Is There Castoreum In Your Food?

Thanks, Linda, for introducing me to the website Earth911. This website will give you ideas about recycling, DIY projects for food, health, and less waste. They will give you some very useful information, as I found in a recent post on their website.

We all know about the interesting things that are in our foods these days, and the old adage to never eat anything that you can't pronounce. There's an ingredient out in the food world called Castoreum, and after I tell you what it is you will be reading labels to be sure it's not in your ice cream or vanilla flavoring. Castoreum is literally a secretion from the anal glans of a mature North American beaver. Beaver butt juice is a common ingredient in vanilla flavoring, so you might expect to find it in any product that is flavored with vanilla. Pudding and ice cream come to mind. Castoreum is FDA approved, and is listed as "natural flavoring" on most food labels.

So, consumer beware. Check labels carefully. Look for castoreum on the label, and proceed at your own risk. How it adds to the flavor of the product, I do not know. Just knowing that it's in something I'm eating would steer me away. No beaver butt juice for me!