What does vanilla have to do with beavers? A relationship that seems somewhat absurd but that could be of interest to you. Processed foods include on their lists ingredients of which we know little about their origin and which in some cases are somewhat strange. In one of the most absurd discoveries but one that will surely arouse your interest, vanilla cookies and some candies may contain vanilla flavoring made from a substance called castoreumwhich is obtained from the anal glands of the beaver.
Beavers are very peculiar animals belonging to the genus of rodents. They live mainly in North America and Eurasia, which includes territories in Europe and Asia. But in addition to their great ability to build dams with just their teeth, they also have another little-known ability that will surprise you. They are able to ‘urinate’ vanilla, of course not in the literal sense, but rather they secrete a substance called castoreum that they use to mark their territory. The curious thing here is that the food industry discovered that this substance that is housed in their anal glands has an aroma that is extremely similar to vanilla.
What is castoreum?
The castoreum has a musky aroma mixed with vanilla, resulting from its diet based on leaves and tree bark. For this reason the food industry uses it to flavor its products. And no, they don’t do it illegally, in fact, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lists castoreum as a «generally regarded as safe» additive. So the industry has been using it for the last 80 years for flavoring whether it’s food or perfume.
Although its use is quite small, according to the Fenaroli Flavor Ingredients Manual, only 132 kilograms per year of castoreum, castoreum extract and castoreum liquid. But the most curious thing is that FDA allows castoreum not to be referred to directly as an ingredient on product labels. So manufacturers can simply name it ‘natural flavoring’.
But of course, obtaining this peculiar substance is not easy at all. For themBeavers must be anesthetized and then ‘milk’ the castor sacs between their pelvis and the base of their tail. In this way, the sticky substance is obtained, which is then processed and then added to food and gives it a vanilla aroma. Therefore, foods that add castoreum to flavor vanilla They are not considered vegan because of their animal origin.
The food industry has been using ingredients that we know little about for decades, and in cases like this, they are simply incredible. Declining for what is natural will continue to be the only safe way to be one hundred percent sure of what we really consume.
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