Food Aversions, Phobias, and Disorders

[leleboo]

Yes, over-quoted, but a big-T Truth:

"Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you what you are" --Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Frankly I've always loved the fact that his namesake is a kick-ass cheese.

[Pat]

Some medical conditions (other than obvious eating disorder ones) can cause disordered eating habits, including Asperger's Syndrome. That can cause people to eat a restricted number of foods ritually and repetitively.

[KMango]

This thread has opened my eyes to food worldviews I have never before considered. Although these topics are sobering to discover, I am immensely grateful for my newly expanding understanding, context, and compassion.

That's a fancy pants way of saying "thanks for this dialogue, peeps".

[hillvalley]

On 10/5/2009 at 5:37 PM, Pat said:

Some medical conditions (other than obvious eating disorder ones) can cause disordered eating habits, including Asperger's Syndrome. That can cause people to eat a restricted number of foods ritually and repetitively.

Asperger's is a syndrome on the autistic spectrum and unusual eating patterns (I hesitate to use the word disorder) are not uncommon for people on the spectrum. Structure is a source of comfort for people on the spectrum and eating foods ritually and repititively is one way to ensure structure the person has control over.

For some people on the spectrum, different textures can be uncomfortable or even painful to eat, while others will only eat certain colored foods (often white). One of the theories behind people on the spectrum not liking certain textures and food is since their senses are so heightened different textures and/or foods feel and/or taste differently, unpleasant or painful than they do to people who aren't on the spectrum. With help from the right teachers and speech therapists, as well as committment from the family, younger people on the spectrum can learn to overcome their sensitivities. This literally happens on tiny bite at a time. I bring this up in a discussion of phobias because until the past decade or so, it was often believed that people on the spectrum wouldn't eat certain foods because they were afraid of them. Further research, greater understanding of the autistic spectrum, and technology that has allowed nonverbal autistic people to communicate have taught us that a) reaction to food isn't the same for every person on the spectrum and sensory issues often play into eating habits more than phobias.

[Mark Slater]

Then there's Prader-Willi Syndrome.

[Heather]

I have a kid with AS who is also a supertaster. It makes mealtimes interesting. He's also proof that no matter how hard you try, to can't force a kid to be a foodie. They will eat what tastes good, feel good, and what comforts them. The best you can do is start vegetables early and hope it takes. He is very, very suspicious of sauces and of foods where the ingredients are mixed together like soups & casseroles.

[hillvalley]

Prader-Willi is the most common genetic cause of obesity in children due to the propensity towards over eating, especially sweets.

[qwertyy]

It seems to me that the you-eat-what-you-are argument exists as much in the eye of the beholder as any other subjective issue. Someone who is described by one person as a "bland" eater may be seen by others as someone who favors simplicity and a lack of adornment. Another person described as an "adventurous" eater could also be seen as erratic or noncommittal by less generous observers.

I may be inclined to view my loved ones' foibles as endearing quirks, whereas people who don't feel as fondly about them as I may see them only as annoyances.

Food preferences can be interpreted in myriad ways; so too can the personality types they are purported to personify.

[soapy]

I used to be a very picky eater as a child and that continued through adolescences. It didn't help that I'm a supertaster. I just wanted to eat things like plain chicken (no skin or sauces) plain pasta, cheese pizza (and yes my parents explained to me a thousand times how silly I was for refusing to eat tomato sauce on pasta but happily eat it on pizza, virtually no vegetables, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches nearly every day of school. Eventually I started to branch out and now I eat just about everything - except seafood. I am not sure if it's the smell or the texture but I can't stand seafood. I will eat tastes of it if someone else orders it for me but I think I have a mental block against eating it in a meal. I also don't like olives or cherries. A few months ago I was at Wegmans and I tasted some kind of cheese with olives tapanade and I physically spat it up into a napkin because I couldn't stand the taste.

I think the big turn around for me was that I love to cook. When I was a kid I would pour over cookbooks and be fascinated by the recipes but then realize that I wasn't going to eat about 90% of was was in the cookbooks. Also I moved away from my parents so I could buy my own food and make my own decisions about what I wanted to eat.

I know of several people who are extremely picky. My aunt is so picky she thinks everything is spicy, even the mildest foods are too much for her. I had a co-worker who hated everything except ramen noodles and the like.

