I tasted the world's SMELLIEST food that's so stinky it's banned by airlines

Of all the extreme food challenges circulating on social media, surströmming is surely one the most gruesome.

Frequently described as the 'the world's stinkiest food', surströmming is a traditional dish from northern Sweden that arose in the 16th century.

It consists of small Baltic herring that have been soaked in brine and left to ferment before being packed into a can.

The fermentation process continues in the can – 'souring' as the Swedes refer to it – which builds up pressure and results in a bulging tin.

Surströmming is full of thriving communities of bacteria who can survive the salty brine, which also prevents the fish from rotting.

Allegedly, surströmming is even whiffier than Iceland's fermented shark dish 'hákarl' or the Asian fruit durian, said to smell like a used gym sock.

As a result, the Swedish delicacy has been banned by several airlines, including Air France, British Airways, Finnair, and KLM.

Not to be deterred, MailOnline's Assistant Science Editor, Jonathan Chadwick, opened a can – and soon wished he hadn't.

I purchase my surströmming from Scandi Kitchen, a Swedish café and basement shop on Great Titchfield Street in central London.

The £17.99 can – which packs 400g of fermented herring – apparently has to be kept chilled at all times.

Surely, this is my first warning sign, as tinned food is usually fine at room temperature.

A label on the shelf tells me, or rather warns me: 'This is the traditional Swedish fermented herring – a true delicacy.

'The smell is strong, often voted 'the worst smell in the world' – but the taste is nice. Yes, really.'

I've read online that surströmming should be opened outside because the smell lingers indoors for days or even weeks.

Therefore, I take it into my back garden before I tackle it with the can opener.

I've also heard it's best to open the surströmming in a basin of water, which I don't bother with – but soon regret it.

As the can very suddenly squirts out murky liquid, I audibly gasp – a bit like the chest-burster moment in 'Alien'.

And there's no doubt it's the most loathsome, fetid scent that's ever wafted my way. I think even Fat Ba****d from the Austin Powers movies would struggle to describe this.

Imagine the worst fart you've ever done, coupled with the smell of unwashed body parts, plus the pong of rotting fish and seaweed that you get at some sea ports.

That's the unique bouquet emanating from the fish and the surrounding fluid, which is now all over my hands and my garden patio.

My next job is rinsing the poor little fish in cold water – which does nothing to get rid of the smell – and then stripping them from the bone.

As is the traditional Swedish fashion, I'm serving the fish raw with boiled potatoes, chopped red onion, crisp flatbread and a glass of milk, but this utterly fails to make my meal more palatable.

Swedes insist that the taste of surströmming is pleasant – but that's a total lie.

Although a bit more bearable than the smell, the taste is intensely salty and funky, like licking someone's foot after they've run a marathon. There's also a hint of iron from the flesh and plenty other flavours that I can't put my finger on.

But my ordeal does not end there; the next morning, the scent of surströmming still persists in the kitchen, aided by the still summer air.

And about 12 hours later in the MailOnline office, I start to get what feels like food poisoning symptoms – headache, wooziness, cold flushes, shivering and nausea.

I have to sweat it out in bed that night, but the symptoms keep persisting over the next two days.

Surstromming.com claims it is 'micro-biologically a very safe product' to eat – but surely any kind of raw fish carries higher a risk of causing illness compared with cooked, especially in an environment where bacteria is encouraged to grow.

Overall, this is not only the worst food challenge I've done, but the worst thing I've ever eaten. Why on Earth Swedes eat this dish for pleasure is beyond me.

I think I'd sooner eat an entire Carolina Reaper burger than ever come anywhere near surströmming again.