“AIO For Refusing To Eat My MIL’s Dinner & Didn’t Allow My 1-Year-Old To Eat It?”

How someone operates the own kitchen is their choice, but it can be pretty frustrating when they bring their own disfunction to your home. Everyone has their own preferences, but that doesn’t change basic biology and food safety rules. At the same time, it can be rather hard to communicate this to folks who are in your family.

A woman asked the internet if she went too far when she decided that both she and her one year old would not eat her mother-in-law’s dinner after seeing an entire raw chicken just sitting in a sink. We reached out to the daughter-in-law who made the post and will update the article when she gets back to us.

Raw chicken shouldn’t just be left around everywhere

Woman loses appetite after seeing how mother-in-law prepares chicken, sitting at a dining table with salad plates and juice.

Image credits: gpointstudio / Envato (not the actual photo)

So one woman refused to eat at her MIL’s house when she saw what was in the sink

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken, worried about her child's health and safety.

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares raw chicken in the sink before dinner.

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken, fearing salmonella and health risks for the baby.

Text on white background reading when she was done after my baby woke up I went to feed her lunch and I washed the sink with boiling water and dish soap.

Text excerpt about a woman losing appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken, causing concern.

Text excerpt from story about woman losing appetite after seeing mother-in-law prepare chicken, feeling concerned about sickness.

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken, worried about getting sick and food safety.

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken, concerned about getting sick from food handling.

She clarified some details later

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken, worried about getting sick from the chicken preparation.

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares uncooked chicken in the kitchen sink.

Hands slicing raw chicken breast on a cutting board in a kitchen, highlighting concerns about how chicken is prepared.

Image credits: MegiasD / Envato (not the actual photo)

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken, worried about getting sick from the food preparation.

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken, worried about getting sick.

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken, worried about getting sick from cooking methods.

Text discussing concerns about chicken preparation and the risk of salmonella contamination in kitchen hygiene.

Text screenshot showing a comment about communication difficulties with mother-in-law due to a language barrier.

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken, concerned about getting sick.

Image credits: ShesInterrupted

There is some evidence that raw chicken can be a risk if just left around

Image credits: Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

The kitchen sink is often seen as a place of cleansing. It is where dirty dishes go to be redeemed and where vegetables are rinsed of their earthy past. However, in this story, the kitchen sink became the setting for a biological horror scene that would make a health inspector weep. A mother-in-law decided that the best place to prep raw, defrosted chicken was directly on the stainless steel surface of the sink. No bowl. No plate. Just naked poultry lounging near a baby’s bottle for an hour.

The poster, a young mother, was horrified. Her mother-in-law and boyfriend, however, accused her of overreacting. They claimed she was just trying to start drama. Let us put aside the family dynamics for a moment and look at this through the lens of food safety science. Was she overreacting? The short answer is absolutely not. The kitchen sink is essentially a bacterial nightclub. It is wet, often has food particles, and is rarely sanitized as thoroughly as we think. When you introduce raw chicken directly to this environment, you are creating a perfect storm for cross-contamination.

The CDC explicitly advises against washing raw chicken or rinsing it in the sink. This is because the splash radius of bacteria can reach up to three feet. That means the invisible mist of Salmonella and Campylobacter is coating everything nearby. In this story, the chicken was not just being washed. It was sitting there. This creates a direct transfer of pathogens to the sink surface. If baby bottles or pacifiers are sitting in that same sink, they are now potential carriers of Salmonella. This is not a minor “oops” moment. It is a legitimate health hazard.

The poster mentioned the chicken sat there for about an hour. Food safety standards define the “Danger Zone” as temperatures between 40°F and 140°F (4°C to 60°C respectively). Bacteria can double in number in as little as 20 minutes within this range. While one hour is technically within the two-hour safety window for leaving food out, the context matters. The real danger here is not just the time. It is the surface. Bacteria can form biofilms on sink surfaces. These are sticky layers of microorganisms that are resistant to standard rinsing. If the mother-in-law just rinsed the sink with water afterwards, those pathogens would likely remain. The poster was 100% correct to scrub it with boiling water and soap.