[zoramargolis]

I used to be a very picky eater as a child and that continued through adolescences. It didn't help that I'm a supertaster. I just wanted to eat things like plain chicken (no skin or sauces) plain pasta, cheese pizza (and yes my parents explained to me a thousand times how silly I was for refusing to eat tomato sauce on pasta but happily eat it on pizza, virtually no vegetables, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches nearly every day of school. Eventually I started to branch out and now I eat just about everything - except seafood. I am not sure if it's the smell or the texture but I can't stand seafood. I will eat tastes of it if someone else orders it for me but I think I have a mental block against eating it in a meal. I also don't like olives or cherries. A few months ago I was at Wegmans and I tasted some kind of cheese with olives tapanade and I physically spat it up into a napkin because I couldn't stand the taste.

I think the big turn around for me was that I love to cook. When I was a kid I would pour over cookbooks and be fascinated by the recipes but then realize that I wasn't going to eat about 90% of was was in the cookbooks. Also I moved away from my parents so I could buy my own food and make my own decisions about what I wanted to eat.

I know of several people who are extremely picky. My aunt is so picky she thinks everything is spicy, even the mildest foods are too much for her. I had a co-worker who hated everything except ramen noodles and the like.

When I was growing up, my brother only ate about ten things. He ate kosher salami sandwiches for lunch every day for about 15 years. Corn and potatoes were the only "vegetables" he would eat. It all changed when he got a job that involved international marketing and he was travelling to Asia fairly frequently. Rather than insult a potential customer, he had to eat things that he never in a million years would have tried of his own volition. Amazingly, he found that he liked a lot of it. Now he has quite the adventurous palate.

[lizzie]

"When I was growing up, my brother only ate about ten things. He ate kosher salami sandwiches for lunch every day for about 15 years. Corn and potatoes were the only "vegetables" he would eat"

My brother is 53 and those are still the only two "vegetables" he eats. Makes me more crazy than it does our mother...

On food phobias and other disorders, when I was in college, one girl used to chew her food and then spit it in a napkin instead of swallowing. Really gross as by the end of each meal, a whole tray full of napkins was in full view. We learned quickly as freshman where not to sit in the cafeteria.

[Pool Boy]

I have a brother in law who eats things completely before moving on to the next part of the plate. So, for example, if you had a pork chop, mashed potatoes and some sauteed swiss chard, he'd probably eat the swiss chard first, the mashed potatoes next and the pork shop last.

STRANGE

[zoramargolis]

On food phobias and other disorders, when I was in college, one girl used to chew her food and then spit it in a napkin instead of swallowing. Really gross as by the end of each meal, a whole tray full of napkins was in full view. We learned quickly as freshman where not to sit in the cafeteria.

I went to junior high with a cadaverously thin girl who did the same thing--actually she used to chew and then spit her food into a paper bag. She sat by herself at lunchtime, too.I have since learned that this a behavior indicative of anorexia. Or, if the freshman looked like she was normal weight, she may have had a digestive or swallowing disorder that didn't allow her to ingest solid food, and she was getting her nutrition via tube feedings.

I have a brother in law who eats things completely before moving on to the next part of the plate. So, for example, if you had a pork chop, mashed potatoes and some sauteed swiss chard, he'd probably eat the swiss chard first, the mashed potatoes next and the pork shop last.

STRANGE

My daughter's ex-boyfriend did that. I wasn't too upset when she decided to break up with him.

[Heather]

I have a brother in law who eats things completely before moving on to the next part of the plate. So, for example, if you had a pork chop, mashed potatoes and some sauteed swiss chard, he'd probably eat the swiss chard first, the mashed potatoes next and the pork shop last.

STRANGE

This kind of ritual-ish, OCD behavior is common in people with Asperger's Syndrome. My son with AS does this occasionally, mostly because it minimizes the chance of the foods coming in contact on his plate. He is also very suspicious of soups and stews where the ingredients are mingled or obscured by sauce. It's not hurting anyone, he doesn't always do it, and he has fairly decent table manners for a 7-year-old, so I have seen no reason to try and break him of it.

