Castoreum is a natural flavoring that can be used in vanilla or strawberry-flavored foods.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not a lab-made creation, neither is it a unique-sounding plant.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the name of an excretion from the anal castor sacs of beavers.<\/p>\n
This substance has been used for centuries in medicines and soaps in addition to food.<\/p>\n
But you won\u2019t find \u201ccastoreum\u201d listed as an ingredient in ice cream or strawberry syrup.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s often grouped under the term \u201cnatural flavorings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Using Beaver Sac Excretion as a Vanilla Flavoring. However, there\u2019s no need to stress about how much castoreum you may have unknowingly consumed.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s deemed safe by the FDA, which claimed \u201ca long historical use of castoreum extract as a flavoring and fragrance ingredient<\/p>\n
has resulted in no reports of human adverse reactions.\u201d But companies avoid it for several reason.<\/p>\n
For one, it prevents their products from being certified kosher. And even more importantly, it\u2019s costly to use beaver sac excretion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the flavor industry, you need tons and tons of material to work with,\u201d says flavor chemist Gary Reineccius,<\/p>\n
from the University of Minnesota. \u201cIt\u2019s not like you can grow fields of beavers to harvest.<\/p>\n
There aren\u2019t very many of them. So it ends up being a very expensive product \u2014 and not very popular with food companies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProud to be Castoreum\u201d. Similarly, Michelle Francl, a chemist at Bryn Mawr College,<\/p>\n
assures people that there\u2019s no chance that beaver excretion of any kind is snuck into<\/p>\n
foods because of the high costs. Especially when compared to plants like vanilla orchids,<\/p>\n
which can be grown and harvested on a massive scale. However, people may use castoreum<\/p>\n
in niche products like b\u00e4versnaps, a Swedish liquor. In those cases, the unique ingredient<\/p>\n
is proudly advertised. The substance is harvested by trapping and killing beavers before<\/p>\n
removing their castor glands, which are dried and ground up. Alcohol extracts castoreum,<\/p>\n
a method similar to how vanilla extract is taken from plants.<\/p>\n
Medicinal Uses. Surprisingly, this sac excretion is a versatile remedy used throughout history.<\/p>\n
It was used to treat stomach upsets, fevers, and mental illnesses, and it was added to soaps and lotions.<\/p>\n
For a while, cigarettes contained it to enhance the naturally sweet smell.<\/p>\n
Castoreum contains salicylic acid, which is the pain-killing ingredient in aspirin.<\/p>\n
As gross as its origin may sound, this substance has its uses.<\/p>\n
The discovery of castoreum came during the height of the fur trade,<\/p>\n
which almost wiped out the beaver population in North America and Eurasia.<\/p>\n
In fact, the species faced extinction in the 16th century in Europe and the 19th century<\/p>\n
in North America How Beavers Use Their Sac Excretion Of course, sac excretion is helpful<\/p>\n
for the beavers themselves. They use it to mark their territories, although the males<\/p>\n
in beaver families usually take charge of this task. They also use it to identify family members<\/p>\n
since each beaver\u2019s sac scent differs. The substance also makes their tails and fur more slick and water-resistant.<\/p>\n
Your Vanilla Ice Cream is Safe. Their diet of leaves, bark, and other bits of fauna are responsible<\/p>\n
for the sweet-smelling vanilla aroma. But don\u2019t worry about finding castoreum in your food under the innocent-sounding label \u201cnatural flavorings.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf food companies can find anything else to substitute for vanilla or to create a strawberry flavor,<\/p>\n
they will,\u201d Reineccius says. \u201cIt actually isn\u2019t very hard to make a basic strawberry flavor that you would recognize with just two compounds.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Castoreum is a natural flavoring that can be used in vanilla or strawberry-flavored foods. But it\u2019s not a lab-made creation, neither is it a unique-sounding plant. It\u2019s… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n