# Beaver anal gland extract ought to appear on food labels **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 3, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736 "2014-08-03T20:08:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/21 "2014-08-04T01:17:07Z")
Hmm. I thought the bug colorant was in fact being used. If that isn’t correct, I’m willing to be learned. And my sources say castoreum is in fact used as an ingredient in foods. If it isn’t, then I suppose all this doesn’t matter. But I’m not convinced that is the case. And, without it being required to appear on food labels, it can be pretty hard to know for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/22 "2014-08-04T01:20:53Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > And my sources say castoreum is in fact used as an ingredient in foods. If it isn’t, then I suppose all this doesn’t matter. But I’m not convinced that is the case. And, without it being required to appear on food labels, it can be pretty hard to know for sure. I guess I’m unclear as to how “castoreum” is supposed to be interpreted by the great unwashed as being “beaver anal gland extract”. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/23 "2014-08-04T01:26:53Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Hmm. I thought the bug colorant was in fact being used. If that isn’t correct, I’m willing to be learned. And my sources say castoreum is in fact used as an ingredient in foods. If it isn’t, then I suppose all this doesn’t matter. But I’m not convinced that is the case. And, without it being required to appear on food labels, it can be pretty hard to know for sure. Of course, if one does not think a lot about the logistics. And thanks to new tests and constant vigilance from groups like those it is really unlikely that the companies would risk it, and since castorium is needed in other industries it is really a stretch to think that something that controversial would be used as a food additive seeing that the quantities they gather are not likely to be massive, and once again the costs of the very bad PR they could get are IMHO not worth it. This sounds like the old rumour that [Bubble Yum was using spider eggs for the gum](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/food/bubbleyum.asp), how would they get the quantities needed for the mass production? With spider farms? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/24 "2014-08-04T01:47:40Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I guess I’m unclear as to how “castoreum” is supposed to be interpreted by the great unwashed as being “beaver anal gland extract”. People who care about this things are probably motivated to find out what “castoreum” is. You could have a general rule requiring all foods containing animal products to be so labelled. There are enough people in the community who have religious or ethical objections to eating animal products to make this a reasonable imposition on the producers. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/25 "2014-08-04T01:52:45Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > You could have a general rule requiring all foods containing animal products to be so labelled. There are enough people in the community who have religious or ethical objections to eating animal products to make this a reasonable imposition on the producers. In general, I would have no objection to this. Is castoreum generally included in foods that are marketed as vegetarian? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/26 "2014-08-04T02:09:41Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > In general, I would have no objection to this. Is castoreum generally included in foods that are marketed as vegetarian? Well, you’d hope not. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable to go a bit further. If a food might be reasonably expected or assumed to be vegetarian but in fact isn’t, there should be a labelling requirement. Vanilla is normally a vegetarian product; if you’re using non-vegetarian vanilla you should have to say so. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/27 "2014-08-04T02:30:20Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Hmm. I thought the bug colorant was in fact being used. If that isn’t correct, I’m willing to be learned. Yes, they’re still using crushed bugs for coloring. One very common one is cochineal which gives a very nice red color and is GRAS for food and cosmetics. Cochineal can also be processed to make carmine dye. It is sometimes listed as E120 or Natural Red No. 4. The lac beetle has also long been used for a red dye, and is still used to coat some candies. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/28 "2014-08-04T02:43:06Z")
Considering that 300 lbs of castoreum are used annually for all purposes, I think the likelihood of getting it in food products is pretty small- the vast majority is used in perfumes. By contrast, tens of thousands of tons of vanillin/vanilla extract are used annually, only about 2000 of which are from natural vanilla beans. Artificial vanillin is predominantly made from lignin or guaiacol, both of which are derived from wood, of which conifers provide the majority. So looking at it from an economic perspective, how likely is it that you’ll end up with beaver ass flavoring or artificial vanilla made from pine trees? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/29 "2014-08-04T02:43:30Z")