[DonRocks]

I have a brother in law who eats things completely before moving on to the next part of the plate. So, for example, if you had a pork chop, mashed potatoes and some sauteed swiss chard, he'd probably eat the swiss chard first, the mashed potatoes next and the pork shop last.

STRANGE

This is pretty common, actually.

[Sthitch]

Not much about food scares me, but one exception I can think of is ambergris.

[FunnyJohn]

You have to have great deal of pity for anyone suffering from this -- and I don't believe I know anyone who does:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704699604575343130457388718.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read

[lperry]

You have to have great deal of pity for anyone suffering from this -- and I don't believe I know anyone who does:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704699604575343130457388718.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read

We had a student intern like this. She would eat cheese pizza and pop tarts. These were a few others I can't remember - a sandwich of some sort at lunch (the same one every day) - but I did see her try things twice and then spit them out like a baby does with something it doesn't like. Each time it was a cookie, and she figured it might be sort of like a pop tart. She was in really poor health and had a slew of other social issues that may or may not have been related.

Edited to say - I don't mean to imply she acted "like a baby," just that she did that open-mouth, tongue-out thing that babies do with a food that surprises them.

[Pool Boy]

You have to have great deal of pity for anyone suffering from this -- and I don't believe I know anyone who does:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704699604575343130457388718.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read

I cannot even imagine. Phobias can be very, very real, but there are therapists out there that are *excellent* at helping folks with all sorts of phobias, seriously. Folks that have these food phobias would do themselves a great service by seeking out one of these great therapists (they are out there!). I consider myself fortunate that I can and do pretty much eat and enjoy every kind of food.

[FunnyJohn]

I am interested in what self-professed food lovers find gross, or are scared to eat. And I am not looking for obvious answers like McDonalds or Miracle Whip, or for people getting abused by everyone saying "I can't BELIEVE you don't like that! It's the best EVER!"

I'll start. Whole fruits make me nervous. I hate biting into whole fruits; anything larger than a strawberry almost always gets cut up. And bad or mushy spots completely squick me out. I don't recall having any traumatic worm in my apple episodes as a kid, so there's no telling where this came from.

I have some dislikes -- liver (unless fois gras) and probably a lot of other kinds of entrails. Definitely brains (but not sweetbreads). But otherwise I don't think I have any redlines in food. Of course, being married to a Chinese, may cause me to revise that statement. (Have you ever seen what's in a Chinese apothecary?)

[ktmoomau]

Reading this thread seems to make all my husband's dislikes much more manageable. And he has gotten very good at being a good sport and trying things or politely eating around them. He has a long list though: grapes, most berries, except strawberries, coconut, artichokes, mushrooms- although he loves mushroom sauces and the flavor in dishes, just won't eat them, cauliflower, onions not chopped very small and hidden in something, most soft or moldy cheeses, whole grain breads unless they are more soft and finely ground, limas, brussel sprouts (which I dislike too), large chunks of tomato or slices, some root veggies, rhubarb, avocados, etc etc. He claims many are textural things, but I think he just has set ways- who knows maybe I am wrong.

But I can work around it all pretty well, I get what he doesn't like for me and get it all to myself! I have to give him credit though because after meeting me he has become much more adventurous. And he is perfectly normal otherwise, I am much more particular in our household.

There are a lot of things that I didn't like that I now do it has just taken time. But Mom did a very good job of introducing healthy foods so early that I like most all fruits and veggies, breads with high fiber and such. Talking with my little cousins and godson I am amazed sometimes at what they don't like. My cousin doesn't like celery, how can you dislike celery?

Forgot to add to my Hubby's list bi-valves, crabs which he has to pick and lobster if he has to extract it himself- he apparently wouldn't have made it as a forager.

Edited July 9, 2010 by ktmoomau

[bookluvingbabe]

Reading this thread seems to make all my husband's dislikes much more manageable. And he has gotten very good at being a good sport and trying things or politely eating around them. He has a long list though: grapes, most berries, except strawberries, coconut, artichokes, mushrooms- although he loves mushroom sauces and the flavor in dishes, just won't eat them, cauliflower, onions not chopped very small and hidden in something, most soft or moldy cheeses, whole grain breads unless they are more soft and finely ground, limas, brussel sprouts (which I dislike too), large chunks of tomato or slices, some root veggies, rhubarb, avocados, etc etc. He claims many are textural things, but I think he just has set ways- who knows maybe I am wrong.

