A spokesperson says, “Breeding is neglecting scent in favour of bigger blooms and brighter colour. According to the Royal Horticultural Society, it’s do with artificial breeding. Shop-bought roses, for instance, invariably smell of little more than the cellophane they’re wrapped in. “They persist in the environment and can accumulate in the body. Scientists can actually trace them in breast milk and body fat.

A particular one is found to cause cancer and it’s being phased out.”Most people, though, are less offended by the long-term effects than the sheer nastiness of the smells themselves Also, advertisers have no idea of context. Who really wants to get a noseful of fabric conditioner exuding from a bus shelter poster? Or a whiff of gin as you flick through your magazine over breakfast?Being forced to inhale on a regular basis has the curious effect of making you nostalgic for authentic smells Especially when some of them seem so elusive. People want to walk around outside without being bombarded in this way.”Then there are the environmental anxieties that inevitably go with this. Dr Michael Warhurst, toxics campaigner for Friends Of The Earth, is currently lobbying the Government to phase out certain artificial musks that appear in a whole range of product fragrances.

“Some people would just like less clutter in their environment,” says Tim Brown, deputy secretary for the National Society For Clean Air. Toller says, “Nice odours have always been used in all societies even if it’s a wreath of flowers. Now we’re making smell egalitarian.” Except that we don’t seem to have that much choice about what’s pushed under our noses and when. In America, pressure groups are trying to reduce the amount of artificial fragrances pumped into public places, partly because some can cause allergic reaction but also as a moral objection.