OBITER

Scentsational News

A woman has filed a lawsuit against the US city of Norwalk for exposure to her colleagues' perfumes and colognes, alleging officials have failed to lessen her exposure to such scents in the town clerk's office and that she is being harassed. According to the suit, plaintiff Linda Gorman’s problems started in March 2002, when Town Clerk Andrew Garfunkel hired a temporary staffer whose choice of perfume made Gorman ill. Garfunkel then issued a memo asking employees not to wear perfumes or colognes, but later amended his policy to state that trendy scents, as well as body lotions and detergents, could be used in moderation as long as they could not be detected within five feet of Gorman. The temporary hire no longer works at the Norwalk town clerk’s office, but in October 2002, another employee was hired who also liked to sport perfume. The aromas are so strong to Gorman that she has take daily shots of prescription allergy medicines as well as allergy shots, her lawsuit claimed. Eau dear…

                SCENTSLESS
NEWS

An Iranian woman has requested a divorce from her husband on the grounds that he has not washed for more than a year. ‘My husband says he does not like water and does not want to take a shower ... He doesn't even wash his face when he wakes up in the morning,’ Mina, 36, has been quoted as saying in court by the state-run Iran newspaper. When the couple first married eight years ago her husband was obsessively clean, she said. ‘He spent hours taking showers three times a day and washed his hands every few minutes,’ Mina said. ‘But he suddenly changed ... Now nobody, including me, my children and his colleagues, can stand him.’ Divorce is a notoriously difficult process for a woman in Iran, who normally has to prove that her husband has neglected her financially or sexually, is a drug addict or physically abusive. Hmm, certainly a physical assault on the senses in this case!

 Sticky Definitions

What is food? Chewing gum and mineral water qualify, EU experts say — but not hallucinogenic mushrooms, live animals or an apple growing on a tree. Animal feed also fails the European Union’s 'edibility' test as do any tasty plant ripening in the ground before it has been harvested, cosmetics and psychotropic substances. The EU takes more than 70 words to say what it understands by food in comments sent to the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a joint body of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Health Organisation, that sets food standards. Chewing gum is one of the more bizarre products mentioned. With members from more than 160 countries, Codex sets non-binding recommendations that are often used in international trade disputes, including World Trade Organisation negotiations.