I used to believe that the middle chocolate part of a feast ice cream was poisonous, i once saw my dad eating one and thought he was going to die. I shouted out for him to stop eating it and every one laughed at me.

Karen Herbert

When I was little my grandfather told me that if I ate before grace was said the food in my stomach would turn to coal.

Lizzie

My sister convinced me that the juice that collects in the bottom of the ice pop plastic was poisonous to children under 10. I ALWAYS handed it over to her. Of course, then I did the same to my brother.

Droog

i used to think that you used pepper spray to cook

c-dogg

A friend told me that his mother put turpentine in her baklava pastries(perhaps to keep me from eating them all?) and if I ate 3, the total amount of turpentine would kill me. I wasn't 100% convinced, so I only ate 2 1/2 of them. I still love baklava, but I won't eat 3 in a sitting for caloric reasons.

Daphna Flakowicz

When I started first grade, the "big kids" (i.e., third graders) in the school cafeteria told me some kids had died from food poisoning after eating cafeteria food. I believed them and brought lunch in a lunchbox that whole year.

Sparklefish

My grandpa ,and in fact my whole family, would always tell each other that only people in our family could eat watermelons & drink beer at the same time, and everyone else exploded or somehow else die a horrible death. Watermelons & beer.. what great family reunions. I was afraid for their lives, and I admired their bravery. I only hoped that one day I could eat watermelon and drink beer simultaneously without dying as well. And I can.

Ruth N.

My mom had 4 kids, all relatively close in ages. She had her hands full, to say the least! My sister Pamela used to “sneak” slices of mozzarella cheese whenever my mom made her famous chicken parmesan. Four kids = eight arms! After one meal where half the chicken was cheese-less, my mom decided to use a ruse to keep my sister’s fingers off the table. She told her that mozzarella cheese was poisonous until cooked. My sister, being sneaky, didn’t want to admit she’d already eaten two slices and became very frightened! She stopped eating the cheese! The plan worked, and mom was free to cook and watch the two younger kids without having to haunt over my sister’s shoulder. But my sister never forgot… and everyone else did! The white lie was caught when my sister started telling her high school friends that they couldn’t eat Polly-O string cheese because it was poisonous ‘raw’. When Pam came home to tell Mom the embarrassing tale, everyone roared with laughter. We had all forgotten that day in the kitchen, except for my sister! She carried that fear of mozzarella cheese with her for well over ten years.

Sister of Famouse Cheese-Fearing-Girl

When I was about five years old, I was in a store with my mother at the checkout aisle. She wanted to buy candy for my sister and I, and picked out a pack of gum that had a picture of a kid with the top of its head exploding. I told her I didn't want it, so she said she would give it to my sister, and I started crying and wouldn't let her give it to her, either. I didn't want my sister's head to explode!

Becky

When I was a child I wasn't allowed white bread, only brown bread. My mum was always going on about white bread being full of sugar and that I wouldn't grow properly if I continuously ate "rubbish like that." At the time, I took that to mean that if you ate white bread you'd never grow, at all, and that you'd be a child for the rest of your life; stay small for ever.

Grace

My friend's mum told him that raw peppers from the chopping board were poisonous and needed to be cooked before he could eat them. He believed this 'til he was 20 and I explained that I would not get ill after stealing the raw peppers from his curry ingredients.

Simon

my brother told me rice crispies were really fish eggs we gave to the goldfish. I never ate rice crispies.

johnboy

I remember in first grade my favorite day was pizza day, except I would pick every little sead off before eating cause I didn't want pizza to "grow" in my stomache.

dana

When i was little I used to think eating bugs was the only way to be cool in front of my friends. I found out eventually that this was not true. Eating bugs is not cool, it's just plain wrong.

Anon

As a child I loved pepperoni. My dad told me that if I ate the skin on pepperoni my toes would turn red. I completely trusted he was telling me the truth and was very careful not to eat the skin.

Jenny

my husband is still convinced that the cornflakes he ate one morning for his breakfast caused him to have to have his appendix out later that day. he shudders if he sees our son eating them.

lou

i used to bellive that if you ate the ice cream "death-by-chocolate,that the next time you would eat chocolate it would kill you.

steph-dayton

my folks used to tell me that "piggle sniggle" would come and get me if I didnt eat my veggies. I never ate my peas, I really wanted to see this guy/alien

mike c

if you eat lucky charms, "Lucky, the elf" will come to you bed at night to cut you open so he can have his lucky charms back. my older brother told me this one.

disturbed child

When I was in primary school the dinnerladies always said 'eat all your food - that'll put hairs on your chest!' I assumed adults were always right and believed them. When lunch was over I realised i'd accidentally eaten all my food. Seeing as i'm female I wasn't too happy. I had to keep checking that I hadn't grown some kind of rug on my chest, and lay awake that night in fear.

Anon