Is it rude to not eat the food that is offered to you at someone's house?

Not. it happens to me ALL the time. Just be open and honest about why you are not accepting the food. Thats what i do, If they get offended at you rejecting their food then they are the ones being rude..........funny how life works :)..........

Well normally you would know in advance when somebody will be offering you a big meal. It is rude to turn down an entire meal if you knew about it because the person went through all that trouble to prepare it. However, if it is just the person offering you a snack, it is not rude to turn it down.

depends on the person. i would say it could be considered rude. i would consider it rude, if it were something new i took time to make and you didn't give it a chance. hell, just take a bite, you don't have to have a plate, y'know?

Yes, if someone took the time to cook you a meal and you snubbed it in such a manner, it would be rude. Unless it is a truly unsanitary disgusting dish, like ox testicle soup served in a monkey's head, you are allergic, or something extreme like that. Don't make this about yourself, eat a good portion of your dish to show respect for your hosts.

It would bother me considerably if I took the time to prepare a meal & a guest didn't bother to eat it. The only excuse I consider acceptable would be if the guest had an allergy but that would never happen to me because I always ask beforehand if my guest had any allergies. Otherwise, I wouldn't invite that person to dinner again. Yes, it's very rude. When I was in my teens I was invited to a friend's house & her mother prepared liver which I hated. Since I was taught manners, I ate it with a smile.

It would be rude if you didn't eat it at all and made gross bodily noises. But you can not eat anything and still be polite. Of course, tasting the food won't hurt you and if you feel obligated to eat more than half of the plate then thats good to, but I dont think its a sin. For example, if you were a vegitarian and someone invited you over and served you a lamb pork feast, would you eat it? Or would you be polite and just eat the carrots and broccolli around the side? Either way, if the hoster gets mad at you for not eating thier food, then that strange. The most they can do is have you never come back again, but hey, then you wont have to eat thier food again.

I host allot of things and here is my response. I hate to say I expect to at least try what I had prepared so one bite is OK. but an if you get a stare from host take him or her aside and explain your reasoning for not having more in a very gentle matter(rehearse in head to be sure not to say something that may offend). but as a host I think you need to gather info of who you are serving to to be sure to cater to every-ones palate

If you are going there speficially for dinner, then yes I think I would be offended if one of my guests didnt eat my food. I would probably ask them why tho...maybe I cooked something they really dont like or maybe they arnt feeling well. I tend to get sensitive about my cooking tho. I was a little offended when I made snacks and coffee for my fiance's best freind and his new girlfreind and the girl didnt touch a thing except the gaitoraid she brought with her. But shes a new girlfreind so maybe she was being silly and not eating in front of her new boyfreind or something. But if I was invted to "dinner", I would definatly eat at least half of whatever was served. I choked down cow's tougue once so I wouldnt offend a freinds mother ; )

If the meal was a very big one, I would honestly tell them 'I'm not a big eater, sorry but I can't fit any more in.' If the food was really gross, I would perhaps ask for a drink to accompany dinner, and every time I took a bite wash it down with some drink. When possible, if invited to dinner I ask 'what's on the menu?' as a hint to find out what they were having. If it was something that I do not eat, I would politely say 'Thank you, but I don't eat ____, but I'll be happy to have the side dishes instead.' If anyone is coming to my house for dinner I always ask them if they eat the food I am going to prepare.