“I Feel Betrayed”: Woman Finds Out Her Parents Were Lying About Her Nut Allergy All Along
Interview
If you’re one of the one in ten adults who has a food allergy, I feel your pain. You become a whizz at reading ingredient labels at light speed, but you can never enjoy a meal out without confirming multiple times that there won’t be allergens in your dish or cross contamination happening in the kitchen. You always have to pack a separate meal or bring an “allergy-free” option, and you’ll typically be left out when colleagues bring baked goods from home.
But what do you think is worse: developing a food allergy later in life or realizing that your life-threatening allergy was a lie all along? Below, you’ll find a story that a woman recently shared on Reddit, detailing how her parents’ love for Ferrero Rocher got way out of hand, as well as a conversation between her and Bored Panda.
About 10% of the population has a food allergy
Image credits: Thula Na / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
But this woman recently found out that she’s been avoiding nuts her entire life for no reason
Image credits: Raspopova Marina / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Later, she shared an update answering a few of the most common questions readers asked
Image credits: LightFieldStudios / Envato Elements (not the actual photo)
Image credits: HospitalNew3619
Image credits: Marcos Paulo Prado / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
“I avoided nuts by all means, because I genuinely thought I would stop breathing if I ate anything with nuts”
We reached out to the woman who shared this story online, Reddit user HospitalNew3619, and she was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and provide even more information on the situation.
“I shared my story on Reddit because I believe it is a healthy way to vent without me or my family facing the consequences of it,” the OP said. “Being anonymous brings a lot of comfort to me, especially because I’m protecting my parents’ privacy as well. When I first found out, I needed to talk to someone, and Reddit did not disappoint me.”
We were also curious how serious this fake nut allergy was supposed to be. “The imaginary nut allergy was DEADLY,” HospitalNew1619 shared. “I avoided nuts by all means, because I genuinely thought I would stop breathing if I ate anything with nuts. I avoided absolutely everything, including products that warned about the possibility of nut contamination.”
“Since I avoided them my whole life (but needed to identify them), I became very good at identifying nuts by their smell,” the OP added. “If I (or anyone else) didn’t know exactly what I was about to eat, I had to actively shove my nose in and pray that I got it right.”
Image credits: Vidal Balielo Jr. / Pexels (not the actual photo)
“Parents are humans and often make mistakes”
We also asked HospitalNew3619 what she feels like she’s missed out on, due to this fake allergy. “For some reason, I feel like it made me an outsider in a few moments,” she told Bored Panda. “When the whole family was sharing a dessert that had nuts (and I couldn’t share that moment with them), I would get really upset.”
“But culinarily speaking, I believe that most of what I missed out on were processed foods,” the OP continued. “Kinder Bueno, Nutella, peanut butter, Reese’s Cups, and Snickers are all on the bucket list, but what I’m the most excited to try is paçoca! Paçoca is a very traditional Brazilian candy that basically consists of peanuts and sugar. The smell of it is absolutely amazing, and I am counting the minutes until I can go to the shop and get a can of it.”
As far as what she thought of the replies to her post, HospitalNew3619 says she was shocked by how hard people were being on her parents. “I know my parents and trust them blindly,” she shared. “It was a silly mistake (that they admit to), but I believe no one is taking into consideration the fact that parents are humans, and often make mistakes.”
“I have been receiving a lot of messages that paint my parents as abusive psychopaths. My parents were young, first-time, poor parents,” she explained. “We grew up together, they taught me everything and learned just as much with my development.”
Image credits: nebojsa_ki / Envato Elements (not the actual photo)
“What could have been traumatic became a lovely opportunity to joke about a chocolate brand for the rest of our lives”
“Some replies are really sweet, sharing similar stories and making funny little jokes about the situation,” the OP added. “These are my absolute favorites to read! Gives me hope that there are still kind and understanding people out here,” she said with a smile.
HospitalNew3619 says she’s also excited to get back at her parents. “I decided that this situation was an opportunity to create new family traditions, such as yearly ‘attacks’ by brussels sprouts disguised as Ferrero Rocher.”
But thankfully, she noted that she will not be holding a grudge against her parents. “Life is too short for us to resent small things!” she shared. “I forgive my parents and absolutely love them, but I won’t let them forget this episode. Apart from the brussels sprouts plan, I just ordered a Ferrero Rocher jumper for my mom: the biggest fan that has ever lived. I plan to gift it to her on our next family occasion.”
