Is it rude to serve guests something ‘shelf safe’

[Anonymous]

I think it’s nice you involved the kids in making the dinner that way.

[Anonymous]

How can anyone who has eaten English food complain!

[Anonymous]

I would drop those AHs like a hot rock. No way I have time for people like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your guests are idiotic. Most of those substances haven’t actually been shown to be harmful, just suspected to be harmful (in large quantities and with exposure over long periods). Which means they could have had a brownie.

I’d phase these fools out of your life.

Adding to this… North America (so including Canada) is responsible for 13% of new cancer diagnosis worldwide, Europe is responsible for 25%. NA responsible for 7% of cancer deaths, Europe 20%

Perhaps some additives account for our obesity… far from established in the literature.. the main concern is cancer and we have less of it.

My guess is that’s due to smoking and drinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they were very rude (surely they could have just said “no thanks I’m full” or something?!) but I have also experienced that sometimes people from other countries have heard things about food here and are genuinely scared of it, maybe rightly or wrongly. I had friends visit from Germany and they asked me a million questions about milk (they have toddlers who would be drinking it) and were really scared about hormones and antibiotics and the various different labels. I’m also from the UK and as I’m sure OP knows, box mixes are really uncommon there so I guess they were just thrown by it. I know it sounds odd, but I also found the concept of box mixes extremely strange when I first moved here.

I mean, box mixes are gross. But these guests were rude beyond belief.

Box mix brownies have a better texture than from scratch. Same for cakes. To each their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They were rude but that’s the kind of thing where as a host, if you like them, I would just apologize and move on. Now you know, treat it like a food allergy for them.

Honestly I would be so insulted that it would definitely affect the friendship. But while you’re hosting, you’re not in the business of policing them or arguing. Just say “oh” or “it sounds like you know a lot about it” or something like that if they lecture. You can still eat the brownies yourself. Offer fruit or something to the guests or just apologize that there’s no dessert.

I would try to sleep on it and get to a place of understanding that it can be hard to travel with anxiety and to vow to just support them and accommodate them while they visit. I would probably get 80% there which would be enough.

Op - one of them lives here.
I don’t think they are anxious. And I don’t think they are that picky (one is obsessed with Nutella).
Part of what makes it such a weird hill to suddenly die on. Like they were trying to make me feel dumb about it. Was so odd

OK so they just wanted to grasp at a bit of superiority to lord it over you because they've got nothing else in their lives.
Drop them. Tell the one that lives here he'd better go home where all the safety is EU controlled... oh wait, oh yeah, Brexit. GL with that.

[Anonymous]

Hysterical. I guess all Americans are eating unsafe foods. Are they eating at restaurants here? Because some may use boxed food stuff.

My spouse is from the UK. While the US is not as invested in food safety as Europe, it's not like we are all eating poison. My spouse and their family certainly eat the food, sometimes boxed food, from the US when they are here.

As a matter of fact, my IL was just here, and they really liked the TJ corn bread, so they took a box with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they were very rude (surely they could have just said “no thanks I’m full” or something?!) but I have also experienced that sometimes people from other countries have heard things about food here and are genuinely scared of it, maybe rightly or wrongly. I had friends visit from Germany and they asked me a million questions about milk (they have toddlers who would be drinking it) and were really scared about hormones and antibiotics and the various different labels. I’m also from the UK and as I’m sure OP knows, box mixes are really uncommon there so I guess they were just thrown by it. I know it sounds odd, but I also found the concept of box mixes extremely strange when I first moved here.

I mean, box mixes are gross. But these guests were rude beyond belief.

Box mix brownies have a better texture than from scratch. Same for cakes. To each their own.

They also have a bunch of awful ingredients that no one would ever add to their food. The guests were rude but they weren’t wrong. Enjoy your chemicals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your guests are idiotic. Most of those substances haven’t actually been shown to be harmful, just suspected to be harmful (in large quantities and with exposure over long periods). Which means they could have had a brownie.

I’d phase these fools out of your life.

Adding to this… North America (so including Canada) is responsible for 13% of new cancer diagnosis worldwide, Europe is responsible for 25%. NA responsible for 7% of cancer deaths, Europe 20%

Perhaps some additives account for our obesity… far from established in the literature.. the main concern is cancer and we have less of it.

My guess is that’s due to smoking and drinking.

But it's clean smoking and drinking.

[Anonymous]

"America does not regulate such products like Europe"

hows that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"America does not regulate such products like Europe"

hows that?

DP

EU has stronger rules for regulating both food additives and GMO in food chain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they were very rude (surely they could have just said “no thanks I’m full” or something?!) but I have also experienced that sometimes people from other countries have heard things about food here and are genuinely scared of it, maybe rightly or wrongly. I had friends visit from Germany and they asked me a million questions about milk (they have toddlers who would be drinking it) and were really scared about hormones and antibiotics and the various different labels. I’m also from the UK and as I’m sure OP knows, box mixes are really uncommon there so I guess they were just thrown by it. I know it sounds odd,
but I also found the concept of box mixes extremely strange when I first moved here.