Just because it worked “for you” doesn’t mean it’s a universal rule

Image credits: hui sang / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

The most critical aspect of this story is the baby. The immune systems of infants and children under five are still developing. They are not miniature adults. They are significantly more susceptible to foodborne illnesses. For a healthy adult, Salmonella might mean a few miserable days near the toilet. For an infant, it can be life-threatening. It can lead to bacteremia (bacteria in the blood) or even meningitis. The poster was protecting her child from a very real threat. The fact that the baby’s dishes were in the splash zone makes the mother-in-law’s casual approach even more egregious.

The boyfriend and mother-in-law relied on the classic “we have always done it this way and we are fine” argument. This is known as survivor bias. Just because you drove without a seatbelt in the 80s and survived does not mean it is safe. The mother-in-law’s offense at the poster refusing to eat the food is a common social friction point. However, food safety is not a matter of etiquette. It is a matter of biology. You cannot negotiate with bacteria. You cannot guilt-trip E. coli into being less infectious.

The poster did not overreact. She reacted appropriately to a high-risk situation. Refusing to eat the “sink chicken” was a rational choice. Sanitizing the sink was a necessary chore. Her only mistake might have been thinking she could explain germ theory to people who think the kitchen sink is a marinade bowl. In the end, the young mother wins this round of logic. It is better to have an offended mother-in-law than a hospitalized infant. And perhaps, as a peace offering, she can buy her mother-in-law a very nice, very large mixing bowl.

Some readers had questions

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken causing concern about getting sick

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken, concerned about getting sick from food handling.

Screenshot of a Reddit conversation where a user asks about a boyfriend’s background and gets a reply about Mexican American heritage.

Many thought her reaction was warranted

User discussing losing appetite after seeing how mother-in-law prepares chicken in an unsanitary kitchen sink.

Woman loses appetite after seeing mother-in-law's unsafe chicken preparation on the same cutting board with salad.

Comment about mother-in-law preparing chicken improperly, causing woman to lose appetite and worry about illness.

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken, concerned about hygiene and food safety practices.

Text comment stating how the thread’s comments are solidifying a desire not to eat at people’s houses.

Comment about mother-in-law's unsanitary food preparation causing woman to lose appetite and worry about getting sick.

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken with poor food safety practices.

Comment about woman losing appetite after seeing mother-in-law prepare raw chicken in the sink, raising food safety concerns.

Comment from user Spokes8192 discussing in-law habits and food preparation concerns related to chicken and kitchen hygiene.

Text post describing a woman’s disgust after seeing her mother-in-law prepare chicken with poor hygiene, leading to loss of appetite.

Comment expressing disgust after seeing how mother-in-law prepares chicken, raising concerns about sickness risk.

Woman loses appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken, worried about getting sick from the method.

Woman looking concerned while watching her mother-in-law prepare chicken in a kitchen, losing appetite over food safety.

Comment discussing concerns about food safety and chicken preparation, highlighting risks of salmonella and improper handling.

Comment discussing losing appetite and concerns about mother-in-law’s chicken preparation affecting choice to eat or feed child.

Comment about food safety and germs related to rinsing chicken and concerns over sanitary kitchen practices.

Text comment about MIL preparing chicken, expressing disgust and concern for family's health and baby’s safety.

A few thought she was overreacting

Comment discussing concerns about salmonella risk spreading in the kitchen from improper chicken preparation by MIL.

Comment on a social platform expressing doubt about an extreme situation involving a woman losing appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken.

Comment discussing concerns about how mother-in-law prepares chicken and risks of getting sick from improper handling.

User comment about concerns over unsafe water, raw chicken, and kitchen cleanliness causing loss of appetite related to how mother-in-law prepares chicken.

Comment about woman losing appetite after seeing how her mother-in-law prepares chicken, risking sickness.

Text comment from user Q-Money1985 recommending never eating at a restaurant again after seeing how MIL prepares chicken.

Comment thread discussing woman losing appetite after seeing how her MIL prepares chicken in the kitchen sink.

Comment discussing concerns about how mother-in-law prepares chicken and the woman losing appetite due to food safety worries.

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