Finally, the OP wanted to add that forgiveness and being a good sport about things is always worth it. “What could have been traumatic became a lovely opportunity to joke about a chocolate brand for the rest of our lives,” HospitalNew3619 says. “Forgive and love your parents. Of course, I was upset when I first wrote the post. I was fuming. But after reflecting on it for a while, I realized that my parents have sacrificed so much for me. They deserve to make mistakes and to be forgiven for them.”
Readers shared support for the woman in the comments and recommended sweets for her to try
Bored Panda, you are very close to becoming Boring Panda with all these lame reddit stories.
Then why keep reading? Why are you still here annoying the rest of us when you could just leave and make things better for all of us?
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I don't understand the whole Ferrero Rocher thing. They aren't good.
It is a good example of packaging and marketing done right. Fancy goid foil, fancy box, fancy French name, mediocre chocolate
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The responses to this tell me two things. 1--We still don't take food allergies seriously. What if her mother had told her she had a disease, or something like that? Food allergies are serious, and they can affect quality of life. To make your child think they have to avoid nuts, and to have to navigate life doing so is kind of a big deal. Food allergies are not easy to live with, and here the parents forced this on her for no reason. 2. We still think of kids as less than. For me, this is the bigger issue. Everyone is so casual about the fact that these parents cared so little about their child as an actual human being, that they were willing to lie to her--and about something to do with her health. And everyone thinks this is ok? It's not. If OP wants to find it funny and forgive her parents, that is their business. And good for them. It still doesn't change the fact that what her parents did was extremely s****y and shouldn't have happened.
Am I the only one that thinks lying to a child like this is a form of abuse?
Abuse? No, I don't think it rises to that level. I am of the opinion that we shouldn't toss around the word abuse around so casually as it will lose its impact when real abuse is mentioned. Same with bullying. I hear so many kids cry they are being bullied, when they are not.
Load More Replies...
Almond Roca was my mom's favorite chocolate-type snack and I would begrudge her if she lied to me to keep them all to herself. lmao Lucky for her, I liked them but didn't really have a sweet tooth so she got most of them anyways.
Maybe a couple of the comments were over reacting a little especially seeing as she explained that she found it funny but I guess they were probably written before that. Her parents probably didn't even realise she still thought she had a nut allergy because there's no reason why they wouldn't have told her sooner if they'd remembered
But they would have had to tell her -multiple times- for it to stick in her memory so badly, and anytime anyone in the family made something with nuts in it, they could have brought it up and asked why she wasn't eating any. This is on them.
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Your parents are monsters and liars. This is weird and creepy to do to a child.
Is there something in your childhood that you really need to get the fűck over?
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Be civil about it,buy them some Ferraro rochets but then accidentally eat them all
I was lied to by MY DOCTOR about having Celiac Disease. The blood test came back negative, but she directed her nurse to tell me it was positive. My gastro then did a biopsy test to confirm and it was negative, but he explained that it was negative because I had been on the diet already while he knew full well that the blood test had also been negative and not telling me. I came in every six months and every time I complained that the diet wasn't changing anything for my symptoms and asking if there was anything else I could do, he just insisted I stick to the diet because I had, he said, Celiac Disease. I found out when I went to an endocrinologist five or six years later, still desperately experiencing symptoms, and he turned his screen around to show me the original negative test with clearly included instructions to lie to me about it.
shout out to brazil nuts, the highest contenders of foodsourced selenium ❤️🩹 from my thyroid
Well over rated. I had a small box when I first moved to the UK (was my first Xmas present from my in-laws). Had one, wasn't keen, but politely said thank you. My daughter got them when we went home lol. I just don't get the hype. They are mediocre at best. Now Lindt, that's a different story.....I'll rip your face off for a wee box of these lololol
I would so like to post a link of Bubbles DeVere, from Little Britain, helping her self to a Ferraro Rocher, and saying “ oh, darling! You ARE doing well”
This is funny. Sad for the kid, but funny to think of all the ways/times it must have backfired on them when the kid pipes up about their "nut allergy". Why not just say "That's expensive, and so it's just for mum as a special treat." There are always things that adults are allowed and kids are not - alchohol, coffee, etc. If you're strategic about it, you pick a couple of things you're sure the kid won't like, like dark chocolate, seaweed crackers, salted liquorice or grapefruit, and offer to share a couple of times to cement in your child's mind that 'adult' snacks exist that they won't like, and they'll take your word for it. At least for a few years.
Sensibility test? Allergic to curry? This story is a bit off…
"My parents are not monsters". Yes, they are. They are a pair of narcissist, entitled, selfish, self-centred liars.
