Baffling food trend taking over social media: 'Shouldn’t see the light of day'

Would you ever eat the chocolate off your Mars bar first, top your pickles with peanut butter or feast on mashed potato first thing in the morning? If the answer is yes, you may be what the internet has deemed a food criminal.

Food crimes are considered weird flavour combinations - think tuna with sliced grapes; an unappetising meal like boiled, mushy meat; or poorly plated cuisine. They can also include how people eat their food (like nibbling the coating off of a chicken nugget first and then eating the chicken separately); what time they eat it (eg: steak for breakfast) and how they prepare or cook food (chopping onions with a steak knife).

Horrifying food combos

The trend has exploded on TikTok with more than 105 million posts, which explains why almost nine-in-ten Aussies admit to being aware of food crimes (according to Heinz wihich conducted a survey on the topic). Some of the most popular videos feature creators trying peanut butter on pickles, mustard on watermelon and the pregnancy craving of putting honey on McDonald's French fries.

The fad has even made its way onto breakfast TV with Today Extra hosts Sylvia Jeffries, Richard Wilkins and Davina Smith trying to eat a KitKat with tomato sauce - a combination that has left people around the world truly divided.

“Terrible, I hate it,” Sylvia said after one bite. “It’s terrible! Tomato sauce belongs on a sausage.”

Meanwhile, Aussie radio host Hope Endean has shared food crimes that she has witnessed including a friend who “meticulously” nibble the chocolate off a Crunchie bar and then eat the honeycomb separately. She also said that she once saw a co-worker eat mashed potato for breakfast at 6am.

The comment section of her TikTok video had others sharing their own examples.

One person commenting said that like the radio host’s friend, he eats the chocolate off a Mars bar first and the caramel and nougat separately; while another said that she puts tomato sauce on her eggs and a third admitted to spreading mashed potato on their garlic bread.

Some brands are even leaning into the phenomenon and letting people literally put their money where their mouth is. For example, Heinz is releasing a collection of five new mayo flavours including Sweet Chocolate Mayonnaise, Cheesy Garlic Bread Aioli, Tangy Coriander Mayonnaise, Smokey Bacon Mayonnaise and Margherita Pizza Mayonnaise. The public will then be encouraged to vote and only the two most popular flavours will make it onto shelves permanently.

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Why the oddest food combinations can actually work

Ex-Aria chef, Alex Landon-Harmer isn’t surprised by the popularity of the food crime trend given some of the biggest TV shows on Aussie television are set in kitchens (The Bear anyone?)

But he says that it is perhaps the approach of chef, Gordon Ramsay, who is having the most influence.

“For some, Gordon Ramsay’s harsh but fair judgements have become the norm, so we’re seeing people critique weird flavour combinations, unappetising meals, and ‘food crimes’ more so than they would previously," Landon-Harmer said.

While it is easy and seemingly quite popular to critique people’s eating choices, when it comes down to deciding what is and isn’t a food crime, Landon-Harmer says there are no set rules.

“The key thing to remember is that our tastebuds are as complex as we are, and they often vary depending on culture, age, geography, and the flavours we’re exposed to. What I might deem as a crime against tastebuds, might be someone else’s dream last meal.”

Additionally, he said that sometimes, the oddest food combinations can actually work, especially when it comes to pairing sweet and savoury foods.

“Avocado chocolate brownies, olive oil ice cream, peanut butter and bacon burgers, and even beetroot and chocolate have all grown quite the fanbase online, with TikTok creators coming up with some delicious recipes for each,” he says.

Some food combinations 'shouldn't be paired together'

However, there are some combinations “that probably shouldn’t see the light of day.”

“Flavour combinations that shouldn’t be paired together, I’d say anything that disrupts the structural integrity of an ingredient or where the flavours oppose one another are both no-go’s," Alex says. "Mixing milk with lemon juice, which leads to curdling, or something insane like tinned tuna and apricot jelly, for example.”

When it comes to food crimes that relate to how we eat certain foods or dishes, some of the best videos come from celebrities including Kourtney Kardashian’s bizarre way to eat a KitKat and her sister Khloe’s iconic salad shake. However, this viral ice cream eating tutorial also raises eyebrows and many comments.

“My sensitive teeth are crying just by watching this,” replied one viewer.

“I don’t think any of these ways are normal,” wrote another.

According to the research from Heinz, two-fifths of Aussies have personally witnessed a food crime with 28% feeling confused 26% being appalled and 23% feeling shocked at what they saw.

This certainly rings true on Reddit where people have shared their fare share of food crimes with thousands of posts dedicated to what they’ve witnessed, or the acts they are guilty of themselves.

“Using ketchup as a base for pizza or pasta sauce," one person posted.

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“I grew up with a mother who put butter and white sugar on rice,” another shared.

Or, this one from a third person which, in my eyes at least, takes the vomit-inducing cake: “I used to live with a roommate, and every time a bottle of sauce was about 2/3 empty, he would fill it up with water and shake it before to 'get his money's worth.' I thought it was absolutely disgusting."

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