Food allergies are no joke. They can be lethal.
That’s why people try to stay as vigilant as possible; one wrong meal can be a life-or-death situation.
Then there are times when people play a little fast and loose with their allergies…
Or the allergies of others.
Redditor South-Proposal5691 wanted to discuss her experience and get some feedback, so naturally, she came to the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subreddit.
She asked:
“AITA for making cinnamon bread for my S[ister]s-I[n]-L[aw] when my M[other]-I[n]-L[aw] is allergic to cinnamon?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“I (F[emale] 22) have jumped on the sourdough bread train.”
“I now make the bread we eat instead of buying it, and when I make a loaf of bread, I post a picture of it and post it on my story.”
“I’ve had several people slide up and say they would love a loaf, including my I[n]-L[aw}s.”
“Right now, we are home visiting our family.”
“I brought my starter and baking supplies to make loaves for the people who have asked, while staying at my mom’s.”
“For my in-laws, I made 3 loaves.”
“The SILs (high school age) wanted a cinnamon swirl loaf, so that’s what I made for them.”
“My MIL says she is allergic to cinnamon, so I made her two small loaves (regular and a cheddar jalapeño).”
“I baked her loaves first to avoid any cross-contamination, and I wrapped the cinnamon loaf and put it in its own container separate from the loaves that would go to MIL.”
“When I dropped them off, I made sure to tell them that one loaf was cinnamon.”
“Today, while we were there, MIL cut herself a slice of the cinnamon bread, saying she wanted to taste it.”
“All of us said she really shouldn’t since she’s allergic to cinnamon.”
“She said she would avoid the cinnamon swirl and just eat the plain bread.”
“After more protest, it was clear that she was not going to listen.”
“She ate it, said it was good, and cut another slice.”
“After a while, nothing happened.”
“My husband and I assumed that maybe she isn’t as allergic as she thought, and everything was fine.”
“We went back to my mom’s house, and an hour later both of our phones started blowing up.”
“MIL says I gave her horrible diarrhea with my ‘nasty bread,’ and is now claiming that I tried to poison her by giving them bread that has cinnamon in it.”
“My husband has pressed that I did everything I needed to do to keep the breads separate and that eating the cinnamon bread was 100% her choice.”
“She, and now my husband’s grandma are adamant that I shouldn’t have brought cinnamon bread into the house at all and I should’ve just told my SILs no.”
“I thought bringing it would be fine.”
“I’ve been there plenty of times when SILs had cinnamon rolls on the stove or snickerdoodle cookies in a jar.”
“I assumed that she wouldn’t even touch the container because, as far as I had seen, she didn’t touch the other stuff.”
The OP was left to wonder:
“So… AITA?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared that OP was NOT the A**hole.
“You are obviously NTA, sorry, but is your MIL a child?”
“Did she do that to herself for attention?”
“I don’t get it.” ~ Pyritelle
“Hey! I have a cinnamon allergy.”
“I always bring my own dessert and would absolutely never expect family or friends to not have what they want because of my allergy.”
“You are absolutely NTA, and your mother-in-law sounds like a whole lot of work.” ~ BoatUnhappy6723
“I would go right ahead and use this against her.”
“Tell her, and anyone else giving you grief, that adults know how to refrain from eating something to which they’re allergic, just as you refrain from touching or eating berries when they invite you to go berry picking every summer, despite them knowing that you are allergic. NTA.” ~ mspolytheist
“She knew the cinnamon bread contained her allergen, yet she actively insisted on trying it even when everyone else was telling her not to.”
“She went for a second slice!”
“Yet she still thinks the problem is the bread herself and not the woman who was adamant about eating it.”
“Either she was naïve or intending to play the martyr by putting her digestive system on the line.” ~ lemon_charlie
“I’m sorry. I cannot stop laughing at the thought of accusing someone of giving you diarrhea, hahahaha, when you were warned and knowingly ate something you were allergic to.”
“The audacity.”
“Ahahaha NTA in any way!!!” ~ Dense-Passion-2729
“NTA. She sounds like a nightmare.”
“Glad your husband has your back.”
“I’d given your MIL a piece of my mind and would go N[o] C[ontact] if she kept up this behavior.” ~ Mamamamymysherona
“With minor allergies sometimes people don’t care.”
“I remember hearing someone talk about eating ice cream on the toilet because they knew it would give them diarrhea, but damn, did they want ice cream.”
“My partner has a mild cow’s milk allergy, and I can’t get him to cut out milk.”
“Two of our kids have it, and the eldest is now old enough to decide if a mild eczema flair-up is worth ice cream.”
“Eating the bread because it’s just too enticing and f**k it, some gastric distress is worth it – reasonable.’
“Blaming op- huge AH move.” ~ littlebitfunny21
“NTA – you did everything right.”
“It is her own fault for eating it after being told several times that she shouldn’t.”
“Also going for seconds is crazy as she would have tasted the cinnamon the first time.” ~ clairy115
“OP is absolutely NTA.”
