Posted on 12/10/2005 3:20:03 PM PST by LurkedLongEnough
NEW YORK -- For the second time in two months, a mysterious maple syrup aroma wafted over Manhattan on Thursday, and city officials still don't know what caused it.
Callers to the city's 311 help line and the Fire Department reported the pleasant scent around 3:30 p.m. in neighborhoods from midtown to the Upper East and West sides.
"The calls aren't exactly complaints," city Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Ian Michaels said Friday. That's no surprise in a city where a host of less appetizing smells are often on the menu.
Michaels said the odor appeared to be the same one people detected in late October, mostly in lower Manhattan.
The agency sent out its hazardous materials team to take instant readings of the air from neighborhoods where the calls originated, but nothing dangerous was found. Air samples brought in for additional testing were also negative.
"It is once again a mystery. It seems to be gone," Michaels said.
My car smelled like syrup when the coolant was leaking from the head gasket. Maybe there is coolant being dumped somewhere?
Someone roasting foenugreek seeds, I would guess.
Aunt Jemima will be happy to hear this. Denny's will be filling pancake and waffle orders for a long time.
Maybe it's maple syrup.
Ping.
Michael Moore's personal syrup tanker sprung a leak?
Lol
Lol
Wasn't the Manhattan DeMolay Father and Son pancake breakfast Thursday morning?
Maple Syrup from Western NY is the best!
Could be that. When I think of NY the smell of urine comes to mind.
Bioterrorism?
*Sotolon, also known as *sotolone and fenugreek lactone, is an extremely powerful aroma compound with the typical smell of fenugreek and maple syrup.
The GC-MS analyses of ethanolic extracts from hairy roots revealed the presence of two important compounds: *sotolone (1.2% of the volatile fraction) and 3-amino-4,5-dimethyl-2(5H)-furanone (17% of the volatile fraction).
These results point out that biotechnological production of *sotolone in **bioreactors is possible.
**Bioreactor:
An apparatus, such as a large fermentation chamber, for growing organisms such as bacteria or yeast that are used
in the biotechnological production of substances such as pharmaceuticals, antibodies, or vaccines, or for the bioconversion of organic waste.
Also:
Production System for Biopharmaceuticals.
Do they smell Syrup in Europe?
That's probably it. I can recall smelling a maple syrup scent for a number of years at a certain isolated location just down the street from where I lived in a small city. Since there was a large General Foods factory about three miles away, I thought at first they were making maple syrup, but the scent was confined to just that one place. I now think it was antifreeze, which has a sweet, syrupy smell.
:-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.