Banana-phobe Swedish minister’s staff insisted on ‘no traces in the room’
A Swedish government minister’s fear of bananas has become a national talking point after emails revealed that such is the strength of her aversion that aides try to clear rooms of the fruit before she enters.
Paulina Brandberg, the minister for gender equality and work life, has previously spoken out about her issue with bananas, describing it as “the world’s weirdest phobia”.
Leaked emails this week showed that her staff have gone to great measures to ensure she does not come into contact with the fruit.
The correspondence, published by the newspaper Expressen, includes an email to the Swedish speaker’s office in September stipulating that “no traces of bananas must be in the room” before she attended a meeting with a colleague, owing to a “strong allergy”.
According to other emails, her staff said there must not be any bananas in any of the spaces she entered at an event she was attending. “We will secure the conference so that there are no bananas,” read the response.
