# The exact psychology behind people being angered by others' food choices? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 17, 2019, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986 "2019-12-17T13:23:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/101 "2019-12-19T13:11:07Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > My favorite was on the show _Chopped_, when a contestant started pulling pinbones out of a branzino with a pair of pliers and one of the judges went apeshit because according to him, she wasn’t “respecting the fish”. I wonder what the contestant was supposed to do. Leave the bones in? Pull them out but using some other method rather than pliers? ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/102 "2019-12-19T15:11:50Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I try to find different, good meals to make for my kids (15 and 16). And they usually like them well enough. But after every one, I ask them “Would you rather have this, or meatloaf?” And they always answer “meatloaf” ☹ Don’t know why you’re upset. Apparently you make a kick-ass meatloaf. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/103 "2019-12-19T15:21:20Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > Don’t know why you’re upset. Apparently you make a kick-ass meatloaf. 😃 LOL, maybe, but I don’t think it’s all that great, but they do and that’s good enough for me. I’ve tried many different meatloaf recipes, with celery, or onion, or tomato sauce and different seasonings and glaze and on and on, but according to my kids, none are as good as the one made with two packets of McCormick Meatloaf seasoning and a hamburger/pork mix :smack: ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/104 "2019-12-19T20:03:42Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I wonder what the contestant was supposed to do. Leave the bones in? Pull them out but using some other method rather than pliers? They do make [kitchen tweezers](https://www.amazon.com/Rivoean-Tweezers-Culinary-Stainless-Precision/dp/B0799NTCM3?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_3) specifically for pulling small bones … ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/105 "2019-12-19T22:06:10Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > when you say “American cheese” do you mean that stuff that comes individually wrapped in plastic? I agree it is horrid. But have you ever had Kraft Deli Select or something similar. You might change your mind, maybe Yeah, this. Those individually wrapped “singles” can’t even legally be called cheese. American cheese is basically an un-aged cheddar with a pinch of sodium citrate to smooth the texture, and comes in blocks and (unwrapped) slices. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/106 "2019-12-19T22:57:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > There is a distinction between American and those other cheeses, though. The American cheese (like the deli kind), while still a cheese, is what is known as a “process[ed] cheese”, so it can be a blend of various cheeses (though it can be a single kind) and other ingredients that alter the cheese’s texture and meltability. The Kraft singles in the plastic are “process cheese food,” which only have to be at least 51% cheese. > > Yes, it is cheese, but it is a little bit different from your examples" What gets me laughing are people who buy Laughing Cow cheese (originally _La Vache Qui Rit_ in French which… basically means Laughing Cow) because it’s “real cheese” and not like American cheese. Laughing Cow is pasteurized process cheese. Just like American cheese. It’s just _French_ pasteurized process cheese. Which is all fine. The “pasteurized process” yields a very consistent product, which for many is a feature and not a bug. Other people like something different. It’s all good, even if not all to my own personal taste. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/107 "2019-12-19T23:02:24Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > Yeah, this. Those individually wrapped “singles” can’t even legally be called cheese. American cheese is basically an un-aged cheddar with a pinch of sodium citrate to smooth the texture, and comes in blocks and (unwrapped) slices. You do have to check the labeling, though. A lot of the deli blocks of American cheese are “American cheese food product.” For example, Land O Lakes is (the front says “Premium Deli Cheese” but if you look down on the packaging it says “American Deli Cheese Product,” which does not seem to have an exact FDA definition from what I can find.) But Kraft’s Deli and Boar’s Head are both simply “Process Cheese” (no “process cheese product” or “process cheese food.”) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/108 "2019-12-20T01:47:01Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I wonder what the contestant was supposed to do. Leave the bones in? Pull them out but using some other method rather than pliers? Maybe use her teeth? Some reviewer of that episode made me smile by writing, “Surely the best way to respect the fish was to leave it the hell under water…” ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/109 "2019-12-20T02:02:44Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Maybe use her teeth? > > Some reviewer of that episode made me smile by writing, “Surely the best way to respect the fish was to leave it the hell under water…” CORRECTION: I looked up the review, and the judge in question was Scott Conant. And I was wrong about the pliers. The contestant used tongs and a knife to cut the bones away. I guess a pair of pliers would’ve been just fine by Scott, but who knows? I was wrong about the reviewer quote too. He wrote, “How about leaving it in the damn ocean?” Lo, my memory sucketh. ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/110 "2019-12-20T02:48:07Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I get angry if people pull the wings off a butterfly. I get angry when people destroy great works of art. It’s the same with food. If you really want to desecrate food, destroy the delicate balance of flavor and texture that defines great food, at least do it in private and don’t talk about it. The person who ate the $120K banana taped to a wall must have really ground your gears. They might have even peeled the thing from the wrong end! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/111 "2019-12-20T03:12:38Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Here’s a secret: No one cares. Every hot dog shop has ketchup. Wrigley has ketchup. Yeah, but then you come to Pittsburgh. And it HAS to be Heinz. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/112 "2019-12-20T08:51:19Z")
My opinion? We get angry about people’s food choices for the same reason we post on the SDMB: we think we’re fighting ignorance. We assume - sometimes correctly, sometimes not - that people eat the way they do because they don’t know any better, and we feel the urge to educate them. When they resist our enlightenment, we get angry. It’s a simple as that. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/113 "2019-12-20T12:42:07Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > What gets me laughing are people who buy Laughing Cow cheese (originally _La Vache Qui Rit_ in French which… basically means Laughing Cow) because it’s “real cheese” and not like American cheese. Fair enough, I’ve just never encountered this. It’s pretty obvious from Laughing Cow that it’s a completely processed cheese product. I’ve never heard of anyone claiming it was like a “real” French triple cream cheese or anything like that. Also, singles-type cheese do exist in Europe. (I believe I read somewhere that it was the Swiss who came up with the process that gave us processed cheese). In Hungary, I’ve seen it sold under the [Camping](https://p1.akcdn.net/full/377555261.camping-ementali-izu-felzsiros-omlesztett-sajtszeletek-5-szelet-100g.jpg) brand, which also sold a variety of cheese spreads and Laughing-Cow-type processed cheese products. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/114 "2019-12-20T22:09:02Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Ha! I _hate_ American cheese, but I’d never mock you for eating it. Good grief, I’d never even mention it. But don’t make me try to eat it! I _will_ throw it away. It’s what I did when I was four, and we were making a trip from California to Ohio to visit my mom’s family. We stopped by the side of the road, and my mom gave us white bread and American cheese sandwiches. I threw mine into the ditch by the side of the road. I didn’t get anything else to eat until dinnertime, and that was fine with me! I love good American cheese. The best came from a deli a block from my house. In Montreal, I can get a cheese called mild white cheddar that tastes exactly like it. This whole discussion is amusing. Yes, it is a kind of snobbery. I like rare meat. Hell, I love raw meat. Steak tartare when I can get it in a reliable restaurant because I assume they know what they are doing. But you like your steak well-done: go for it. I don’t much care for the combination of pineapple on pizza, but then my favorite pizza has no tomato on it. It has pesto, kalamata olives, broken walnuts and crumbled goat cheese topped with ground parmesan. I had Philly cheese steak only once and I was not impressed. My brother and I used to drive over to Jim’s (where I think the Philly cheese steak was invented) regularly to get steak sandwiches without cheese. But if I wanted it, why would I not want Swiss cheese on it? My mother-in-law refused to allow salt or pepper on her dining room table since she felt she had seasoned things perfectly and no one was allowed to change it. And I don’t think there is any ketchup in my house. So there; I am superior to you all. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/115 "2019-12-20T22:28:21Z")
There’s no ketchup in my house, either, but it’s nothing to do with being superior - I’m allergic to it, thus, it is not in my kitchen. Although if you are not allergic I absolutely defend your right to deploy (or not) ketchup on anything, ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Brother\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_brother_1/32/3513_2.png) [@Little\_Brother\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Brother_1)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/116 "2019-12-20T22:40:29Z")
> [@PatriotGrrrl](#): > > The one that puzzles me is when someone asks which phones still have a headphone jack, inevitably people jump in and get incredibly insistent about how there can be no possible reason to want one and thus anyone who does must be ignorant and old-fashioned and lazy. Why does it bother them so much? Ha! The towering high dudgeon of geeks on technical forums is in a class by itself. Non-technical persons like Your Humble Replier occasionally look for a reality-check or help when some beloved software program or app stops working, or to question some truly offensive “upgrade” or design. I’m thinking of questions like “How can I get X to work again?” or “Why does the screen automatically power off even though I set the preferences to not power off?” Like the food snobs and aggressive control-freaks, such “dumb” questions invariably provoke snotty, supercilious scolding trashing the questioner for both their technical ignorance and imbecilic expectation that useful, satisyfing programs should work indefinitely. Exactly as you describe, they rarely attempt civil, helpful feedback; instead, it’s “Flame on!”, and a spittle-flecked, finger-wagging screed denouncing the flawed premises of the question _and_ the questioner. In pop-psychology terms, they’re determined to abusively _invalidate_ the question/er. They also display authoritarian-submissive deference to Big Tech corporations, and let us heretics know that Microsoft, Apple, etc. know _exactly_ what they are doing. So if you’re too stupid to appreciate that, and enthusiastically and _gratefully_ go along with Progress even if it’s problematic for you, don’t add insult to injury by posing your whiny, ignorant questions. They apparently identify so strongly with Big Tech that they treat legitimate questions or complaints as if you were trashing their mothers. