In-laws toy with woman's food allergy in horrifying letter to agony aunt

My In-Laws Are Careless About My Deadly Food Allergy is a letter sent in to The Cut's Ask Polly column. It's the second-most amazing agony aunt letter I've ever read.

I have a very severe allergy to mushrooms ... Since then, most meals we have shared at my in-laws house have had very limited options for me. Somehow, they manage to find a way to add mushrooms to almost everything. One time, they made a point to make a special plate of mushrooms and pass it around. My mother-in-law said, very rudely, I wouldve liked to add mushrooms directly to the salad, but SOMEBODY has problems with it! They even added mushroom powder to the mashed potatoes at one holiday dinner. My mother-in-law claimed it was a new recipe shed found.

This is just the beginning; it'a rollercoaster ride into mycological madness.

Following is my number 1, posted by Slate's Dear Prudence in 2012. First, the shot...

My mother-in-law hates me ... the problem is that after each visit, I wind up with a bad case of diarrhea; my husband does not. I dont know if the other in-laws are affected, because if I asked, it would get back to her. I suspect that my mother-in-law is putting something in my food or drink.

Then the chaser.

You had suggested swapping plates with my husband to see if my mother-in-law would react. However, as you noted, that would have required bringing my husband into my confidence. I did not feel it was wise to do that, because he already didnt believe that his mother treated me badly.