I don't know what universal solvent you are seeking but I do know you can't substitute polar for non-polar solvents. Generally, polar are edible because they are water-based and non-polar are toxic to humans.
As for the food smells, I have had those reactions, too. I eat meat but sometimes raw beef smells so incredibly bloody-horrid that I have to get at least 3 other noses to reassure me that it isn't rotting. Veg, esp. in the cabbage family also have this happen occasionally. It is just one of those weird things, I guess. When I was vegetarian meat didn't smell all that awful to me but it did often smell strong and I found that a bit unappetizing, just not in the dead-gross way.
I'm already using the universal solvent (uh, which is polar, come to think of it, though that distinction had completely failed to occur to me until you mentioned it); I'm seeking a solvent better suited to a specific task. (Specifically, in this case, removing glued-on labels from glass and plastic spice jars -- so I'll Google what homebrewers use to get labels off of beer bottles.)
Meat smelled really awful for a month or two in the late 1980s; now it's only certain meats certain ways (like turkey being rendered into soup) and not a specifically "garbage" smell. I'm not at all surprised to hear that other noses work differently.
I do seem to be more sensitive to the rotting-meat smell of meat in the garbage that actually is rotting, than I used to be, but most folks take out their garbage often enough for that not to come up often.
(no subject)
As for the food smells, I have had those reactions, too. I eat meat but sometimes raw beef smells so incredibly bloody-horrid that I have to get at least 3 other noses to reassure me that it isn't rotting. Veg, esp. in the cabbage family also have this happen occasionally. It is just one of those weird things, I guess. When I was vegetarian meat didn't smell all that awful to me but it did often smell strong and I found that a bit unappetizing, just not in the dead-gross way.
(no subject)
Meat smelled really awful for a month or two in the late 1980s; now it's only certain meats certain ways (like turkey being rendered into soup) and not a specifically "garbage" smell. I'm not at all surprised to hear that other noses work differently.
I do seem to be more sensitive to the rotting-meat smell of meat in the garbage that actually is rotting, than I used to be, but most folks take out their garbage often enough for that not to come up often.