University Student Claims To Be Afflicted By A Crippling Fear Of Cheese

A student has spoken of her terror after her flatmates tried playing a series of pranks, because of her crippling fear of CHEESE.

Katie Weston, 20, has suffered from the cheese-fearing condition known as Turophobia for as long as she can remember.

She is studying English literature at Cardiff University - and says that her fear is so bad she is left gagging at even the faintest smell of the food.

But her condition hasn’t been taken all that seriously with her flatmates, who have tried to play pranks by hiding cheese around their home - or attempting to touch her with it.

She told The Tab: ‘My flatmates tend to take advantage of my fear by playing pranks on me.

‘Once they even hid ten gratings of cheese in my room while I was at university.

‘I got quite worried because I only found nine pieces for a really long time, until I tried to leave my room and realised it was hidden under the doorknob and I had to touch it.

'I was quite panicked and had to wash my hands right away.’

One prank even saw her house mates hiding cheese sauce in her shower head.

‘It made me pretty anxious about using my own shower for a while’, Katie recalled in terror.

Katie also says that parmesan is the cheese that is most likely to trigger her fear, as it has the strongest smell, while she’s least affected by mozzarella.

When she worked at a restaurant, Katie would even have to ensure that other staff members were given the job of touching cheese boards - because the smell was too strong.

Turophobia is usually triggered by traumatic childhood memories, and this occurred for Katie when she ate cheese for the first time ever.

She said: ‘When I was six I ate a cheese string, which was the first time I ever tasted cheese.

‘I instantly threw up in the bin at my friend’s house, where I was when I ate it. It was a traumatic memory.’