EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 291; Flight Crew Total 1479; Flight Crew Type 491
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
At cruise the Flight Attendant said she smelt something bad in the back from the galley to zone B. We smelt it too and began to troubleshoot the situation. We noticed that the packs were still set to warm from the morning flight. Together we thought the smell could be a pack working too hard. We began to cool the cockpit and cabin; and the smell was no longer with us upfront. The flight attendant said she could still smell it and some passengers could now also taste it. She also said that passengers and herself were dizzy. So we worked with ATC to return to ZZZ.We believe the smell was caused by the packs and they needed to be cooled down.When the flight attendant said her and passengers felt sick we determined using all available information it would be best to return to ZZZ. There was a more than 100 knot head wind to ZZZ1 with an ETA of 48 minutes and only 22 back to ZZZ.We worked together as the whole crew using all available resources both inside and outside the aircraft to come to the decision to return to ZZZ.
EMB-175 First Officer reported that fumes in the cabin resulted in a return to the departure airport.