit, high-sugar items like cakes and cookies that don't have cream fillings or frostings, and pickled products. However, once cut or prepared, even these items may need refrigeration to prevent spoilage."
#4
My mom thought that the turkey would “dry out” if you cooked it for the recommended time. We even used the turkeys with the popping thermometers in them and never once did I see it popped, as a kid I just thought it was a turkey button😂 then she would eat the outside of the turkey (that was cooked) because she “liked the white meat and skin” like ma’am there would be a lot more “white meat” and less “pink meat” if you cooked it longer! Sibs and I always got sick after thanksgiving and she’d tell us it was because we were fat and ate too much. Wasn’t until I moved away for college that I found out turkey wasn’t supposed to be pink, I honestly thought I was just allergic to turkey
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177points
#5
My grandma made me a food phobic from a young age. Whether it was ramen with moths floating on top, or chunky milk in my cereal it just scarred me for life. Dinner at her house was always a fight. Not eating her food was not an option. I'm not sure why that was the hill she would always choose to die on, because she was an amazing grandma other than this. Expiration dates aren't a thing. If the cheese was moldy, you cut it off.... I think living through the great depression and raising kids in poverty changed her mindset on food. I mean obviously she's doing something right because she's 91. She must have the immunity of a super hero
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161points
#6
I was gonna complain about raisins in the potato salad but the other comments on here are scary. OMG
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153points
We also wanted to know some common mistakes folks make at home. "Not washing hands, cutting boards, and utensils properly before and after handling food, especially raw meat. Not cooking meats to the recommended internal temperature."
"Using the same utensils or surfaces for raw and cooked foods without cleaning in between. Not cooling leftovers quickly enough before refrigerating. Overstocking the refrigerator prevents cold air from circulating."
#7
I slept over at a friend's house when I was in middle school, it was really dirty and trashed and also had this bizarre, powerful funk I couldn't identify, but I didn't think much of it. At the time I had a bad habit of getting up in the middle of the night for a midnight snack, so I went into the kitchen cause they had left the leftovers from dinner out and a kid don't know any better.. I hit the lights and man every plate, dish, item of silverware, etc on the table was absolutely covered in cockroaches. They didn't even run when the lights came on cause they knew they owned that house. I somehow managed to turn the light back off and retreat to the living room before emptying the contents of my stomach and curling up in a ball imagining every stray itch or other sensation to be bugs crawling on me for the rest of the night. This is why I have a serious phobia of bugs.
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151points
#8
My BIL sweats alot.. He sweats ALOT. We're Italian and there's always lots of cooking, sauce, etc on holidays. My mom and I went to my sister's and watched him standing over the sauce, wiping the sweat from his head, and saw sweat dripping in the sauce.. It was disgusting. We always eat before we go there and we also will order catered items to bring with us for everyone. We don't eat anything that's cooked at my sisters anymore. I'm getting nauseous thinking about it.
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131points
#9
Neighbor invited me and couple friends over for pan fried steaks with mushrooms. He answered the door wearing the same swimming trunks and torn, filthy t shirt as the day before and barefoot. Those trunks with their netting inside really hold on to swampa*s and ballsweat stink and it was obvious he hadn't showered or washed the clothes. No dish soap on counter. No hand/bar soap or toilet paper in bathroom. Someone notified him about lack of tp or soap and he said he just jumps in the shower after he poops. There's no soap in the shower either.
I didn't eat. Everyone else spent the next 24 hours vomiting into trash buckets while they ejected from the other end on the toilet. Later he confessed they were mushrooms he'd foraged himself. They all got lucky the idiot hadn't served them something deadly. No idea what they were. Was it food poisoning or a toxic mushroom? Idk but don't you eat at people's houses unless you're certain of their food safety precautions. Some people are too stupid to be trusted around food.
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124points
However, it's possible to still get food poisoning, so we asked what a person should do to try and feel better. "If You Have Gotten Food Poisoning: Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration. Electrolyte solutions or rehydration drinks can be particularly helpful."
#10
Told my dad my sandwich tasted like fly spray at my grandmas house. He didn’t believe me. Two days later I catch my grandma spraying the benches “clean” with the $2 fly spray you find at the cheap store. Dad figured it was safe to make sandwiches straight on the countertop because they looked clean. I dragged him over to see and he apologized and took my sister and I for fish and chips for lunch.
113points
#11
There was one time I was eating at my bf's house at the time and his grand mother was cooking food. She wasn't feeling well and everyone offered to cook that night but she insisted. Usually, when she's cooking, she doesn't like anyone in the kitchen. Thing is, the kitchen is the first thing you see when you walk into the apartment. So I came from the store to help pick up a few things for dinner. I walked in, saw her blowing her nose with her hand and then used the same hand to massage seasonings into the chicken. She cooked the chicken in the rice. I didn't eat that day and just said I ate before I came over. Some of his family members thought I was rude but I didn't have the heart to tell them since they also didn't like me very much cause I was shy.
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107points
#12
I had a small circle of co-workers that I was friends with, and we would occasionally hang out together outside of work. One of those co-workers was Lisa, a mid/late 40's woman who was single, but had a couple of little yappy dogs and several cats.
Lisa invited several of us over to play board games, and said she would cook us dinner. We got there while she was still cooking, and were standing around the kitchen talking to her while she finished up cooking.
We all about s**t our pants when she took the spoon out of the pot of spaghetti sauce she was cooking, tasted it, and then casually held it down for her 2 little yappy dogs to lick the spoon, and then stuck it right back in the pot of spaghetti and continued stirring it like it was the most normal thing in the world.
