Cheesophobia

Metal. Few people would use this word to describe the taste of cheese.

But for Jacki Wright, a sophomore nursing major, metal is the only word to describe the bovine byproduct.

“It tastes like metal. It smells like metal. It’s just like eating metal,” Wright insists.

When exposed to cheese, Wright says she becomes consumed by the taste and smell and will start gagging and want to vomit.

On even the mention of the word “cheese,” Wright becomes squeamish and visibly uncomfortable.

Wright says she believes her first traumatic encounter with yellow cheese was at the age of 6, when her brother insisted she enjoyed the product and felt the need to prove it to her.

“My brother got a lot of those Kraft Singles and was like ‘You are going to eat cheese! You are going to learn to like cheese!’” Wright says.

“He then started cramming them down my throat, so then I vomited,” Wright says.

She says this is most likely where her fear for cheese was initiated.

Wright’s friends try on occasion to force cheese on her, but their efforts always fail.

Wright was given a bowl of Velveeta noodles by her roommate who told her they were plain.

In actuality, Wright says, a fingernail-size amount of cheese had been added.

“Ewww,” Wright says, obviously remembering vividly the encounter with Velveeta cheese. “I’m not hungry anymore.”

And cheese cubes are also out of the question, she declares.

Wright often has problems with the drive-through windows of fast-food restaurants.

“I tell them no cheese, no cheese, and then they give me cheese,” Wright says. “And then I freak out.”

Wright is wary of telling people of her fear because she knows it’s a little strange.

“It’s embarrassing,” she says.

Despite efforts from her friends, Wright has no desire to overcome her hatred for cheese.

“I will never like it,” she says.