I always read my food labels to make sure there are no sulfites. They give me major migraines. I also read them for calories, fiber and fat content. Foods that have like 68 grams of fat will never make it into my basket. The same thing with foods that really have no nutritional value. Maybe someday we�ll finally see an end to those misleading labels on processed foods. Until then I try to go lightly on them.

If you include London in that rule, you must be brave indeed.

1. Under no circumstance shall my meat be served to me anything less than the well end of medium rare (slightly pink). If it's still mooing or bleeding when I get it, I won't eat it and will request that it be cooked more.

2. Light mayo does not equal reduced fat mayo. It means a teensy...oh hell, give me the damn knife so I can determine the amount of mayo, okay? You won't give it up? Then no mayo whatsoever.

3. Sushi. I don't care if you covered it with the finest Swiss chocolate and told me that everything in it was sweet. I will not eat it. This rule also applies to the following: beets, insects, heart, liver & tongue.

Dang, you just cut out most of my food intake ...with the exception of "light" anything.

The more raw/rare to me, the better. I include in that category all steaks au bleu, all good fresh raw fish including sushi, raw veggies. Organ meats I like done au point, but not done to death...if overdone, why bother?

I'm proud to eat everything except for the overly past bon march� (=old fish and shellfish, especially old uni), the overly naturally rank (=durian, stale fish paste) and the overly just wrong (=balut). Otherwise, bring it on

My main rule: no invertebrates. That rule seems to just about cover everything.

That means only things with endoskeletons. If it has an exoskeleton or no skeleton, forget it. It's not natural.

Organ meats, too, are not attached to the endoskeleton in the same manner as proper endoskeletal muscular tissue (i.e. real meat), so they are inedible under my rule.

I have a friend who is a pathologist and she won't eat sushi either. She says that she can tell who has eaten sushi and other raw meats from the tissue samples she examines. Parasites!!!

Another good reason not to eat it is that in the U.S. anyway, is that most of it just makes Rev. Moon richer.

I'm not picky, just particular.

1. Eggs must be scrambled.
2. Sour cream is gross and must be kept away. Same for mayo.
3. Melons of all stripes disagree with me, though I'll have a bite if it is an exceptionally tasty one.
4. Maple syrup comes from Maple trees.
5. Seafood of any sort is bad news more than an hour from the coast.
6. Yogurt and HFCS don't belong together. But then, does anything go with HFCS? I make my own yogurt to avoid this. I like it a lot. My wife loves the airport yogurt parfaits. I think they're nasty.
7. Cole slaw. Yuk.

There are others, but I'd say these are the biggies for me.

It knocks the stuffing out of the airline food: Just take a simple (cheap, negligible-to-no garlic) salami sandwich on high-end white bread (or Kaiser roll). Follow it up with a couple of double-chunk Pepperidge Farm dark chocolate chip cookies and a good fresh apple.

Going overseas, I'm too cheap not to accept the awful airline food, but I WILL eat it by taking the plate (of, say, salad) quite close to my mouth and shoveling it in as best I can. Making some kind of makeshift bib helps too. I don't care how I look -- it's better than arriving in Geneva with a splattered shirt.

If only airlines would invest in care-free salami and cookies...!

Okay, I'm not generally a picky person, but a do have a few hard & fast rules:

1. Corn is a stand alone vegetable. Doesn't matter if it's on the cob or off, either is good. It does NOT belong in anything else. Not soup, casseroles, salads, etc. And, this is an absolute - no leeway.

2. Cheesecake does not EVER start out in powder form, out of a box. If it's not made from scratch, it is not a real cheesecake, & I won't be party to it.

3. In general, meat and fruit do not go together. No, I don't want my ham with pineapple on it, nor my chicken with mango chutney, or anything else along that line. (So, I agree completely with the no pizza and pineapple. Abomination is the correct word.)

Those are my big ones. After that, I'm usually pretty flexible.

My three biggest --

1. Deep dish pizza is an abomination. Chicago does many things well, pizza is not one of them.

2. Chili is made with cubed beef (NOT GROUND), chili peppers, garlic, spices, perhaps a tomato product, paste or puree (NOT DICED). That's it. No beans. No onions. No bell peppers.

3. French toast should be served plain. No cinnamon, no powdered sugar, no syrup. You wouldn't put these things on your eggs, why would you put them on french toast?

OK, one more -- cheez whiz is not cheese, therefore should not be on a cheesesteak sandwich

Never eat toast with the buttered side down.

I have to cut a sandwich in half before eating it.
I can only eat one food at a time. So if i have burger, fries and a drink. eat burger, than when finished eat fries, than drink.
Everything is better with hot sauce
Ranch dressing should be shot.
Regular Coke is gross
No cooked fish other than lobster, mussels, shrimp, calamari. Everything else belongs in sushi
Taco bell soft tacos with fire sauce is the only fast food i will eat.
Steaks - medium rare with a lot of pepper unless a place will do Pittsburgh rare.

I have to concede that you're probably right. But, I love that stuff from a box that's called "Jello cheesecake." Could we rename it, sorta like cheese? You know, something like "Jello processed cheesecake dessert?"

My food rules are pretty simple (at least to me ):
1- No peppers (red, green, yellow or whatever) on any food--- or touching any food .... yes, I will spend hours ' picking them out, and moving other food they touched away from them' )
2- No 'salad' on my sandwich-- I like plain meat/cheese with mayo or mustard with white, rye or a roll--- no lettuce or tomato (and absolutely no avocado on anything, else weird on food at anytime)
3. No Hot tomatoes on food. I will have tomato sauce on pasta or pizza-- but do not like those bits of hot tomatoes in sauce or pizza (and as above, will 'pick them out')
4. No FAKE or HEALTH foods at any time-- ie. soy stuff. I am a believer, that for generations people have eaten lots of food that now seem 'unhealthly/life threathening'-- but they survived, and while it is hard to fathom... we may too survive--eating butter, sugar and 'gasp'... even salt and 'shudder......preservatives'
5. I don't like 'hot' fruit, and will avoid fruit pies, made with mushy apples, peaches etc-- for that matter, I really don't eat pies at all.
As for strange things-- I do like chocolate pudding hot and jello warm. (before it sets). I also do eat raw (as in, straight from the butcher or meat counter-- hamburger meat and beef roasts). Do Not tell me this is unhealthly, as I'm in my mid/late years and have been eating meat (occaisionally -- as in once or twice each week in minimum quantities) this way all my life!