I am not sure how the rest of them got out of eating it, but just before we were supposed to sit down and eat, I faked an emergency call from work and said I had to run in to the office and deal with a problem, and got the hell out of there. I was always "busy" every time she invited us over after that (and NEVER ate anything she ever brought to an office pot luck)
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106points
"Rest to allow your body to recover. Avoid anti-diarrheal medication unless prescribed by a doctor, as these can prevent your body from flushing out bacteria or toxins. If necessary, seek medical attention, especially if you experience severe symptoms such as high fever, prolonged vomiting, signs of dehydration, bloody stools, or if you suspect botulism."
#13
When I was a kid, Christmas Eve was always celebrated at Grandma's. I always got sick afterwards. Like Merry Christmas, you're going to puke now. It wasn't until I was all grown up and helping her out in the last weeks of her life that I learned why. She did not believe in expiration dates on anything!
98points
#14
I was babysitting a kid in a pretty dirty house. I was told to wake him up, supervise bathing and changing clothes, and feed him. I was welcome to whatever was in the fridge. Ok. The house and his clothes were filthy. Then, when I opened the cabinets, floods of roaches poured out. There were roaches in every opened box and container. I took him back to my house and returned him later that day. I hope the boy ended up in a better situation. I found out CPS got involved shortly after.
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97points
#15
I used to be a really sick kid and constantly in and out of the hospital but no one could ever tell me exactly why I was always feeling so bad but once I moved out of my moms house I never had tummy issues again and I wouldn’t get sick as often or feel horrible so frequently. Then once I went to visit my mom and she had chicken in a ziplock bag sitting outside on the steps right where any number of animals could get to it. I was about to throw it away but she stopped me and said that was for dinner, she was just thawing it in the sun. I’ve never eaten at my moms house since. But it did make me realize that a lot of the things she’d do in the kitchen were just not ok at all like leaving food out to thaw in the sink all day, maggot covered chocolate, mouse eaten Kraft Mac and cheese boxes, roaches in cereal, apple juice so old it started growing a large mass inside the bottle, oh god and the times she would cook pork and it would smell like burning p**s. I thought that’s what pork was supposed to smell like and assumed I just didn’t like pork but nope, it was very clearly expired.
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89points
"When it comes to food safety, it's better to be proactive than reactive. Follow best practices to avoid foodborne illnesses from the start. If you're catering to special populations such as young children, the elderly, pregnant women, or those with compromised immune systems, be extra vigilant, as these groups are more susceptible to the effects of food poisoning. Always keep an eye out for food recalls and safety alerts in your area," Dr. Joe, M.D. shared with Bored Panda.
#16
Had a Christmas party at work... Someone brought pasta salad. The bowl was full of cat hair... Some hairs in the salad looked like human hair. I wanted to throw up immediately... Unfortunately I'm bad at keeping a pokerface
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87points
#17
When I was a kid, my sister and I were great friends with the kids that lived next door. We mostly played outside and would spend time at whatever house we felt like at the time. I went to their house early on a Saturday once when they had just finished breakfast and were cleaning up. They were pouring the milk out of the glasses the family had been drinking out of right back into the milk jug. They had 6 kids so I guess they had to be frugal. I never ate there, not with the thought of backwash milk in my head.
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87points
#18
When I was a kid I used to visit my grandmother a lot. One day she gave me crackers and cheese to snack on. I was about to take a bite of a cracker when I looked down and saw something moving on it. “Hey,” I said, “There’s bugs on this cracker!” My grandmother took a look: “There’s nothing there, eat your crackers.” But I insisted, so my aunt took a look: “There’s nothing there, eat your crackers.” But I continued to insist until my other aunt took a look. Sure enough, she saw little brown bugs crawling all over the crackers.
My aunt opened the box the crackers had come from: bugs. She pulled boxes from the cupboards and looked inside: more bugs. The whole kitchen was infested with little brown bugs. They were in the cookie tins, in the bread box, in the flour… My aunt asked my grandmother, an avid baker, how she hadn’t noticed the colony of bugs that had taken over the white flour. Her response: “Oh, I thought it was whole wheat!”
They ended up tossing out at least three garbage bags of food that night. The cupboards were bare when they were done. It seemed to take care of the problem but I was always a little weary about eating at my grandmother’s house after that.
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84points
#19
I visited a friends house who was living with his mother, she asked if I wanted a coffee and I said I would, upon getting to the bottom of the cup and taking the last few gulps I found there was a used bandaid stuck to the bottom…never ate or drank there again.
82points
#20
I was at a friends house pretty late, and his mom asked if I wanted to stay for dinner. I ended up staying.
I was told we were gonna have "Spaghetti and meat". I know, I can hear what you're thinking. "Surely you mean meatballs?". My names not Shirley and that's what I thought.
She told us to go play and 15 minutes later she was calling us. I was naturally confused because I know Spaghetti takes longer than that. We rush inside and what I was served sure as hell was not spaghetti. Sitting in front of me was a plate of stone cold, wet spaghetti noodles, covered in ketchup with chunks of cold spam.
I ate like 2 bites and was full. But they happily gorged themselves on this insult to Italian cooking. But it did finally explain why my friend hated coming over to my house when my Mom made real spaghetti. He thought that was 'fake' spaghetti. First and last time I ever ate over there. My Mom did not believe me until he visited again and confirmed it.
As an adult I asked him what in the hell that was and he said it was real spaghetti... And that he eats as an adult regularly and despises "fake spaghetti" as he calls it.
You might be thinking they were poor, they were not.
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79points