Who's Right?Smelly food at the office: can you tell your coworker?
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In short
Yes, you can bring it up, as long as you do it privately, kindly and without judging what they eat. The best approach is to suggest a practical fix, like eating in the break room, rather than complaining in front of the team.
Both sides
We work in an open-plan office, four of us at the same cluster of desks. Almost every day, Élodie heats up fish or strongly spiced leftovers and eats them at her desk. The smell lingers until mid-afternoon and I find it hard to focus. I admit I've made a couple of jokes about it in front of the others, because I didn't know how else to say it.
I eat at my desk because the kitchen is tiny and always packed at lunchtime. I cook my meals the night before to save money and eat well, and I'm not switching to sandwiches to please anyone. Nobody has ever said anything to my face. Karim's little jokes in front of everyone mostly just hurt.
The verdict
Karim has a point: an open-plan office is a shared space, and a strong smell that lingers for hours genuinely affects other people's work. It's fair to raise it.
But the way he did it wasn't right. Joking about it in front of the team makes the other person uncomfortable and fixes nothing. A calm, one-on-one chat that doesn't criticise the food itself would have been far fairer.
Élodie has good reasons to eat at her desk, and nobody should judge what she eats. Still, when you share a space, it's reasonable to consider how it affects others, especially when simple solutions exist.
The compromise
Karim takes five minutes with Élodie in private, apologises for the jokes and simply explains that the smell makes it hard for him to work. Together they agree she'll eat the strongest-smelling dishes in the break room or at a different time, and that the window gets opened for a bit after lunch.
Who do you think is right?
Pick a side.
Frequently asked questions
How do you tell a coworker their food smells without offending them?
Talk to them alone and focus on how it affects you rather than on their food, for example: "the smell makes it hard for me to concentrate in the afternoon." Offer a solution straight away so the conversation stays constructive.
Should you go to your manager?
Not first. Try a direct, friendly conversation before anything else. If nothing changes or the issue affects the whole team, a manager can set shared guidelines for everyone.
What if the dish is part of their culture?
All the more reason never to criticise the dish itself. The issue is the smell in a shared space, not what the person enjoys eating.
Which foods are best not to reheat at the office?
Fish, eggs, some cabbage dishes and heavily spiced food reheated in the microwave tend to bother people most. Eating them cold or in the break room greatly reduces the smell.
Guide Workplace disputes: the guide
Written with the help of AI, reviewed by the Who's Right team · This is not legal advice. How Who's Right decides
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