# What's the worst smelling thing that you would willingly ingest? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 19, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603 "2011-07-19T17:03:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/41 "2011-07-22T10:02:56Z")
> [@Full\_Metal\_Lotus](#): > > Lutefisk… Honestly, I have never been able to understand why people complain about it. It doesn’t smell anything special. ---
**Author:** ![RoeCocoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7feea3/32.png) [@RoeCocoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoeCocoa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/42 "2011-07-22T14:45:04Z")
In the spirit of the OP but not to the letter: sumatriptan succinate tablets. They have no aroma, but the taste screams “you shouldn’t have eaten that” and lingers for hours. Then there’s the side effects. Still better than a migraine. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/43 "2011-07-22T15:46:24Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I’ve eaten [stinky tofu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinky_tofu) and [durian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian), and neither of those smell like roses, so to speak. +1 on the durian. I got turned onto it when I lived in Indonesia. It tastes like heaven and smells like hell. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/44 "2011-07-22T16:17:32Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Fish sauce (on Thai or Vietnamese food) IMHO it smells almost exactly like diarrhea. Pretty tasty, though. I loathe the vitamin B tablets in the brewer’s yeast base. Not only do they smell and taste terrible, you continue to smell and taste them for hours. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/45 "2011-07-22T16:57:20Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Inspired by my recent question about why Valerian smells so bad… > > I take Valerian capsules every night to help me sleep. They smell like Satan’s asshole. They smell STRONG. They’re so strong that my hands smell bad after taking them and I have to go wash my hands. And yet, every night I put them in my mouth and swallow them. > > What stenchtastic **things** are you willing to put in your mouth? The smell of cleaning/cooking tripe probably is the worst thing I’d say. Can’t even describe what it smells like (just as “Satan’s asshole” _ **might** _ not have a paralleling smell). I’ve had it thinly sliced and mixed in with other ingredients in soups without knowing what they are. They have chewy texture and don’t have much of taste. I guess no one here is willing to venture to non-food region… yet. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/46 "2011-07-22T17:08:17Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > Honestly, I have never been able to understand why people complain about it. It doesn’t smell anything special. It just tastes like ass. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/47 "2011-07-22T17:09:35Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > I loooovvvve pickled herring. I think I love you. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/48 "2011-07-23T04:24:50Z")
I’m sorry, I can’t eat anything that stinks. If it doesn’t pass the smell test, it doesn’t go in. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/49 "2011-07-23T06:48:07Z")
Not just about things you eat. I don’t “eat” my Valerian supplements, I just swallow them as quickly as possible. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/50 "2011-07-24T03:56:56Z")
Off the top of my head, I’ve had the following stinky foods: fish sauce, fermented crab and shrimp pastes, thousand year old eggs, durian, natto, assorted smelly cheeses. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/51 "2011-07-24T04:24:59Z")
Thinking back, the smelliest substances I have personally ingested would be durian – and don’t believe what people tell you about it “tasting like heaven”; it’s even worse than it smells – and _pla ra_, a fermented fish dish specific to northeastern Thailand. Both of them horrible substances. These days, I would not be willing to ingest anything more smelly than particular types of cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/52 "2011-07-25T01:16:09Z")
Once I ate a teaspoon of Liquid Smoke on a dare. A few drops dispersed in food gives that hearty, barbecued flavor, but straight from the bottle it smells like something you’d drain from the bottom of a stove. Everything else I ate for the next three days tasted like it had been smoked. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/53 "2011-07-25T08:44:12Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > Everything else I ate for the next three days tasted like it had been smoked. That sounds amazing-- smoked everything!! ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/54 "2011-07-25T08:52:41Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I’ve eaten [stinky tofu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinky_tofu) and [durian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian), and neither of those smell like roses, so to speak. Same here. What’s more, I really enjoy stinking tofu. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/55 "2011-07-25T09:01:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Thinking back, the smelliest substances I have personally ingested would be durian – and don’t believe what people tell you about it “tasting like heaven”; A friend of mine once said that eating durian is like eating pineapple standing in a urinal that hasn’t been cleaned during the last thirty years. ---
**Author:** ![kenner116](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@kenner116](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenner116)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603/56 "2011-07-25T11:26:27Z")
Chou doufu a.k.a. stinky tofu at a Taiwanese night market. It somehow manages to taste worse than it smells, so I couldn’t imagine ever finishing even a small serving. But I will accomplish this someday. I’ve only had durian in bubble tea and ice cream form. The ice cream smell and taste was very mild and acceptable, while the bubble tea smelled horrible and tasted even worse. I had my mind set on finishing it, but only managed to drink 10% of the cup. I was carrying it around for the next hour or so, until I got home and dumped it (saving the bubbles, of course). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-smelling-thing-that-you-would-willingly-ingest/589603.md?page=2)