# What makes multivitamins smell like that? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 13, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-multivitamins-smell-like-that/279629 "2004-12-13T17:57:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-multivitamins-smell-like-that/279629/1 "2004-12-13T17:57:32Z")
I don’t like the smell of multivitamins. I can’t really describe it but it’s very distinctive. What makes them smell like that? Is it one of the components in particular or the combination or the filler or what? ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-multivitamins-smell-like-that/279629/2 "2004-12-13T18:17:48Z")
If it is anything like the smell I notice, then I susspect it is the Vitamin B that is sourced from yeast, and the old yeast smell that you notice and don’t like. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-multivitamins-smell-like-that/279629/3 "2004-12-13T18:32:03Z")
When my grandfather was being treated for anemia, he got Vitamin B shots and he smelled exactly like vitamins. ---
**Author:** ![Whuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Whuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whuffle)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-multivitamins-smell-like-that/279629/4 "2004-12-14T06:17:25Z")
The multi-vitamins I take (Centrum) have an odor very much like vitamin C. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-multivitamins-smell-like-that/279629/5 "2004-12-14T16:22:11Z")
Well the vitamin C tablets I have in a bottle in my desk have almost no smell. The vitamin A and D capsules smell a little fishy, and investigating their content shows fish oil and skipjack oil (why skipjack oil doesn’t count as fish oil I don’t know) which explains the smell. But nothing like as bad a smell as the vitamine B complex tablets I used to take to see if they helped my depression. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-multivitamins-smell-like-that/279629/6 "2004-12-14T16:25:05Z")
(I should add it was B complex with Inositol, so it may be Inositol that caused some of the smell) ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-multivitamins-smell-like-that/279629/7 "2004-12-14T16:52:41Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > The vitamin A and D capsules smell a little fishy, and investigating their content shows fish oil and skipjack oil (why skipjack oil doesn’t count as fish oil I don’t know) … This kind of labeing is done so that exact ingredients can vary if needed. Skipjack oil is specified presumably because that particular fish’s oil brings something to the table that is not easily replicated ([this abstract](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=6098635&dopt=Abstract) touches on what’s unique about skipjack oil). On the other hand, the generic fish oil content can be fulfilled by whatever fish oil they can get at the moment (either the cheapest or most immediately available) – tuna, cod, etc.