“Can we actually be eating a substance secreted from the anal glands of beavers when we eat a vanilla ice cream or cake?” Even the question makes you feel bad.
Such a claim is circulating on the Internet. Like everyone else, we wondered and investigated whether this situation was real.
How is vanilla extract produced?
Vanilla is a natural product extracted from the fruits of some orchids. When the time comes, it is collected and passed through various processes. Finally, a vanilla stick is obtained by drying.
You can easily prepare vanilla essence at home with or without alcohol, thanks to the vanilla stick. All you need is a vanilla stick.
What is castoreum (beaver fat)?
Castoreum is a chemical compound that comes mostly from sacs located between a beaver’s pelvis and the base of the tail. Due to its proximity to the anal glands, castoreum often presents as a combination of castor gland secretions, anal gland secretions, and urine. This liquid is fragrant, brownish and has the consistency of molasses.
Where does the link between vanilla-flavored foods and drinks and beaver anal juices come from?
According to a claim, the possibility of using castoreum, also known as beaver oil, instead of vanilla extract, in vanilla-flavored foods and beverages for various reasons has caused people to worry.
Being told that they were more likely to eat/drink castoreum than vanilla extract caused fear in people.
So, does the ingredient we really think of as vanilla come from beavers, not from orchids?
It would not be wrong to say that vanilla extract is obtained from beavers in some places, and according to researches, this substance has been used in various places for 80 years. However, this rate is not as high as claimed.
So the vanilla syrup latte you’re drinking probably has nothing to do with beavers.
Do beavers have anal fluid not only in what we eat but also in the vanilla perfumes we use?
You can come across Castoreum more in vanilla-flavored perfumes than in foods. Especially if you use a quality perfume, your chance of encountering castorerum will be higher.
The fact that you do not come across this substance anywhere is due to the fact that castoreum is quite difficult to obtain.
Apart from perfume and food, it is also known that it was used medicinally in the 18th century to treat diseases such as headache, fever and hysteria.
Should we milk beavers like cows?
To obtain Castoreum, it is necessary to anesthetize the beavers and then milk them. Therefore, it is quite difficult to obtain castoreum for these reasons.
This difficulty of course causes very little use of castoreum. Therefore, being able to obtain so little makes it more valuable, which can be shown as another reason why it cannot be put into every product.
The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) puts castoreum in the “healthy and natural foods category” and describes it as “generally safe”.
It is even known that he wrote castoreum as a natural sweetener while writing the content. It’s pretty natural indeed, isn’t it? 🙂
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