Had you never been down the correct aisle in Sainsbury?

https://www.bettycrocker.co.uk/product/devils-food-cake-mix/

+1
Come on. Packet foods? Spag bol packet mix? Custard powder and M&S curry kits? Brits feigning surprise and these guests are taking the piss.

THIS. Lecturing Americans on food quality as a brit is hilarious.

Have you noticed that there are no restaurants (besides the pasty place in Vienna) that serve "British food?" It's because British food is bad. They had to invade half the world to get some good food on their plates.

[Anonymous]

Your guests were rude. They are the trashy ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they were very rude (surely they could have just said “no thanks I’m full” or something?!) but I have also experienced that sometimes people from other countries have heard things about food here and are genuinely scared of it, maybe rightly or wrongly. I had friends visit from Germany and they asked me a million questions about milk (they have toddlers who would be drinking it) and were really scared about hormones and antibiotics and the various different labels. I’m also from the UK and as I’m sure OP knows, box mixes are really uncommon there so I guess they were just thrown by it. I know it sounds odd,
but I also found the concept of box mixes extremely strange when I first moved here.

Had you never been down the correct aisle in Sainsbury?

https://www.bettycrocker.co.uk/product/devils-food-cake-mix/

+1
Come on. Packet foods? Spag bol packet mix? Custard powder and M&S curry kits? Brits feigning surprise and these guests are taking the piss.

THIS. Lecturing Americans on food quality as a brit is hilarious.

Have you noticed that there are no restaurants (besides the pasty place in Vienna) that serve "British food?" It's because British food is bad. They had to invade half the world to get some good food on their plates.

I genuinely like beans at breakfast though. Presumably they are made fresh each morning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have guests visiting from the uk (I am also from the uk originally) and for desert the kids had made brownies from a mix, mainly just so they could be involved in making the dinner. Guests refused the dessert and said it’s bc it was ‘shelf safe’ and America does not regulate such products like Europe (eg emulsifiers). I am aware of this fact but genuinely open to being told that making anything from a prepared mix is no longer ok - I guess I didn’t realize?

Am also a US resident from another country that regulates food and make up more Are they worried about the preservatives or GMO ? In my experience, people from EU and Australia worry more about GMO and additives in food products. I think your guests over-reacted though and showed very little grace.

FYI

Brownie mixes may contain preservatives like potassium sorbate to extend their shelf life and prevent mold and bacteria growth: common additives in brownie shelf safe mixes are:
Potassium sorbate
Sodium propionate
Calcium propionate

Potassium sorbet
May cause allergic reactions, headaches, migraines, asthma, gastrointestinal upset, and hyperactivity.

Sodium propionate
Inhaling sodium propionate can cause coughing and a sore throat. Contact with the skin can cause irritation, and contact with the eyes can cause pain and redness.

Calcium propionate
May cause headaches, migraines, allergic reactions, and skin rashes. One study found that children who ate bread containing calcium propionate daily experienced irritability, restlessness, poor attention, and sleep issues.


I doubt eating the brownies once would have caused severe symptoms. Though I suppose they may be more sensitive to additives if they don’t eat foods containing then often.

I wouldn’t worry about your friends being (uncharacteristically for the British) rather blunt and rude. They may have food sensitivities and life is too short. Enjoy your guests.

Most PPs seem to have misinterpreted OP’s question as to being whether the guests were rude rather than the host for serving potentially unsafe food product.

I think OP responded that one of the guests lives in US and they are not that picky

I think Americans just don’t worry about food additives and food supply issues as much as many Europeans and Aussies/ Kiwis. The laxer US food chain oversight also gets a lot of bad press in other countries so many non Americans western folks worry about what they consume when they are here.

However many poorer countries have even laxer food chain oversight so everything is relative.

OP it is not rude in the US to serve desserts made from shelf safe packet mixes. However, guests from other countries may be much more concerned about the additives. So I think the question is off - it more a mismatch of food quality expectations between US and most other Western countries.

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/us-food-additives-banned-europe-making-americans-sick-expert-says/

“London — From baguettes to focaccia, Europe is famous for its bread. But there's one ingredient conspicuously missing: Potassium bromate. It's a suspected carcinogen that's banned for human consumption in Europe, China and India, but not in the United States.”

https://foodrevolution.org/blog/banned-ingredients-in-other-countries/amp/

Banned Ingredients
#1 — Dough Conditioners
#2 — Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO)
#3 — Propylparaben
#4 — BHA and BHT
#5 — Synthetic Food Dye's
#6 — GMOs
#7 — Roxarsone
#8 — Ractopamine
#9 — Herbicides, Insecticides, Fungicides
#10 — Olestra
#11 — Synthetic Hormones