But I can work around it all pretty well, I get what he doesn't like for me and get it all to myself! I have to give him credit though because after meeting me he has become much more adventurous. And he is perfectly normal otherwise, I am much more particular in our household.

There are a lot of things that I didn't like that I now do it has just taken time. But Mom did a very good job of introducing healthy foods so early that I like most all fruits and veggies, breads with high fiber and such. Talking with my little cousins and godson I am amazed sometimes at what they don't like. My cousin doesn't like celery, how can you dislike celery?

I don't like celery. I happily ate it as a kid in tuna salad and chicken salad. My grandmother put in her chicken soup. I ate it with cream cheese and peanut butter (not at the same time.)

And then at some point as an adult, I realized that while I still was putting it in my chicken soup I wasn't actually eating the pieces. And that I bought it to put in chicken salad and tuna salad but never putting it in. And that really, I don't like celery at all.

I'm not sure what happened. Did celery change in the last 30 years and I missed it???

[goodeats]

I don't like celery. <snip> I'm not sure what happened. Did celery change in the last 30 years and I missed it???

I, too, dislike celery. I dislike the smell, the taste, the stringiness of it (despite the fact that I do like string cheese). It is possible it took the Red Delicious route where they tinkered with celery or it could be an area things where it grew in the area where you grew up and it was as strong, but now it's stronger; or our taste buds change. Either way, I still dislike celery, even when disguised with peanut butter or cooked in stock. I can still taste its strong flavor profile.

[zoramargolis]

I think everyone has food preferences and things that they dislike. How those things got cemented in place can be extremely difficult to pinpoint--and they can be few or many. That's a whole 'nother story from those whose lives are crippled by the extent to which they restrict their diet to a very few foods. It seems to me to be some convergence of anxiety disorder (in which category phobias reside) and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Human psychology and neurobiology is so incredibly complex, and psychology/psychiatry professionals are always trying to categorize and define distinct syndromes that can be studied, diagnosed and treated with success. The original impetus for the DSM (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders), however, was reimbursement from third-party payers. And so many behaviors are not black/white, normal/abnormal--they reside on a continuum.

That said, I can really only think of two foods that I don't like, no matter how well they are prepared: alfalfa sprouts and tripe. And some that I have discovered that I can manage only in small amounts: chittlins/intestine and duck blood (though I like blood sausage, which combines the two...) I live, however, with someone who dislikes many foods and strong flavors, especially in the vegetable, offal and cheese realms. So that limits my home culinary experimentation somewhat.

[Mark Slater]

I think everyone has food preferences and things that they dislike. How those things got cemented in place can be extremely difficult to pinpoint--and they can be few or many. That's a whole 'nother story from those whose lives are crippled by the extent to which they restrict their diet to a very few foods. It seems to me to be some convergence of anxiety disorder (in which category phobias reside) and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Human psychology and neurobiology is so incredibly complex, and psychology/psychiatry professionals are always trying to categorize and define distinct syndromes that can be studied, diagnosed and treated with success. The original impetus for the DSM (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders), however, was reimbursement from third-party payers. And so many behaviors are not black/white, normal/abnormal--they reside on a continuum.

That said, I can really only think of two foods that I don't like, no matter how well they are prepared: alfalfa sprouts and tripe. And some that I have discovered that I can manage only in small amounts: chittlins/intestine and duck blood (though I like blood sausage, which combines the two...) I live, however, with someone who dislikes many foods and strong flavors, especially in the vegetable, offal and cheese realms. So that limits my home culinary experimentation somewhat.

Zora, you obviously haven't had Cathal Armstrong's chicken fried tripe yet. Dang that was good.

[lperry]

I think everyone has food preferences and things that they dislike. How those things got cemented in place can be extremely difficult to pinpoint--and they can be few or many. That's a whole 'nother story from those whose lives are crippled by the extent to which they restrict their diet to a very few foods.

Herein lies the key difference, and honestly, until I saw this person ^ on a day to day basis over a few months, I would have pegged her as a picky eater rather than someone with a serious problem. It was very sad. She was uncomfortable at events where there was food, and so many social events include food. She was clearly embarrassed by some of her behaviors, but she also could not seem to control them. I think it was doubly hard for her because she found herself in the midst of a lab full of cooks and food lovers. I hope she found help.

