Brussels Sprouts Cause a Stink

Brussels sprouts have long topped the list of one of the world's most reviled vegetables — not to mention stinkiest! — and now a Royal Navy captain has banned them from his warship.

"Brussels sprouts are absolutely banned on board HMS Bulwark," Captain Wayne Keble told Plymouth, England's The Herald. "They are the Devil's vegetable and the only thing I don't like."

Keble said he was trying to keep his 390-strong crew healthy during their deployment in the Far East and Mediterranean, but that he drew the line at Brussels sprouts. (He didn't elaborate as to why beyond his own dislike of them, although the HMS Bulwark's living quarters are very confined and the vegetables are, of course, known for their anti-social aftereffects.) News of Keble's ban caused a bit of erm, a stink, in England's national press — and then in the Ministry of Defence, as brass tried to step away from the story. (The Herald produced a tape of the conversation.)

A 2002 survey found that sprouts are the most hated vegetable in Britain, although eggplant (known as aubergine in England) won the dubious honor in 2008 Heinz study.