I believe the polite way to handle it is to take a lozenge for yourself, and then offer one for them. In this way, there is no need to bring up any hatchery-breath comments.

A toothbrush would be far more to the point. How about a pair of toothbrushes to promote togetherness?

You should ask your lover whether he/she is on the carb-free diet. You get really really bad breath on that diet even if you don't think you have bad breath. Anyway, if he/she says yes, then you can say "Good for you! no wonder your breath smells like a hatchery!" If he/she says no, move on. One way or the other.

Sir, as a former employee of a hatchery, the birthplace of some fine chicks, I must say, I was taken aback by the horrible allusion to "hatchery breath" by one of your senior writers.

Had you ever worked in a hatchery, at temperatures approaching 108 degrees fahrenheit and moist, beyond Toronto swelter you would have a far better appreciation for hatcheries and the accompanying scents.

I have worked in the brooder rooms as well, where my job was to clean the pens of scat. That is not pleasant, but a closeness approximating a Zen experience when the ammonia mix of the air is ingested into one's lungs. However, the little creatures who escaped my thumbs and were sold to the public as the creators of breakfast, such as luminaries like Gordon Stewart at the Avenue enjoy regularly will no doubt join me in my aversion to your description of something as simple as stinky breath as hatchery breath. Be careful or the Chicken Man may have to return