Why This Canadian Dairy Queen Smelled Like Rotten Eggs For Years

It's 2015, and it's a particularly warm day in Alberta, Canada. The citizens of Calgary are in the mood for a nice, cold ice cream treat. They head to their newly opened local Dairy Queen to enjoy a classic sundae, or maybe have one of the chain's famous Blizzards. The crowd of ice-cream-craving Calgarites eagerly flood into the establishment, expecting to be greeted with the scent of fresh ice cream and candy toppings — only to hurry back out, covering their noses with their shirts. Instead of being filled with the aroma of Choco-Brownie Extreme Blizzard Treats, the whole Dairy Queen from the dining area to the kitchen reeks of something foul and half-rotten. 

It was only the beginning of a disgusting mystery for owner Sujad Bandali and the DQ employees. According to CBC News, ever since the store opened, the presence of an odor similar to rotten eggs seemed to linger around the store at every turn. Bandali believed that odor was from natural gas, although multiple experts at the local fire station and Calgary-based energy company ATCO did not find any leaks in the store. 

Desperate for answers about the source of this mystery odor, Bandali even offered free Blizzards a week for a year to the person who could correctly identify the source of the smell (via CTV News). Fortunately for Bandali, the employees, and the Calgary citizens, the source was literally hidden in plain sight.

It turned out that Bandali's original theory of what caused the odor was correct: There was a natural gas leak in the store after all. But if both the fire department and ATCO conducted multiple tests in the restaurant to find leaks, why couldn't they pick up on it? 

According to the Toronto Star, it was only discovered when someone at the gas company decided to perform a "dead check," meaning all gas appliances were shut off and the area was monitored without any interference to catch any hidden leaks. To their surprise, there was a gas leak in the back of the store, up in the ceiling. Although small, the leak was enough to cause the awful rotten egg smell that plagued the Dairy Queen for so long. "The interesting thing is the smell was coming from the entrance, but the leak was coming from the far end of the store," said a relieved Bandali. "The way the ventilation was working, it was pushing the smell to the front of the store."

The two gas employees who found the leak would have been rewarded with free Blizzards, but they turned down Bandali's offer. Wanting to share his happiness of no longer dealing with the mysterious smell, Bandali announced that money from Blizzard sales would be donated to the Children's Miracle Network once a week in celebration (via Calgary City News).