“Someone who chooses to indulge in foods with allergens in them needs to accept responsibility for their actions.”
“In this case, you either have a bit of self-control and resist temptation, or you accept the aftermath of your poor choices.”
“I believe I am allergic to eggs, and I occasionally eat eggs.”
“I do not blame the store for selling them or my husband for allowing me to buy and cook them.”
“I accept the fact I’m an idiot and will be throwing up later.”
“OP did a wonderful thing by taking precautions and shouldn’t be punished for MIL’s choices.” ~ SundewOfDoom
“Just dropping in to say my friend is allergic to cinnamon… but turns out there are two different types, Ceylon or Cassia.”
“Most cinnamon is Cassia.”
“A friend told her she should be able to have Ceylon, and it turns out she can!”
“Anyway, yeah, you MIL isn’t a child so NTA.” ~ PleasantSpace6267
“How are you at any logical way at fault here?”
“You baked what you were asked and took exceptional care not to cross-contaminate and carefully label what you brought.”
“MIL, a seemingly responsible adult, made the choice to eat something she’s allergic to and suffered the consequences.”
“I cannot for the life of me understand why she and grandma are trying to put her bad choices on you.”
“If she’s so childish and self-destructive that she can’t resist something bad for her, that’s not on you.”
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that they’re trying to blame you for her behavior. NTA.” ~ forgetregret1day
“NTA – your MIL ate it for the attention.”
“She is jealous of the attention you got or get for making the bread.”
“She decided to move the narrative to attention on herself while giving negative attention to you.”
“She wanted people to think negatively of you.”
“It was deliberate.” ~ AgathaM
“NTA – and honestly, If you did this favor again, I would have the family sign a disclaimer acknowledging receipt of individual and seperate loafs of bread, but honestly this seems like a petty way to punish a good deed.”
“If by any chance you have extra cinnamon swirl bread, I am sure there are many, myself included, that would like some of that nasty evil bread.” ~ positmatt
“NTA. MIL is quite literally acting like a child who was told not to touch the stove because it’s hot, touches the stove, and then blame you because they burned their hand on the hot stove.” ~ _firsttimecaller
“NTA. You did everything to prevent her from eating the cinnamon bread.”
“You told her not to eat it and to be careful, but she ate it anyway.”
“That was her choice.”
“You made it perfectly clear that it was cinnamon bread and she shouldn’t eat it, it was her own decision that messed her up.” ~ MissKoalaBag
“NTA. Absolutely absurd.”
“She CHOSE TO EAT IT!”
“Even after she was warned.”
“Unless she has one of those allergies that are airborne triggered or you weren’t careful.”
“But she isn’t and you were.”
“She is absolutely 100% to blame.”
“It’s ridiculous to claim otherwise.”
“It’s almost like she did it on purpose to make you look bad.”
“My husband would put an end to the crap and call her on her stupidity.”
“Then tell her if she keeps it up- we won’t be back.”
“What your MIL is doing is really that bad.”
“It goes beyond accountability.”
“She literally tried to force an allergic reaction— intentionally.”
“Then blame you for POISONING HER?!”
“That’s beyond slander.”
“She’s literally accusing you of trying to harm her.”
“And nowshe has other people claiming it too.” ~ Usual_Bumblebee_8274
“Big difference between allergy and intolerance.”
“I have intolerances to food as I age.”
“It’s my responsibility to avoid them or deal with the consequences.”
“Nuts especially cashews are my crack.”
“When I eat them I know I will pay for it with stomach issues.”
“It’s worth it too sometimes.”
“I blame no one for my stupidity.”
“Your mil is the a**hole.”
“The term allergy is thrown around so loosely.”
“Sounds like she has an intolerance.”
“She needs to take responsibility for her own actions and go blow.
“Your breads sounds incredible!” ~ Muggins2233
“NTA. If you ever have a child that has an allergy, don’t allow her to babysit because not only is she not responsible enough to handle her own allergies, let alone someone else’s, but she refuses to take accountability for her own actions.” ~ wlfwrtr
“NTA. I suspect that the G[irl]-I[n]-L[aw] has always encouraged this behavior from MIL and all attention always has to be on MIL.”
“She willfully ate good she’s allergic to.”
“She’s lucky all it did was cause a gastro reaction and not anaphylaxis.”
“I feel bad for the kids that had to grow up with this woman as their mom.” ~ Alpaca_Stampede
“I’m allergic to tree nuts.”
“If you came to my house with two loaves of bread WITHOUT nuts and one loaf WITH nuts that was separately wrapped and labeled, and you warned me the loaf had nuts… I WOULD NOT EAT THE BREAD WITH NUTS!!”
“I’d thank you for being so thoughtful for keeping it separate, and just ask that family use a different knife to cut it.”
“You did nothing wrong; your MIL is kind of a nut job. NTA.” ~ BufferingJuffy
Reddit is firmly on your side, OP.
She ate two slices, knowing she had an allergy!
Who does that?!
Hopefully, she doesn’t become vindictive and turn this into a legal issue.
No more breads for her…