# Sweden's gender equality minister suffers from 'phobia of bananas,' refuses to have them anywhere near her: report

By Katie Daviscourt · Published 2024-11-14 · News & Analysis › World · https://humanevents.com/news/swedens-gender-equality-minister-suffers-from-phobia-of-bananas-refuses-to-have-them-anywhere-near-her-report

> "It's something that I get professional help with," Paulina Brandberg said.

It has been revealed that Sweden's Gender Equality Minister Paulina Brandberg has a severe phobia of bananas, resulting in the yellow fruit being banned from all government facilities she frequents.

In leaked emails [obtained](https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/sverige/paulina-brandberg-har-fobi-mot-bananer-som-en-sorts-allergi/) by Expressen, Brandberg's staff members requested that bananas be removed from the premises prior to the minister's visits, citing her extreme fear as a "strong allergy."

"Paulina Brandberg has a strong allergy to bananas, so it would be appreciated that there are no bananas in the areas where she will be staying," a staffer wrote in an email sent to the Norwegian Judicial Agency ahead of a VIP lunch.

When reached for comment on Wednesday, the gender equality minister told the paper: "It's sort of an allergy, you could say. It's something that I get professional help with."

Several posts on X in 2020, in which the minister herself confessed to having a phobia of bananas, appear to have been deleted after the news broke this week. On Sept. 11, 2020, Brandberg issued a post stating, "I have a phobia of bananas." She called it the "world's craziest phobia" in another post on Aug. 6, 2020, as [reported](https://www.politico.eu/article/sweden-equality-minister-paulina-brandber-banana-phobia/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=Twitter) by PoliticoEU.

Additional emails from Brandberg's staff doubled down on the demand that no bananas were to be in any room the minister would be in. Staffers sent an email to a county administrative board that stated "No bananas are allowed on the premises." Another email sent as an advance warning to Swedish Parliament Speaker Andrea Norlen indicated that he must impose a regulation that includes "no traces of bananas" in the spaces where Brandberg will be meeting, according to leaked emails.