I’ve heard of people being addicted to some pretty odd things, but this latest news story takes the biscuit. 23-year-old Emma Thompson, who suffers from an OCD disorder called Pica, eats 20 sponges a day. No content to eat them ‘raw’, she soaks them in apple flavoured washing up liquid before tucking in.
Her fetish started out with bath sponges at the age of three, before she decided she preferred the unique flavour that only kitchen sponges could provide. Pica is the persistent eating of substances that have no nutritional value, which in itself isn’t that bad. But when you think that those substances include kitchen sponges, then it gets weird.
As it stands, Emma has yet to seek medical help , but does admit that she has a real problem.
“I am definitely addicted to it. I have tried to quit but I just can’t, there is no cure for it.
“If I see them in the shop and I need one, I buy one and eat it dry until I get home to stop the craving.”