'Made Her Feel Bad': Mother-In-Law Called Out for Lying About Food Allergy

Members of a popular internet forum were left disgusted after one woman recounted how she found out her mother-in-law was blatantly lying about her many supposed food allergies.

In a viral Reddit post published on r/AmITheA**hole, Redditor u/cupcakebetty (otherwise referred to as the original poster, or OP) said she spent years avoiding multiple common ingredients for years because of her husband's mother and described her shock upon discovering it was all unnecessary.

Titled, "[Am I the a**hole] for calling MIL out on her allergies?" the post has received more than 7,500 votes and 850 comments in the last day.

Writing that her mother-in-law has long claimed she is "deathly allergic" to eggs, ginger and salt, the original poster said she has gone to extreme measures to avoid triggering these allergies.

"I've always gone out of my way to avoid those ingredients in her food and even purchased separate bowls and spoons to cook her food to avoid cross contamination," OP wrote. "I've been substituting ingredients for years to ensure that I'm not feeding her something she is allergic to."

Recently, however, the original poster said she was stunned to find out her mother-in-law's allergies aren't allergies at all.

"About a week ago I hosted a dinner for SIL's birthday and made SIL her favourite salted caramel mousse," OP wrote. "Keeping in line with MIL's dietary requirements, I make her a simple choc caramel mousse with no eggs or salt."

"I bring out a tray of the salted caramel mousse...and [my mother-in-law] is shoveling it into her face as quickly as possible," OP continued. "She devours the entire mousse...and asks if there is any more because it was so yummy."

"I tell her no, there isn't anymore but what's going on? I thought she was allergic to those ingredients," OP added. "She tells me well, she's technically not allergic but she doesn't like the taste of egg...so she just tells people she is allergic."

Following her mother-in-law's bombshell reveal, the original poster said she snapped and explained exactly why lying about food allergies is simply not acceptable.

"She LAUGHS and says it's not a big deal. Lots of people do it. She also told me I'm being a drama queen," OP wrote. "I told her it IS a big deal. She could have just TOLD me she didn't like it. It would have saved me a fortune in substituting ingredients or making separate meals."

"Everyone at the table agreed that claiming to have an allergy when you're not allergic is a s**tty thing to do," OP continued. "She sent me a message...saying that I shouldn't have called her out in front of everyone [and] now no one will take her seriously when she says she is allergic."

While the consumption of salt can speed up allergy-activating immune cells for some, and the consumption of eggs can cause mild to severe symptoms for others, lying about having a food allergy can be equally as revolting.

And on numerous occasions over the last half-decade, high-profile outlets like Cosmopolitan and Yahoo! have taken issue with these types of fabrications and the impact they have on those living with severe allergies.

"I honestly, truly do not care if you just don't like eating whatever food or you try to stay away from it because you don't feel great when you eat it," Yahoo! writer Lane Moore wrote. "But saying you have an allergy, while everyone knows you don't have one, just puts me on trial every time I have to tell someone."

"I have to convince waiters, who will often lie about ingredients in foods and tell me my allergens aren't in there when they are, and then I end up vomiting all night or with a full body rash or my throat swelling up like it's full of golf ball-size grenades," Moore added. "Basically, I have to prove I'm not like you."

Along with jeopardizing the health of actually-allergic people, the challenge of accommodating allergies—real or fake—often falls on loved ones and, like in the case of the original poster, can come at an extreme cost.

Throughout the comment section of the viral Reddit post, Redditors acknowledged the financial burden that comes with purchasing separate dishes to cook separate ingredients and slammed the original poster's mother-in-law for lying for so long.

"[Not the a**hole]," Redditor u/Gold-Somewhere1770 wrote in the post's top comment, which has received more than 7,000 votes. "Your MIL on the other hand is a huge a**hole."

"This undermines everyone who has a deathly food allergy [and] it's expensive and time consuming to accommodate," they continued. "For anyone who has an actual [life-threatening] allergy, she deserved to be called out."

Redditor u/local_blonde, whose comment has received more than 2,400 votes, echoed that sentiment.

"[Not the a**hole]," they wrote. "She took advantage of your kindness and consideration, and is upset she got called out for it."

"She lied, got caught in that lie...then gets all butt hurt that you called her out on her lie. And now she wants you to apologize?" Redditor u/formerlythere exclaimed, receiving more than 1,600 votes. "For what?"

Newsweek reached out to u/cupcakebetty for comment.