# Fish question--weird ammonia smell

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-question-weird-ammonia-smell/460132>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 15, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-question-weird-ammonia-smell/460132 "2008-08-15T19:26:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-question-weird-ammonia-smell/460132/1 "2008-08-15T19:26:40Z")

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I made baked cod last night for dinner. I promptly put half of it in the fridge to save for lunch today. Today, I reheated it in the oven … and now, as I’m eating it, it has some faint, strange ammonia odor that wasn’t present last night. Any idea what this is?

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**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-question-weird-ammonia-smell/460132/2 "2008-08-16T02:46:11Z")

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Well, it’s been almost eight hours. Whether you are presently alive will be an important piece of evidence if you expect a correct and factual answer from this thread. 🙂

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**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-question-weird-ammonia-smell/460132/3 "2008-08-16T02:52:36Z")

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It’s not lutefisk by chance is it? Did you soak it in draino?

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**Author:** ![Mumio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@Mumio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mumio)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fish-question-weird-ammonia-smell/460132/4 "2008-08-16T03:53:42Z")

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Last time I caught an ammonia smell from baked fish was just after I’d just put the first bite in my mouth. I spent the next two days sick, frequently in the bathroom, perhaps in the throes of a case of mild food poisoning. Never again will I eat fish without smelling it thoroughly first.