Pregnancy can produce the strangest of cravings, but heavily pregnant Emma Veness has been forced to seek medical advice over her constant craving for furniture polish
Pregnancy can do funny things to the taste buds, but seven-month pregnant Emma Veness says she is inextricably drawn to smelling and eating furniture polish, despite fears that she could be harming her unborn baby.
The 26-year-old has been diagnosed with a rare eating disorder called Pica – an urge to eat things that aren’t food - after her three-times a day habit forced her to seek medical help.
‘I can’t explain why I like it,’ she says. ‘I think it’s a lot to do with the texture and how it feels in my mouth.’ The unusual craving means the mother-to-be has already consumed three cans of polish.
‘I normally spray a bit on my finger and lick it off or spray a bit on a duster and suck it,’ say Emma. ‘I’d be polishing the TV and have a taste.’
Despite her strange addiction to furniture polish, Miss Veness has a healthy lifestyle – she doesn’t smoke and rarely drinks.
But the teaching assistant from Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, has even developed a favourite polish. ‘I’ve tried all the brands but Asda Smart Price polish is the one that does it for me,’ she says. ‘Others are all too perfumed.’
The despairing mother-to-be says: ‘I wish someone could help me stop. I don’t want to be eating it in my 50s.’
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