What constitutes “inedible food” is a pretty broad question. After all, if you’ve ever met a picky eater, even the most delicious delicacies will, suddenly, have some major issue stemming from a distaste for a particular smell or texture. However, certain items can and often will turn the average person into a truly picky eater.

Probably the first thing that might come to most folk’s minds are the various regional cheeses that smell like something between a barn and a corpse. Naturally, our brains are trying to protect us, so rotten food and corpses (among other things) are generally not at all safe to be around. That being said, certain cheeses, like Limburger, are pretty tasty, if you can manage to get over the smell.

Indeed, eating a “stinky” food item is a great way to hammer home just how important smell actually is. The aforementioned odorous cheeses can be delicious, but at the end of the day, many people can struggle to get past the smell. Similarly, items like nattō, a Japanese fermented soybean, combine a slimy texture with an unpleasant smell. Interestingly, it’s often eaten for breakfast, which seems like a wonderful way to start one’s day.

This highlights the importance of form, texture and shape. For example, many people might balk at the idea of eating the head of an animal, particularly if it's served in it's "natural" form. However, take the meat off and suddenly it becomes entirely palatable.