Baking soda and sunlight do the trick.

The best way to get strong food odors out of a plastic lunch box is a baking soda soak plus a few hours in direct sunlight.

Skip the scrub brush. Scrubbing with anything abrasive will scratch the plastic, and those scratches are exactly where smell gets trapped for good. Use a soft sponge or just your hands.

Make a paste with baking soda and a little water, coat the inside, let it sit for 15 minutes, then rinse. That handles most smells. For tougher ones — think fish or curry — fill it with warm water and a quarter cup of white vinegar, and let it soak for an hour instead. Then wash normally with dish soap and water.

The sunlight part matters more than you’d think. UV light actually breaks down the odorous compounds. Set the box on a sunny windowsill for a few hours after it’s clean and dry. If it still smells in the morning, it was probably a different issue — you might have a strain or a crack that’s soaking into the material. At that point, replacing it is the honest answer.

Denture tablets work too, by the way. Drop one in with water overnight and the bubbling gets into nooks without any scrubbing.

Future lunches will thank you.