[JPW]

On the whole, I refuse to eat bivalves. Occasionally, I'll have scallops.

I dislike clams, distrust mussels, and find nothing more disgusting than raw oysters.

[monavano]

On the whole, I refuse to eat bivalves. Occasionally, I'll have scallops.

I dislike clams, distrust mussels, and find nothing more disgusting than raw oysters.

I've come to like mussels, but only small PEI's. If it's big, fuggetaboutit. I find them approachable and they lend themselves to such a wide array of sauces. And bread dipping!

Clam? If buried in Clams Casino. Oysters? I tried, I really did, but not even the finest mignonette could make them palatable. Blech.

[zoramargolis]

I've come to like mussels, but only small PEI's. If it's big, fuggetaboutit. I find them approachable and they lend themselves to such a wide array of sauces. And bread dipping!

Clam? If buried in Clams Casino. Oysters? I tried, I really did, but not even the finest mignonette could make them palatable. Blech.

PEI mussels are pretty much all you find for sale--so that's what you are getting, unless you forage for your own. In PEI they are farmed in cold, clean water. And they aren't eaten raw. I love raw oysters, but I eat them only rarely and in very scrupulous circumstances: there are a number of really nasty bacteria, viruses and parasites that can be ingested with raw oysters from suspect waters. I've known a couple of people who have gotten really sick from bad oysters, and their descriptions of their misery has convinced me that the pleasure isn't worth the risk.

[FunnyJohn]

I find it interesting how food likes/dislikes evolve in young children. I know it was in the case of both my daughter and myself, that between the time we had enough teeth to chew, and around 3 1/2 years we both ate several foods (spinach and other veggies, for instance) that we refused to eat afterward until we got to be early adolescents. I have a theory that the human body's nutritional requirements will sometimes control what tastes good, as in the case with the phenomenon of a pregnant woman's "cravings" for certain kinds of food at certain stages of pregnancy.

[marketfan]

I cannot abide calves liver. And yes, it is a childhood phobia.

My mother used to pretend it was steak and I loved steak so I would eat a bite and find she had lied to me and that I absolutely could not swallow it. It was dry and sticky at the same time. She would insist and I would leave the table and spit it out. To this day I cannot eat it.

I only liked chicken livers chopped with lots of onions and eggs and schmalz until fairly recently. But I found that I like very fresh chicken (and especially) rabbit liver if they are cooked very rare and finished with a hot sherry vinaigrette.

I hated fish as a child because we we only had frozen fish sticks (yick) and scrambled eggs/ omelets as well until a chef I was working with made me eat one. So, I was in my early 20s before I ate fish or omelets. And I could not stand canned tunafish until I discovered tuna packed in good olive oil. Again, a dislike formed in childhood.

On the other hand, I overcame a morbid dislike of tomatoes by age 6 or 7 and I am a tomato -obsessed person now.

[KMango]

I cannot abide calves liver. And yes, it is a childhood phobia.

My mother used to pretend it was steak and I loved steak so I would eat a bite and find she had lied to me and that I absolutely could not swallow it. It was dry and sticky at the same time. She would insist and I would leave the table and spit it out. To this day I cannot eat it....

My mother used the exact opposite tactic. She and my grandmother would chow down on the hepato-cow (ha!) as a special treat. They told the kids it was for a sophisticated palate; we were forbidden from trying it until we were old enough. Such good stuff should not be wasted on palates that cannot appreciate it!

Consequently, my two brothers, two sisters, and I are all huge fans of this often-loathed dish.

Reverse Psychology & Liver. The Anti-Phobia.

[monavano]

Re: hepato-cow, my mom, to her credit, respected my disdain for the stuff (and my brother's) and let us eat Chef Boyardee ravioli. Now that was a treat, in a junk food-indulgence kind of way. She was a cook-from-scratch-cook, most of the time, but when she and my dad would enjoy liver about once or twice a month, she just let it go and I really appreciate that.

I still do not eat liver, and I've given it the college try. I did recently try gizzards, which in my mind was very similar, although I realize it's a different organ. Loved it.

[zoramargolis]

I cannot abide calves liver. And yes, it is a childhood phobia.

