Products scented vanilla or strawberry can benefit from the natural flavoring castoreum. It does not, however, have a unique sound nor is a plant produced in a lab. It describes an excrement created by anal castor sacs of beavers. Food as well as soaps and drugs have long made use of this molecule. But “castoreum” won’t show on the ice cream or strawberry syrup ingredient list. Many times, it is called “natural flavors.”

Using Beaver Sac Excretion as a Vanilla Flavoring

Still, you have no reason to worry about the quantity of castoreum you might have inadvertently consumed. Declared safe by the FDA, castoreum extract is a flavoring and fragrance ingredient whose lengthy historical use has not produced any instances of human adverse reactions. Companies shun it, nevertheless, for a variety of reasons. It prevents their products from being certified kosher first of all. Besides, using beaver sac excretion is expensive.

“You need tons and tons of material to work with in the flavor business,” says University of Minnesota flavor chemist Gary Reineccius. “You cannot cultivate fields of beavers for profit. Their count is not very great. It turns out to be a somewhat costly product as well as not particularly popular with food firms.

“Proud to be Castoreum”

Similarly, Michelle Francl, a chemist at Bryn Mawr College, assures people that there’s no chance that beaver excretion of any kind is snuck into foods because of the high costs. Especially when compared to plants like vanilla orchids, which can be grown and harvested on a massive scale.

However, people may use castoreum in niche products like bäversnaps, a Swedish liquor. In those cases, the unique ingredient is proudly advertised. The substance is harvested by trapping and killing beavers before removing their castor glands, which are dried and ground up. Alcohol extracts castoreum, a method similar to how vanilla extract is taken from plants.

Medicinal Uses

Surprisingly, sac discharge is a flexible therapy that has been used throughout history. It was used to heal stomach disturbances, fevers, and mental diseases, as well as to make soap and lotion. For a while, cigarettes contained it to enhance the naturally sweet odor. Castoreum includes salicylic acid, the pain-relieving component of aspirin. As disgusting as its origin may sound, this material has applications.

The discovery of castoreum came during the height of the fur trade, which almost wiped out the beaver population in North America and Eurasia. In fact, the species faced extinction in the 16th century in Europe and the 19th century in North America

How Beavers Use Their Sac Excretion

Of course, sac excretion is helpful for the beavers themselves. They use it to mark their territories, although the males in beaver families usually take charge of this task. They also use it to identify family members since each beaver’s sac scent differs. The substance also makes their tails and fur more slick and water-resistant.

Your Vanilla Ice Cream is Safe

Their diet of leaves, bark, and other bits of fauna are responsible for the sweet-smelling vanilla aroma. But don’t worry about finding castoreum in your food under the innocent-sounding label “natural flavorings.”

“If food companies can find anything else to substitute for vanilla or to create a strawberry flavor, they will,” Reineccius says. “It actually isn’t very hard to make a basic strawberry flavor that you would recognize with just two compounds.”