Food can be so many things - it can remind you of your childhood or a favorite family
member, it can bring people together, and it can be something to share.
It's can also be something to be feared.
Food phobias are very real and very terrifying.
They can cause sufferers serious anxiety and depression, and they can manifest a whole
host of physical symptoms.
There's a surprising number of food-related fears common enough that they've been given
clinical names.
Let's talk about food fear.
Ovophobia: fear of eggs
Eggs might be a breakfast staple, but for some people, they're one of the most revolting
things on the planet.
You definitely know one famous sufferer of this strange fear: Alfred Hitchcock.
Hitchcock always had a complicated relationship with food, and his egg phobia was just one
part of it.
He was just as descriptive about it as you would expect, once saying in a 1963 interview:
"I'm frightened of eggs.
That white round thing without any holes.
Have you ever seen anything more revolting than an egg yolk breaking and spilling its
yellow liquid?"
Well, when you put it that way, we get it.
He even thought blood was much less revolting than the sight of an egg yolk, calling it
"jolly" in comparison.
Filming The Birds must have been an absolute nightmare for him.
"Can I offer you an egg in this trying time?"
Arachibutyrophobia: fear of peanut butter
Arachibutyrophobia isn't just the fear of peanut butter, it's more specifically the
fear of peanut butter that sticks to the roof of your mouth.
That's weirdly specific, but it's actually a sub-fear of pseudodysphagia: the fear of
choking.
Depending on the circumstances, this one can manifest in a number of ways.
Some people might be perfectly fine with other peanutty substances - like a peanut-based
sauce or peanut butter donuts - while others might be so terrified of peanut butter's potential
for choking they start to avoid other, non-sticky foods, like peanut butter ice cream.
It's theorized this phobia might be aggravated by the prevalence of peanut allergies, as
even hearing about related hazards can make a phobia worse.
There's also the chance a phobia sufferer once had a bad peanut butter experience as
a child, as a high number of childhood choking incidents do involve PB&J sandwiches.
Delicious and deadly?
Unfortunately.
Chiclephobia: fear of chewing gum
The world loves Oprah, but Oprah?
She doesn't love a very specific subgroup of people: gum-chewers.
"Everybody I work with knows this.
Do not chew gum in front of me."
She has what's called chiclephobia, which is a fear of chewing gum.
She's been open about it, too, saying her phobia stems from her grandmother's habit
of sticking her chewing gum all around the house, then coming back to it later.
Honestly, that'd give anyone the heebie-jeebies.
For sufferers, it's not just fear, it's an overwhelming disgust that can make day-to-day
social interactions difficult at best, and nauseating at worst.
It can make eye contact and conversation impossible, while watching movie scenes with someone chewing
gum can ruin a film.
And visiting candy factories?
Forget it.
Koutaliaphobia: fear of spoons
Liam Payne of One Direction might be the most famous person to have a real problem with
spoons.
It's a fear called koutaliaphobia, and he's spoken publicly about this very weird thing.
He'll hold them, but he doesn't like eating with them if the spoon in question isn't his
personal spoon.
After he told the story about how his fear started with a childhood punishment, it's
easy to see why he's terrified of them.
"If you misbehaved, you'd have to do the washing up at lunch time as a chore.
And I washed so many dirty spoons, I can't do this!"
No word on how he feels about soup, but sporks?
They're almost just as bad.
"That's just weird.
Why are we mixing it up?"
Carnophobia: fear of meat
The term "carnophobia" comes from the Latin word "carnalis", which means "fleshy".
Even if meat doesn't make you cringe, that word certainly will.
It's not just eating meat that creeps out a carnophobe, it's every aspect of the industry.
This particular food fear has been on the rise with increasing awareness of animal rights
and slaughterhouse practices, and it's no joke, either.
It goes way beyond just opting to be a vegetarian or vegan.
Those suffering from it can also be nauseated or disgusted by just the smell of meat cooking
nearby, and imagine how debilitating that might be.
Carnivals, fairs, after-work drinks and appetizers, game day parties: all potentially terrifying.
It's a fear that can cause serious social problems.
Mageirocophobia: fear of cooking
Mageirocophobia can occur in varying degrees, and while it's technically the fear of cooking,
it's only considered a proper phobia when it interferes with a person's ability or motivation
to cook.
Sufferers are commonly worried about things like making people sick with their food, making
something completely inedible, or hurting themselves in the cooking process.
Complicated recipes can cause some major fear, too, while others might fear specific things
about cooking, like making desserts, cooking for a large group, or serving extended family.
You might have a mild form of it if you're the type who reads cookbooks but still regularly
resorts to the same-old, same-old because it's easier.
Unchecked it can be suffocating, but fortunately, this is one fear you can face - and overcome
- a little bit at a time.
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