Reverse Psychology & Liver. The Anti-Phobia.

At the risk of seeming overly pedantic, I have to weigh in here on the use of the term phobia to describe an intense dislike or aversion to a particular food.

As a mental health professional (LCSW) and a recovered childhood phobia sufferer (not regarding any food, although there were a few years during my childhood where I avoided some foods that reminded me of my phobia), I understand phobias to be a form of severe anxiety disorder. When faced with the feared object, event or situation, a person with a phobia has a physiological fear response involving the autonomic nervous system, which can be as severe as a true panic attack. While phobics usually go to great lengths to avoid the object or situation that triggers their panic response, a desire to avoid a food that one found or finds unpalatable or disgusting is not necessarily symptomatic of a phobia.

Stepping down from the soapbox now.

[leleboo]

At the risk of seeming overly pedantic, I have to weigh in here on the use of the term phobia to describe an intense dislike or aversion to a particular food.

Not overly pedantic at all. I think the article that FunnyJohn posted upthread is really about people with aversions so deeply rooted that there is a true phobic (or almost phobic) response -- and that's why it makes sense for this to get a DSM classification. This is an issue that affects more than quality of life, too (say, the way my phobia of spiders -- and yes, it is a phobia -- does); it also has a direct impact on their health. Disordered eating is the mental illness with the highest rate of mortality.

Not that anyone was making light of what these people are suffering; I just appreciate the reminder about the distinction.

[ol_ironstomach]

So what does one call it when the hand says "yes" - reaching again towards the jumbo plastic jar of Atomic Fireballs - but the jaw muscles involuntarily clench and the throat tightens in aversion? I've withdrawn the hand many times, empty.

It's probably just a simple Pavlovian response. But I call it "too dang many Fireballs". Thanks, Louie.

[zoramargolis]

Not overly pedantic at all. I think the article that FunnyJohn posted upthread is really about people with aversions so deeply rooted that there is a true phobic (or almost phobic) response -- and that's why it makes sense for this to get a DSM classification. This is an issue that affects more than quality of life, too (say, the way my phobia of spiders -- and yes, it is a phobia -- does); it also has a direct impact on their health. Disordered eating is the mental illness with the highest rate of mortality.

Not that anyone was making light of what these people are suffering; I just appreciate the reminder about the distinction.

I'm not suggesting for a minute that a significant restriction in types of food that someone is willing to eat is not a form of eating disorder which deserves its own DSM diagnosis, just that the casual use of the word phobia to describe any food dislike is inappropriate.

[leleboo]

I'm not suggesting for a minute that a significant restriction in types of food that someone is willing to eat is not a form of eating disorder which deserves its own DSM diagnosis, just that the casual use of the word phobia to describe any food dislike is inappropriate.

(Um, I know. I was agreeing completely with everything you said. Guess I, er, did not do so effectively. FAIL. )

[giant shrimp]

this is an aversion and not a phobia. i hate drinking powdered milk, which my parents used to use when taking us on camping trips in france. no one seemed to have a problem with it except for me. there just seemed something horrible about it. i never could drink much but can still taste it, almost metallic, thin and medicinal and the white of the milk tinged with a disturbing wavery bluishness.

i remember two terrible sandwiches from my early school years involving combinations of ingredients that i would never want to encounter again. first, made by our german housekeeper, was canned tuna on thick butter, the dairy fat bringing out rancidness in the fish oil and the texture of the butter sliding discordantly against the tuna. the second, prepared by a friend's mother sharing her son's favorite, combined sliced banana with a liberal smear of mayonaisse. there was nowhere for the dressing to go except into the soft sandwich bread, rendering it gummy and wet on the surface of its underside. and what a banana was doing between two slices of bread in the first place was beyond me, although i did learn a bit later in life that peanut butter was acceptable in smoothing this out. my friend's mother, many years later killed in a car crash in virginia returning from a holiday party at a work acquaintance's home with her inebriated husband behind the wheel, excused me from continuing after the first bite, a little surprised by my revulsion, which must have been plain enough to see. you have to watch that gag reflux in children or there can be some unpleasant cleaning up to do. the banana was on the green side, as well. bananas raise a number of predilections, and mine is for a state of ripeness marked by brown speckling on the peel.