Coming up roses: pill makes farts smell of flowers
French inventor sells rose-scented pills –and introduces a new chocolate pill in time for Christmas
A French inventor claims he has invented a pill that can imbue flatulence with the smell of roses, violets or chocolate.
Christian Poincheval, 65, says that the pills will also help ease indigestion and are made from natural ingredients including fennel, blueberries and seaweed.
On his website pilulepet.com (which translates to 'fart-pill'), Poincheval says that the medicine works by regulating digestion. The pills cost €9.99 (£8) for a jar of 60 and there is also a powdered version that can be given to "dogs that stink".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Poincheval says that the idea came to him at a dinner party with friends who had become so flatulent that "we were nearly suffocated". He determined that he would create a solution.
The tablets have been on sale since 2006, but Poincheval, who is based in the village of Gesvres in western France, says he has devised a new version in time for Christmas that will make farts smell of chocolate. He claims that he sells a few hundred jars a month.
"I have all sorts of customers," he told the Daily Telegraph. "Some buy them because they have problems with flatulence and some buy them as a joke to send to their friends. Christmases always see a surge in sales."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The Christmas quiz 2024
From the magazine Test your grasp of current affairs and general knowledge with our quiz
By The Week UK Published
-
People of the year 2024
In the Spotlight Remember the people who hit the headlines this year?
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: December 25, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK Published
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Russia's shadow war in Europe
Talking Point Steering clear of open conflict, Moscow is slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Nato rivals to see what it can get away with.
By The Week UK Published
-
Cutting cables: the war being waged under the sea
In the Spotlight Two undersea cables were cut in the Baltic sea, sparking concern for the global network
By The Week UK Published
-
The nuclear threat: is Vladimir Putin bluffing?
Talking Point Kremlin's newest ballistic missile has some worried for Nato nations
By The Week UK Published
-
Russia vows retaliation for Ukrainian missile strikes
Speed Read Ukraine's forces have been using U.S.-supplied, long-range ATCMS missiles to hit Russia
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published