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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that strawberries smell of sewage / rotten meat?

39 replies

crankycurmudgeon · 20/06/2025 11:22

While strawberries taste OK to me, I find the smell really overpowering. Especially when ripe, the overwhelming sense I get is the sickly, pungent smell you get from sewage / rotting meat / summer dustbins. I find it so off-putting, particularly because the smell overwhelms the fridge.

I get the same pungent poopy smell with some tropical fruits, particularly papaya. It just makes me want to gag.

Am I going mad, or is this something other people experience? I can only think that my brain processes a chemical other people find delicious as something disgusting.

Anyway:

YANBU - get that punnet of poop out of my fridge!
AIBU - nah mate, strawberries are the the fragrant nectar of the UK summer!

OP posts:
minipie · 20/06/2025 12:28

Actually for me it’s lilies, the smell is so strong it can seem off.

DiscoBob · 20/06/2025 12:27

Papaya is disgusting. I find it almost fishy. Coconut water as well tastes like fish to me.

Strawberries I do like the smell. But sometimes they have virtually no taste or are really sour.

curious79 · 20/06/2025 12:26

Ive said YANBU as while I find them nectar of the gods etc if they smell like turd to you that's how they smell so eat sooner or get rid

Lurkingandlearning · 20/06/2025 12:25

I’m surprised people have agreed with you. I didn’t expect that. I’m now fascinated to know why people smell things differently. Obviously I knew not everyone likes the same smells, but for one person to smell sweet fruitiness and another to smell poo, is really interesting. I’m wondering if the people who smell poo would smell durian differently to other people. I think durian is the fruit that smells really bad but tastes good, not sure

tigger1001 · 20/06/2025 11:38

Disagree! I drive past a farm shop on my way home and often stop to buy strawberries. The smell (mind you these are freshly picked) makes my mouth water!

nomas · 20/06/2025 11:31

Ugh, must people share their every weird aversion? Yes, OP, it's just you.

donttellmewhaticantdo · 20/06/2025 11:30

I know what you mean. I was sick of buying strawberries to then have them smelling so bad. We grow our own now and have loads, but I find if you wash them, dry them and keep them in a jar in the fridge, it keeps them fresh for so much longer than just keeping them in the plastic tub they come in.

Pottedpalm · 20/06/2025 11:28

Grow your own, they smell lush. Our local greengrocer sells Dutch ones early in the season, they are vastly superior to any English ones I have eaten.

Clarabellawilliamson · 20/06/2025 11:27

Papaya smells like dirty pants 😂

GloriousBlue · 20/06/2025 11:27

Can't relate at all. I love the strawberry smell and papaya is my all time favourite fruit (alongside mango)

Blarn · 20/06/2025 11:26

I don't think they smell like you describe but I do find the smell of them unpleasant, I keep them in a lidded soft fruit box in the fridge. I don't notice once they are in the bowl to eat!

minipie · 20/06/2025 11:26

With you on papaya 🤮

Strawberries never last long enough in my house to go grim

ConflictofInterest · 20/06/2025 11:25

Supermarket ones smell like this to me, I often wonder if they spray them with sewage as a fertiliser. My allotment ones smell amazing, like sweets, nothing like the shop ones which usually taste sour too. I don't buy them anymore.

MyIvyGrows · 20/06/2025 11:23

Fresh ones are lovely. Ones that are on the turn smell terrible. Buy fresh, Scottish or British strawberries that have been picked the day before they go on sale.