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/117 "2019-12-20T23:04:05Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I > I had Philly cheese steak only once and I was not impressed. My brother and I used to drive over to Jim’s (where I think the Philly cheese steak was invented) Pat’s (or more fully, Pat’s King of Steaks) is commonly regarded as the originator, I believe. (But, as with many local foods, it’s not always definitive who started first.) Originally it was made without cheese, but within a few years, cheese was added to it. Jim’s is also a popular cheesesteak place, though, and dates back about as far as Pat’s. Then there is Geno’s, which came a bit later, but is across the street from Pat’s and they have a famous rivalry. Many people will tell you Pat’s and Geno’s is just where the tourists eat, but that’s not when I’ve been there. There were clearly plenty of locals there. Tony Luke’s is a place that gets a good amount of praise, and then you have John’s Roast Pork, as well (though the couple of times I’ve been there, I had to get the roast pork sandwich which, in my opinion, is the better sandwich of the two. In fact, I made up some roast pork sandwiches last night for lunch to enjoy here – they really should be more nationally known. It’s a damned fine sandwich.) ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/118 "2019-12-21T12:16:51Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I don’t know about other condiments or seasonings, but I think people who automatically salt things might just happy to like the taste of salt. As a kid, I craved the tasted of salt and even put it on fruit. Nowadays I don’t use very much salt but I still dump in on my french fries without tasting one beforehand. I seem to have as high tolerance for salt, medically as well, as I do not have high blood pressure, nowhere even close. But I find that some people cook food in a way that I find undersalted and I often have to add more. Dunno if this is an acquired taste. When I lived in Japan a few eons ago the first thing I noticed was that all the food seemed very salty to me. Evidently I got used to it. Personally, I don’t give a damn for other people’s taste in food as long as they are not eating somethjing that is still moving. And one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Take cheese. What the French would regard as a ripe Camembert might drive more sensitive souls out of the room. On that, I’m just to the right of the middle ground. I like cheese to be mature, but not walking around. Of course, Asian cuisines in particular have some items that are, well, a matter of taste. I’m impressed that people can consume such things. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Brother\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_brother_1/32/3513_2.png) [@Little\_Brother\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Brother_1)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/119 "2019-12-21T22:28:10Z")
> [@Brayne\_Ded](#): > > I seem to have as high tolerance for salt, medically as well, as I do not have high blood pressure, nowhere even close. But I find that some people cook food in a way that I find undersalted and I often have to add more. Dunno if this is an acquired taste. When I lived in Japan a few eons ago the first thing I noticed was that all the food seemed very salty to me. Evidently I got used to it. > > Personally, I don’t give a damn for other people’s taste in food as long as they are not eating somethjing that is still moving. And one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Take cheese. What the French would regard as a ripe Camembert might drive more sensitive souls out of the room. On that, I’m just to the right of the middle ground. I like cheese to be mature, but not walking around. > > Of course, Asian cuisines in particular have some items that are, well, a matter of taste. I’m impressed that people can consume such things. I think we’re on the same wavelength; generally, I don’t critique other people’s eating tastes and habits. I also cordially despise supercilious “Foodie Nazis” who self-righteously bluster and scold about the “proper” way to prepare or eat a given food-- as if there’s only one “right way” and they are on a mission from God to enforce it. All that said, funny you should mention smells. I was just thinking that it’s natural and appropriate to be intolerant when the Other’s eating choices directly affect one. Me, that is, but I mean directly affecting others. Stinky gourmet cheese is a poser. But years ago, I worked in an office where one guy bought fish sandwiches from some hole in the wall down the street. As soon as he took the sandwich out of the bag in our break room, the stench of distinctly un-fresh fried fish filled the room. The co-worker was a meek little older guy with a known alcohol problem. He obviously wasn’t bothered by the stench, and reacted sheepishly when people barked at him-- which many did, in chorus. And the stench was offensive enough to adversely affect everyone else. I felt sorry for him, but on the other hand he kept offending every Friday. If there was a vote to ban his stinky fish sandwiches from the break room, I think I’d go along instead of voting “present”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986/120 "2019-12-22T00:10:21Z")
I don’t know if it rises to the level of anger, but it sure is annoying when people falsely claim they are “allergic” when they just have an aversion. Statistically, a very low percentage of people have an actual food allergy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exact-psychology-behind-people-being-angered-by-others-food-choices/844986.md?page=7)