Rich Tomato Taste, Raw Human Smell? Ask Bastinelli — Dave’s Diary

There are plenty of pranks, jokes and teasing that all go on inside a typical newsroom and KIT is no different. Lance and I were brainstorming just the other day on what to pull over on Mike Bastinelli and we sniffed out this!Mike makes a commercially available pasta sauce called Bastinelli’s Best (quite good really). It’s a secret family recipe, but I do know he uses tomatoes -- lots of tomatoes.  Now, if you had to guess, what food would you think causes body odor? A chemist and physician are claiming that tomatoes are actually responsible for body odor. Ready, aim, fire at Bastinelli!

Dr. Charles Stewart says that tomato stalks are filled with an oil that smells like human sweat. Stewart says the oil contains terpenes, a substance that gives fruits and vegetables such as oranges and lemons their smell and flavor. He noticed that when he stopped eating foods that contained terpenes, his own personal body odor faded.

He says terpene may cause body odor because it's broken down by enzymes that produce chemicals that contribute to how the body smells. He also says that when he reintroduced food containing terpene into his diet, his body odor returned -- and lingered for seven days. He adds, "It is really surprising that odor can last so long after one meal. But it means people who eat tomatoes and tomato products always have a risk of smelling when they sweat."

We haven’t tested the theory with Bastinelli’s best -- BUT -- that hasn't stopped

us from teasing him about it!