They aren't your parents. They lied about something when she was a child and they probably forgot all about it. She grew up, found out, they immediately admitted to it, she forgave them, now she finds it funny. There is no reason why you should be able to label her parents these things when she's actually forgiven them
Load More Replies... Bored Panda, you are very close to becoming Boring Panda with all these lame reddit stories.
Then why keep reading? Why are you still here annoying the rest of us when you could just leave and make things better for all of us?
Load More Replies... I don't understand the whole Ferrero Rocher thing. They aren't good.
It is a good example of packaging and marketing done right. Fancy goid foil, fancy box, fancy French name, mediocre chocolate
Load More Replies... The responses to this tell me two things. 1--We still don't take food allergies seriously. What if her mother had told her she had a disease, or something like that? Food allergies are serious, and they can affect quality of life. To make your child think they have to avoid nuts, and to have to navigate life doing so is kind of a big deal. Food allergies are not easy to live with, and here the parents forced this on her for no reason. 2. We still think of kids as less than. For me, this is the bigger issue. Everyone is so casual about the fact that these parents cared so little about their child as an actual human being, that they were willing to lie to her--and about something to do with her health. And everyone thinks this is ok? It's not. If OP wants to find it funny and forgive her parents, that is their business. And good for them. It still doesn't change the fact that what her parents did was extremely s****y and shouldn't have happened.
Am I the only one that thinks lying to a child like this is a form of abuse?
Abuse? No, I don't think it rises to that level. I am of the opinion that we shouldn't toss around the word abuse around so casually as it will lose its impact when real abuse is mentioned. Same with bullying. I hear so many kids cry they are being bullied, when they are not.
Load More Replies... Almond Roca was my mom's favorite chocolate-type snack and I would begrudge her if she lied to me to keep them all to herself. lmao Lucky for her, I liked them but didn't really have a sweet tooth so she got most of them anyways.
Maybe a couple of the comments were over reacting a little especially seeing as she explained that she found it funny but I guess they were probably written before that. Her parents probably didn't even realise she still thought she had a nut allergy because there's no reason why they wouldn't have told her sooner if they'd remembered
But they would have had to tell her -multiple times- for it to stick in her memory so badly, and anytime anyone in the family made something with nuts in it, they could have brought it up and asked why she wasn't eating any. This is on them.
Load More Replies... Your parents are monsters and liars. This is weird and creepy to do to a child.
Is there something in your childhood that you really need to get the fűck over?
Load More Replies... Be civil about it,buy them some Ferraro rochets but then accidentally eat them all
I was lied to by MY DOCTOR about having Celiac Disease. The blood test came back negative, but she directed her nurse to tell me it was positive. My gastro then did a biopsy test to confirm and it was negative, but he explained that it was negative because I had been on the diet already while he knew full well that the blood test had also been negative and not telling me. I came in every six months and every time I complained that the diet wasn't changing anything for my symptoms and asking if there was anything else I could do, he just insisted I stick to the diet because I had, he said, Celiac Disease. I found out when I went to an endocrinologist five or six years later, still desperately experiencing symptoms, and he turned his screen around to show me the original negative test with clearly included instructions to lie to me about it.
shout out to brazil nuts, the highest contenders of foodsourced selenium ❤️🩹 from my thyroid
Well over rated. I had a small box when I first moved to the UK (was my first Xmas present from my in-laws). Had one, wasn't keen, but politely said thank you. My daughter got them when we went home lol. I just don't get the hype. They are mediocre at best. Now Lindt, that's a different story.....I'll rip your face off for a wee box of these lololol
I would so like to post a link of Bubbles DeVere, from Little Britain, helping her self to a Ferraro Rocher, and saying “ oh, darling! You ARE doing well”
This is funny. Sad for the kid, but funny to think of all the ways/times it must have backfired on them when the kid pipes up about their "nut allergy". Why not just say "That's expensive, and so it's just for mum as a special treat." There are always things that adults are allowed and kids are not - alchohol, coffee, etc. If you're strategic about it, you pick a couple of things you're sure the kid won't like, like dark chocolate, seaweed crackers, salted liquorice or grapefruit, and offer to share a couple of times to cement in your child's mind that 'adult' snacks exist that they won't like, and they'll take your word for it. At least for a few years.
Sensibility test? Allergic to curry? This story is a bit off…
"My parents are not monsters". Yes, they are. They are a pair of narcissist, entitled, selfish, self-centred liars.
They aren't your parents. They lied about something when she was a child and they probably forgot all about it. She grew up, found out, they immediately admitted to it, she forgave them, now she finds it funny. There is no reason why you should be able to label her parents these things when she's actually forgiven them
Load More Replies...
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