'AITA for telling my vegetarian coworker that she was eating animal products?' UPDATED

"AITA for telling my vegetarian coworker that she was eating animal products?"

I am well known at work for bringing in treats and snacks for my coworkers, everyone knows that when I being things for others they will be kept in a specific place in the kitchen with a note and I will let the shift leader know that the snacks are to share. Everyone also knows if there is no note then it is mine alone and I make sure not to store them in the kitchen to avoid confusion.

Friday afternoon I had a 3-9 shift, I came in and placed my snacks in the staff room, which is close to the kitchen. These snacks were in my bag and meant for me alone. A few hours later I went to get my snacks and found one of the packets opened. I asked around and one of my coworkers admitted to opening it, saying that they were her favorite and she thought they were for everyone.

I asked her why she ate them when she is a vegetarian, and told her that they contained animal products. She became very upset as she is really serious with her vegetarianism and started yelling about how I have poisoned her with meat and yelling at me about how I brought them in even though I knew they weren't vegetarian.

I snapped a bit and said that I brought them in for me and she went through my bag to get to them, and if she hadn't then there wouldn't be an issue. The rest of the shift was very tense and uncomfortable and my coworker is now refusing to speak to me and refusing to work with me, and telling people that I tried to poison her with animal products.

I've since been getting messages from my coworkers saying that I should not have brought non-vegetarian foods in and I shouldn't have said what I said as it was insensitive. I spoke to my parents and my partner and they are split. My dad and partner think that she got what she deserves for going through my stuff and taking my food but my mum and sister think I am in the wrong for how I handled it. AITA?

EDIT:

For clarification the animal product was gelatin. I checked the packet at the time and it didn't have a "suitable for vegetarians" label. They were haribos, and some are suitable for vegetarians, these ones were not.

Here's what top commenters had to say about this one:

lurninandlurkin said:

NTA. You are not to blame if someone eats something they shouldn't after they go through your lunch bag to eat your food. Moving forward, I would suggest letting everyone at the office know that due to the confusion, you will no longer be bringing snacks to the office for others.

shammy_dammy said:

NTA. Do you have an HR, since she's admitting outright that she went through your property to steal your snacks.

Willowstardream said:

Like, seriously? NTA. She had no right to go through your stuff and just assume the snacks were for everyone. Its not your job to cater to her dietary restrictions when it's your personal food. It's unfortunate she accidentally ate gelatin, but she brought it on herself by not minding her own business. The fact that your coworkers are siding with her is wild. They should be telling her to respect ppls belongings.

artic_fox-wolf1984 said:

NTA. She dug around in your bag? Stole from you? And you’re the problem? Find a new job. The fact that no one is willing to call out her bad behaviour shows what they think of you. You’re a snack provider. Not a friend.

Sparklingwine23 said:

NTA, she played a stupid game and won a stupid prize. That should teach her not to go through your stuff and steal your food. And seriously, "poisoned?" That chick is delusional.

Accomplished-Emu-591 said:

NTA. If you have an HR department, go in asap and share all of that with them. Especially the part where you always label snacks for everyone and leave them in a specific place after informing your shift leader.

Later OP came back with these updates:

Update: First of all, thank you for all of the advice given. It has been really helpful. Just a quick update.

Was pulled aside by my shift leader today at work, he told me that my vegetarian coworker has been making out that it was a communal treat that she ate, as I did being in both a communal treat and snacks for myself that day, not my stuff and that is why I am getting heat from my other coworkers as I am pretty good at labeling everything non-vegetarian when I bring things in for all staff.

Myself and the shift lead have been setting things straight today with other coworkers, showing recipes that I followed that confirm that it was a vegetarian safe treat, and I've made it clear that she went through my things to take my stuff. I've gotten a few apologies as they claim they didn't have the full story. Have also filled a report to the HR department to try and get ahead of everything.

Also, for the comments saying that I didn't care that she was going through my things, while I did care at the time, I was more worried that a supposed vegetarian had eaten something non-vegetarian.

I've got a new lockable lunch box now and intend to only use that. I've also informed everyone that due to this incident, I am no longer comfortable bringing in treats, so people are pissed off at my coworker now, too.

Another thing I wanted to address is my mum and sister, it isn't that they weren't pissed about the situation but that they were concerned that the way I handled the matter could be turned around and used to paint me in a bad light, which they did not want.

The last thing is that one guy who DM'ed me to take the pi%^ about how this must be a fake story because of a few spelling errors, I am literally dyslexic so screw you I guess. Still cannot believe that this happened because of a bag of fu&^%$g haribos.

Update 2: Went to HR, who began an investigation for theft and hostility. Coworker has since left the workplace. Several other coworkers were written up for hostility. My haribos will continue to be safe.