Finding Hair in Food

Well, you have 2 options, keep being silent & throwing the food away, or speaking up. I would want to know if my hair was in food I had made on a regular basis. Most likely the chef doesn't know what's going, and won't know until someone says something.

I don't know anyone that doesn't get grossed out finding hair in their food. And the fact that you find it every single time in food from this particular person understandably would make it hard to eat! Just do the best you can when you eat over there. Pick apart your food (try to do it discreetly) and eat what you see has no hair. Good luck.

Hair in food bugs me too. When I find a strand, that's the end of my appetite, done, can't eat anymore. Bleh. So when my grandma's cooking started showing up with hair in it on a regular basis, I didn't know what to do. Thankfully, someone else spoke up and my grandma's reaction was, "Why didn't you tell me right away?" She felt really bad but mostly wanted to be more careful about it in the future.

I agree with Grandma T.. I know this probably doesn't help but I wouldn't care at all if I found a hair in my food from my mom (or other family member) hair isn't dirty (well, you know it depends on whose it is) and it's not like you can't just pull it out.. but it obviously bothers you a lot so just tell them that you have the craziest phobia (exaggerate if you have to) about hair and that it's been popping up in the food or something like that.. They obviously care enough about you to cook for you so they'll want to know the food is going to waste because of something that can be so easily fixed.

I am just fine with hair in my food. Don't know why it doesn't really bother me. It's not like a I want a big bowl of hair!! But, the occasional strand wont put me over the edge.
What does puke me out is PET hair in food! BLEH. My parents had a husky and every single time we would have dinner at their house I was pulling husky hair out of my food. BARF. That's not to say I wouldn't eat the food, it just meant that I would gag a little if I found hair. It's not like it's a bug or something...THEN i wouldn't eat it.
If you can't eat the food can the rest of your family? Maybe you are just more sensitive about it since you have alopecia areata (which I have no idea what that is)?
Maybe you could just talk to her about it. "Hey Sarah! I love the food that you are making for us, not so excited about the hair though" Just really light hearted?
L.
Sorry...just had to add....Pet hair gets into food because it's so damn light it just floats around. My parents husky would sneeze and his hair would go everywhere. he would rub up against you and his hair would be all over your pants. You would open the back door and a breeze would make his hair float. I don't think it's because people are nasty.)

I personally am not bothered by an occasional hair from a family member, but I am from others. However, my ex used to get totally grossed out if he saw a hair in food from me. I have long hair and an occasional hair would make him gag and quit eating for the rest of the day so I get that this can be very bothersome to people. I try to remember to put my hair up or in a ponytail especially when cooking for others. And I would WANT to know. So please tell your family member in a loving and quiet way that you have noticed hair in her food and that it is a problem for you, that you love her food, but can't eat it after finding a hair. Hopefully she will be receptive to doing something about it. Good luck and please let us know how it turns out!

I am like that too, I couldn't eat food with a hair, even if the hair was mine.
I never considerate it a disorder but just a limit for me, heck I like to eat Pozole con pancita which is not other then hominy soup with pork intestines.
So yeah, I am not that easy to gross out.
If I was you, depending on how close and know and how well she would take it, I would talk to her, or I would excuse my self because I just had a stomach flue.

I would wonder if they have a vision problem cause you can usually see when you get a hair in your food when you're cooking. If you don't feel like you can talk about it to the person, I guess you can eat around the hair? But I've never had this problem before. Good luck!

Did you ever think that possibly its Your hair that ended up in the food ? I know this could be the case, since you did mention you have that condition, and a hair is so small it could fall in easily. I would ask other people who have eaten at that family member and see if they have noticed this too (hair in their food) if not, maybe I am right, and its your own hair that you are noticing.
If others have noticed hair in their food, then maybe its not you, and if it is this other person, I would just no longer eat there - or bring my own dish over (say you are now vegetarian or on a diet) or you invite those people to your house and you do the cooking. Those are your options. I would first inquire though with the rest of the people at those gatherings and see if they have noticed this issue as well.

I agree with you, it is beyond disgusting - if I ever have had that happen, I know if I am anywhere (a restaurant or someone's home) finding a hair immediately puts an end to eating whatever that is - at a restaurant you need to report it for sure (at your family members house its a bit more embarrassing).

I get grossed out by hair also ,but would rather want to know whose it was then just a random short black stubble at a resturant! If it bothers you that much I would take yourself out of the situation and invite them over to your house for now on, or bring a nice filling dish to pass around. I would eat before hand and then just put small portions on my plate with a nice helping of the dish I made :) Focus your dish while pushing the other around the plate. If they serve raw veggies or prepackaged things maybe stick to that? This is kinda a sensitive subject, and maybe they are also suffering froom some type of hair loss, menopause, etc. I would not bring it up to them. Good Luck!

I have to look up alopecia areata, but I am amazed at this. I was married to someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder and he couldn't handle some things like this. I am of the opinion that people are probably aware that you are like this and perhaps a little nervous themselves when you come. Maybe just stay home. Sadly, no matter where we go there are human beings who most likely have hair. I'll bet I have ingested thousands of hairs in my life. I just didn't see them. Good luck!

I don't have any disorders.....but I am probably worse than you when it comes to hair in my food and hair in my kitchen.

#1 - I keep extra hair bands for anyone that comes over to my house and I insist on long hair going up or back and I NEVER allow hair brushes and combs near my kitchen. It's out, out, out with those.

As far as dinner goes, this is your opportunity my dear to say something polite but firm. I would straight up ask her.....Who's hair is in the food? Does she keep her hair up while cooking? It is industry standard for all food prep personnel and chefs and line order cooks to wear hair nets. The least we can do at home is ensure that our own hair does not contaminate the family meal.

Use this dinner to observe her kitchen cleanliness and standards of preparing.

If I were you, I'd eat before going so you're not hungry during the meal and you can learn from the experience. Analyze your plate and look for an opportunity to ask her directly with "Oh my, there's a hair in here! Who's could it be?"

Maybe she's extremely far sighted? And can't see close up?

And don't feel bad about wasting the food. I've thrown out meals people have brought over....One girlfriend has waaaaay too many animals for my comfort...cats that walk around the counter tops.....is just too gross for my comfort. Shedding dogs and pooping birds...Nope, I pass on food from those types of homes.

Just remember it's the thought that counts and send a lovely thank you.

You might also bring a heavy Hors d'oeuvre (appetizer) and bottle of wine so your covered.

Not sure what you can do besides eat before you go over there and say you aren't very hungry. Then maybe if you see a hairless dish you can have some of that.

Human hair doesn't bother me so long as it is just one hair, after all the head is above the counter and sometimes a stray hair makes its way into a dish.

Animal hair bugs the heck out of me because how did it get in the food? After all animals shouldn't be in the counters so either your house is so dirty that animal hair has made its way to food prep areas or you let your animals on surfaces that you prep food on. Gross!!! There was a woman I used to work with, who was clearly a dirty person, she didn't even clean herself, ya know? She brought cupcakes into work. I stared at them all day because it was fascinating to me that those cupcakes had hair! You could look across the top of them and feel you could pet them like an animal. I had never seen so much cat and dog hair in a food item in my life! No one ate them but I wasn't the only one just starring at them. :(