It’s no doubt happened to you.
You head off to a movie, Church, or an evening show of some kind and make your way to your seat.  As you settle in, you quickly notice that a person sitting nearby, or worse, right next to you is reeking of cologne, perfume, or some other strong-smelling personal care product.
As much as you want to get away from this overpowering smell, you realize with dismay that you have nowhere to go. All the other seats are filled. Besides, it would be so rude to move!
Your hopes for an enjoyable event are dashed as the synthetic smells you are forced to inhale start to give you a nasty headache or worse, breathing problems.
Even if someone does not have an allergic reaction to synthetic aromas, the assault on one’s nostrils is still avoided by many who seek to limit chemical exposures of all kinds. I myself avoid going near Subway or the bakery of a Walmart, for example, as the fake food aromas wafting forth from the chemical infused bread, cakes and cookies that are baking are absolutely nauseating.
Chemical sensitivity to fragrances used by retailers is fairly common.
Chemical Fragrances to be Used in Food Packaging
Avoiding synthetic smells is about to get a whole lot trickier.
More chemical smells are on the way harnessed via an “invisible technology” which food and beverage companies hope will tantalize your nostrils as you shop, enticing you to buy, buy, BUY!
Steven Landau, Chief Technological Officer for ScentSational Technologies said:
“… the sense of smell has been the most neglected sense in brand marketing strategies. Of the five senses, smell is the most powerful in driving consumer preference, conjuring up memories and creating purchase intent. As a result, our customers [food and beverage companies] have been asking for a low cost technology to deliver aroma from the shelf.”
The fake food aromas are delivered to the potential consumer whenever a product is handled through a coating that adheres to the product packaging.
This patent-pending technology called “Encapscent” is applied as a microencapsulated coating (MEC) to the outside of the food or drug packaging. The custom flavored, FDA approved “food grade” coatings are protected by microscopic cells that are ruptured when the product is touched or picked up.  The scent can be released over and over again as millions of these cells are applied to each and every package.
Mr. Landau insists the coating is in compliance with food packaging regulations and is safe for use with beverage, food and pharmaceutical packaging as it does not come into contact with the food or drug itself.
What about a child riding in a grocery cart who picks up a box of cookies, sniffs the box and then sucks his thumb?
Bet that hasn’t been tested, has it? No worries. By the time the general public figures out the likely health hazards from these deliciously aromatic yet completely synthetic coatings, all the people involved in the development of this “invisible technology” will most likely be long gone and relaxing in Dubai, courtesy of a very lucrative and ScentSational IPO.
So now our children are to be guinea pigs not only for the artificial ingredients inside the package but also the artificial flavors engineered for release into the air and no doubt onto your hands via the outside of the package?
It seems that taking your child shopping will be getting a whole lot more dangerous. Looks like it won’t just be the folks in the deli section who are wearing latex gloves.
And, as the lady in the picture is demonstrating, a surgical mask would probably be a good idea too.
Sources
ScentSational packaging coating delivers food or drink aroma
My boyfriend works in the grocery department… touching boxes all day. Last night on the phone he told me he was craving pop tarts! I was annoyed because then I started thinking about pop tarts. Then I could literally smell a strawberry pop tart with frosting. I wasn’t just thinking of the smell, but actually smelling it. It was so weird, and it wouldn’t go away for a while.
Anyone got a good homemade pop tart recipe? I will have to save it for when I eat grains again.
Yikes!
I take the time to perform a neti pot nasal irrigation prior to doing chi gung (qigong) in my backyard so I can take deep breaths in through my nose. Sometimes when I’m actually performing the routine, the smell of my neighbor’s toxic dryer sheets and laundry detergent suddenly wafts over and assaults my olfactory senses. People understand noise pollution, it’s time to insert scent pollution into the public awareness. Thanks for raising awareness Sarah!
Joel, I know exactly what you are talking about. Ughhh! We get hit with the Downy and Snuggle fumes coming out of our neighbors’ dryer vents when we take walks. It is awful.
If my kids sleep over at someone’s house and their clothes get washed for whatever reason, I have to rewash them 1-2 times to get the perfumey smell from the commercial laundry detergents out of them. The smell of Tide and other detergents like it just makes me ill. Can’t stand it.
Sometimes I feel bad when we leave other people’s houses and I can still smell the artificial scents and fragrances on my kids’ heads and in my hair! It’s nearly impossible to avoid at all levels…for the sake of “inviting-smelling homes” we are willing to use all these plug-ins. For me, the scent assaults my nose every time I walk in someone else’s house. I too, usually have to rewash clothes returned back from others. Whatever happened to just opening a window and letting some fresh air in?? Sunshine and fresh air = the best deodorizer (and maybe a little essential oil.)
Disgusting!
Okay, so here’s another scenario. You go grocery shopping before your trip to Yosemite (or any other National Park) and you buy a few of these scented items for your home. Now your car reeks of synthetic pizza smell, in a few days it may dissipate some so by the time you get to your hotel in Yosemite you are confident when the hotel desk clerk tells you that you need to remove all food items, fast food containers, cosmetics and toiletries that your car is free of them. During the night a black bear smells the aroma of pizza coming from your car and rips the door off your car and proceeds to chew on the seats of your car trying to get at the pizza that he knows is in there. The rangers may or may not fine you for improper food storage (hopefully not since there was nothing physically in your car) but now you have to go through the rig-a-ma-roll of calling the insurance company, getting your car towed, renting a car to get home and waiting for it to be repaired. Just something to think about…………I’m with the person above who said something like “it the product is so good why do they have to try so hard to market it?”
This is yet another way to put chemicals into our system, chemicals that our bodies do not know what to do with. We need to have the choice to refuse chemical exposure. These chemicals invade our bodies, usually without our knowledge or consent, and do things to us that are not even known.
We need to have a legal right to refuse this. If that means they can no longer use these chemicals, all the better.
Will this affect organic foods as well, or just conventional? I’d like to think I could still visit my health food store here and not have to deal with that…
I really hate this. I’m not only sensitive to the artificial chemicals but also some natural ones such as those found in essential oils. I also have a bad asthma attack if someone peels an orange around me. How about people allergic to nuts? Just the smell of nuts can kill some of them. How do we stop this?
These package coating smells are all synthetic so no natural smells like nuts or oranges.
Hmm. Last time I went to the grocery store, my 2yo chewed through a box of bandaids. When the packaging smells “yummy,” the little kids are going to be eating the boxes. There’s no way around it. Lots of kids are going to be doing that. But not my kids!
Good point. You can be sure ScentSation Technologies hasn’t tested that or probably even cares. If it’s FDA approved, then that is all that matters. Follow the regulations, get your IPO money and go to Dubai.
chemical food smells :(… already have to avoid the perfume area of departments stores to ward of an instant headache!