Durian: King of fruits, king of bad breath causes

Though it may not seem terribly logical, some of the smelliest foods are also occasionally considered the tastiest. Consider Vieux Boulogne, which we've written about here. It was scientifically determined to be the world's stinkiest cheese, and is much loved by fromage connoisseurs. Well, in terms of the rankest bad breath causes, there may be an even stronger contender: durian.

King of fruits and of foulness

Durian is a pear-sized tropical fruit with a spiky brown husk and yellowish, creamy flesh inside. It is native to Southeast Asia and is commonly grown in Indonesia and Malaysia, making it hard to find in the U.S. To get your hands on some durian, you'll need to visit your local Asian fruit market.

It's hard to find a more polarizing food than durian. Many people adore its flavor, preferring to almost all other fruits. In 1856, UK naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace described durian's taste as "a rich custard highly flavored with almonds...but there are occasional wafts of flavor that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, sherry-wine and other incongruous dishes."

Those who are not durian fans tend to compare its flavor to rotten onions or soured cheese. Yet pretty much everyone can agree that durian's smell is truly atrocious.

The ultimate bad breath cause

Whitehead charitably said that durian's smell "is certainly at first disagreeable." Other have been less euphemistic. Some have described it as "festering," while others compare it to excrement. In one infamous smell test, a volunteer had a harder time sniffing durian than he did a combination of dog doo, sweaty shoes, rotten eggs and stale vomit. Durian is so foul that it is banned on all public transit in Singapore.

Chef Anthony Bourdain (who loves durian) famously warned that after eating this fruit, "your breath will smell as if you'd been French-kissing your dead grandmother." We believe him.

How, then, are durian-lovers supposed to enjoy this exotic fruit if it guarantees halitosis? Rather than avoiding the odiferous fruit, they can simply use an effective, all-natural specialty breath freshener after eating.

Such products let you gobble up the stinkiest of foods with impunity. To eat durian (nicknamed the "King of Fruits") without any worries, simply use the King of Breath Fresheners: TheraBreath.