Smell Of Service Station Sausage Rolls The Olfactory Equivalent Of A Warm Hug

TRACEY BENDINGER | Society | Contact

As many Old Town Roadhouse regulars already know, walking into a service station to the smell of a reheated 4-day-old sausage roll immediately makes a weary traveller feel at home. The phenomenon has remained a mystery to truckies and Grey Nomads, until now.

Aromachologists at Australia’s peak scientific research body, the CSIRO, have today announced the findings of a year long study that looked into Australia’s affinity to the ‘servo sauso’.

According to the study, the smell of warm sausage rolls and meat pies – specifically service station ones – stimulates olfactory pathways deep within the limbic system that makes a person feel like they’re getting a warm hug from a loved one.

“It is the release of oxytocin that makes a person feel all warm and safe” explains chief researcher, Dr. Fennel.

“It’s all very exciting!”

Although this excitement didn’t necessarily transfer to Bryan, a truckie for Betoota’s biggest abattoir.

“The fuck [sic] is an olfactory?”

“But yeah, nothing beats walking into a servo and having that warm salty sweet smell snake its way up your nostrils and down your spine”

“Mmm I get shivers just thinking about it”

Bryan may not consciously share Dr. Fennel’s excitement about the finding, however it’s apparent his subconscious certainly does.

More to come.