The misconception is perhaps related
to the common household practice
of placing an open package of
baking soda inside refrigerators to remove
food odors. Sodium bicarbonate
does, in fact, remove airborne odors
caused by acidic or basic compounds.
For example, two common odors in
refrigerators are caused by lactic acid
in spoiled milk or acetic acid from,
for example, the vinegar in pickles.
When these acidic, airborne molecules
contact baking soda inside a refrigerator,
they react with bicarbonate
and are neutralized to less odorous
compounds. Similarly, odorous
basic gases such as ammonia are neutralized
to less odorous compounds
when they contact baking soda.
The major off-flavors in pond-raised
catfish are caused by geosmin and 2-
methylisoborneol. Both compounds
are cyclic alcohols produced by algae.
They are neither acidic nor basic, and
do not react with bicarbonate.