Readings

Close encounters of the spam fritter kind…

Traumatised by tapioca, haunted by lumpy custard and stressed by semolina? A whole generation of adults have eating habits shaped by memories of school dinners. Did your cooks prepare the Smash with a plunger in the sink? Did you ever put your spam fritter on someone else's plate? Did you regularly eat out at the ice cream van?

Many adults still refuse to eat certain foods or even look at them after being force-fed at school, according to the poll of over 2,000 BBC Good Food magazine readers and users of the website Friends Reunited.

Half of those questioned who cited school meat as a problem had become vegetarian as a direct result of their canteen nightmares. Being forced to eat their school dinner was endured by 53% of those polled. One in three said they had come up with ways to get rid of their meal when the dinner ladies were not watching, such as wrapping it in a hankie, dropping it on the floor or putting it on someone else's plate.

Tapioca, cabbage and overcooked vegetables were the most hated school dinner dishes, with lumpy mashed potatoes coming in at number four. The top five favourite school dinners were fish and chips, ice cream, sponge pudding, jam roly poly and jelly.

The top ten 'don't bring that near me' list
1. Tapioca
2. Cabbage
3. Overcooked veg
4. Lumpy mash
5. Lumpy custard
6. Liver
7. Semolina
8. Gristly meat
9. Blancmange
10. Beetroot