The culprit behind this scare is a flavorant called castoreum—but what exactly is it, and is it worth all the fuss? An odorous combination of vanilla and raspberry with floral hints, castoreum ...

It's a myth that artificial vanilla flavoring comes from castoreum extracted from beaver castor sacs. Flavor chemists explain that artificial vanilla flavor is made from synthetic vanillin.

News articles or food influencers on social media might have you believe that castoreum, a yellow, syrupy substance from the castor sacs near a beaver’s anus, is used as everyday vanilla ...

In the early 20th century, castoreum was added to some foods as vanilla-raspberry flavoring, according to Smithsonian Magazine. However, castoreum has largely fallen out of favor as a vanilla ...

In her Vice article from December 2018, she wrote that “if [castoreum] was being used in flavorings, I knew there was only one reason for it: It must be delicious. I also knew, from ...