Are people really scared of eating food? Apparently, there is a disorder called cibophobia which is actually an irrational fear of food. This fear can be specific, or it can be situational such as related to bad memories. Either way, cibophobia causes panic attacks, shortness of breath and other symptoms common with phobias. But what about people that don’t have a diagnosed phobia of food? What are we afraid of?

If you follow TikTok (my kids do, therefore I do), you may be familiar with people that have a complete fear of food outside of this diagnosed phobia. Moms are afraid of making their kid lunches because of their fear of food. What in the world is happening here? Are consumers really afraid of food, and what can we do to help alleviate this fear?

These TikTok videos share irrational fears of chemicals and bacteria in food such as fresh fruits and vegetables and processed products. The fear of eating chicken from a grocery store is real for these people. I don’t think it is actually the food they are afraid of, but instead the concept of the mass production of food.

Just like with a diagnosed phobia, it is difficult for these consumers to hide it from friends or social media (hence the TikTok videos). It can lead to very awkward questions and conversations for them and their children, and it can even lead to avoiding social engagements or bringing their own food to social engagements causing significant negative mental health impacts.

To add to this fear, there are many “health coaches” with little to no training in nutrition and dietetics that are leading some of these causes. The trends of no mass produced food, buy local, no GMO, and use only organic fruits, vegetables and meat are all part of this trend.

These social media platforms have a lot of viewers. I don’t know why, but my kids get their news from Snapchat and TikTok and I don’t think that will change anytime soon. Thankfully, we talk about a lot of these trends, and my kids know better than to imply that mass produced chicken is bad and only eat organic foods. However, average non-agricultural consumers do not know how to differentiate fact from trend.

Maybe we need a new marketing campaign directed at the food fears of moms making those school lunches and feeding their families. We have to build trust among the moms making nutritional decisions for their families in order to combat these TikTok and health coach trends. Our industry depends on the right messaging to the right people — the daily food decision makers.

Fear of food?

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