I’m referring to a head hair. Accepted that it looks nasty but how nasty is it really? Is it nasty enough to send your food back?
Well it’s time for lunch now and I am pressed for time so I think I’ll have a sandwich while sitting on the commode.
aha, you are the nastiest SOB on the SDMB. And I mean that as a compliment. 
I love when I get a hair in my food. You get to eat 90% of your meal, then feign a near vomitting spell, act all repulsed, and you get your lunch for free!
The nasty part, my dear aha, is that in your case, it might very well be an ass hair 
Haven’t you ever gotten hair in your mouth? Isn’t it gross and nasty and hard to remove? Now imagine you are eating, you take a big bite, and there is a hair between your teeth. Ugh! Disgusting! I’m not sure it’s nasty enough to send food back, especially if you’ve eaten almost all of it, but it is definitely nasty.
And it gets me the attention I so richly deserve.
Still my question remains…what’s so nasty about a head hair in your plate?
aha - It’s the cleanliness factor, first of all. Today I didn’t have time to take a shower before work, and my greasy hair is up in a ponytail. I would not want it to be near anyone’s mouth, nor would I want anyone elses’ greasy hair in mine.
Second, what I tried to say before - TEXTURE. Haven’t you ever gotten hair in your mouth accidentally - during sex, for example? (yes, I’m still referring to “head hair”) It just feels really gross in your mouth. If you found some in a bite of food it would be a really nasty surprise.
I actually tried researching this–I really did! And I couldn’t find a single damn thing about the health risks involved with getting a hair in your food.
Magdalene made a good point about whether the hair was -clean- or not. But even if it were greasy or dirty–how much can one hair hurt? Even if it were cooked to a point of sterilization when the food was prepared? We get ‘dirtier’ things in the food that we buy pre-manufactured.
Hair is about 88% Keratin. That is–a protein compound high in sulphur. Keratin is also the main substance found in your finger and toe nails, and the uppermost layers of your skin as it decays and is shed. You also find it in corns and callouses.
I couldn’t find out what the other 12% was. It could be anyone’s guess. Preservatives? Vitamins and minerals? A rich chocolatey center? Red dye #12?
If you eat too much hair–it doesn’t digest properly, and gets ‘modified’ in your stomach. They’re called Bezoars–and were once considered things of great beauty. Unca Cece talks more about it in “Triumph of the Straight Dope.”
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_104.html
-Ashley
aha,
It actually doesn’t bother me much. I’ve pulled a hair out of my food and just kept eating it. My husband will pull one of my looooooong hairs out of his food or mouth and just keep eating, too. Just one of them things!
Zette
PS- YES, I put my hair up and cover it when I’m cooking for anyone but my husband and I. I would shit twice and die if a guest pulled a hair out of their food!
Finding one of your honey’s hairs in something is romantic. Finding one of some stranger’s hairs in something is disgusting. I think it has something to do with hair = had sex with.
Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill.
That hair almost changed our national history.
"Haven’t you ever gotten hair in your mouth accidentally - during sex, for example?(yes, I’m still referring to “head hair)”
Head Hair? I’ve never heard it called that before…
Hair on the food means that the heads are not hooded or capped. Flies and smaller insects can get on the hair and do their thing. Now imagine that hair follicle that was, ahem, used, falling on the food. Appetizing, no? That is why restaurants and other food-serving places requires the servers to wear hats.