I did remember that part of the Cochineal partially, however, it is true that even if it is allowed the products are labelled and most of the time the point of risking backlash is still there: > **[Are Some Red Food Colorings Made from Ground Bugs?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/red-food-colorings/)** > > Are the red food colorants cochineal and carmine made from ground bugs? > [@](#): > > Another red dye used in foods, FD&C Red Dye #40 (alternatively known as Red #40), is often mistakenly assumed to be a euphemism for cochineal or carmine. It’s > not: it’s bug-free and is actually derived from coal. > > Our distaste at the thought of ingesting bugs is based on cultural factors rather than the properties or flavors of the insects themselves. Western society eschews (rather than chews) bugs, hence the widespread “Ewww!” reaction to the news that some of our favorite foods contain insect extract. > > In March 2012, Starbucks was on the receiving end of that kind of visceral reaction after it came to light that the colorant used in its Strawberries & Creme Frappuccino mix was cochineal. Starbucks asserted the switch to cochineal was part of a move away from artificial ingredients, an explanation that did little to endear the coffee giant to vegans. (The following month, the company announced it would be transitioning the red dyes used in its products from cochineal extract to tomato-based lycopene.) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/30 "2014-08-04T03:07:20Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Considering that 300 lbs of castoreum are used annually for all purposes, I think the likelihood of getting it in food products is pretty small- the vast majority is used in perfumes. This. In fact I’m surprised that there’s that much produced. The beaver pelt industry went belly up when the population bottomed out, and over a lot of its range it’s still protected. The idea that some would be used in non-homeopathic amounts to flavor our Twinkies and ice cream is preposterous. **Try2B Comprehensive** , the article was from the NY Post. One should always consider the source before reacting. And the Swedes were only saying it could, legally, be used in food, not that it was. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/31 "2014-08-04T15:14:49Z")
> [@DingoelGringo](#): > > Any thing that has a label is not food. It is just stuff that some people put in their mouth instead of food. Pull a carrot out of the ground,note there is no label attached, butcher a chicken. no label, pick an apple off a tree, no label. Food doesn’t have labels just other stuff. If you mix a bunch of shit together and wish to pretend it is food what should it matter what label you put on it? That’s just silly. If you buy a bag of carrots at the store it’s got a label. If you buy a chicken at the store it’s got a label. The label on a bag of Fritos includes it’s ingredients where are corn, corn oil, and salt so that’s clearly a food too. Haagen Daz vanilla ice cream contains cream, skim milk, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla extract according to their label. A bag of Fritos and ice cream are certainly foods. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/32 "2014-08-04T15:22:45Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Most foods colored red are done so with crushed beetles. It’s used in some food colorings, but I don’t think it’s anything like majority. > [@GIGObuster](#): > > vegan groups and religious groups […] already put the kibbutz to the idea to use castoreum as a food additive, so for all what you did your point is a moot one. That’s the kibosh. I don’t think you would want to put beaver anal gland extract on a collective farming community, but I guess if they were into it… ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/33 "2014-08-04T16:42:14Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > That’s just silly. If you buy a bag of carrots at the store it’s got a label. If you buy a chicken at the store it’s got a label. The label on a bag of Fritos includes it’s ingredients where are corn, corn oil, and salt so that’s clearly a food too. Haagen Daz vanilla ice cream contains cream, skim milk, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla extract according to their label. A bag of Fritos and ice cream are certainly foods. There’s a lot of retardation going on out there about “processed” food and the evils thereof. For example, refined sugar is thought to be the most horrible thing for someone apparently, because it’s “highly processed” and unnatural. News flash- all they ultimately do is crystallize the cane juice, remove the molasses, clarify it with carbon filtration, and package it. There’s no weird chemical processes going on, just physical refinement of something that’s already there. What’s left over is molasses, which isn’t terribly nutritious either- it has Ca, Mg and Fe in abundance, but that’s about it. Yet these same clowns will happily eat “evaporated cane juice” or “raw sugar” and think they’re doing something healthy, when in fact, they’re eating the exact same sugar that the rest of us are, but with more molasses. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/34 "2014-08-04T17:00:21Z")
All I know is that the next time someone complains about artificial vanilla extracted from wood, I now have the perfect, pure, and all-natural substitute to offer them. As for the issue of labeling: Look, we can’t put everything on a label. There are people who would want to know whether these are free-range, sustainably produced beavers from the Happy Beaver Farm outside of Seattle, using native beavers with no genetic modification, fed no antibiotics and raised on a totally vegetarian diet. That paragraph is for one ingredient! We can’t require food labels to contain ten pages of legalese about the sourcing of every ingredient. It’s just not going to happen. Each little exception might seem significant, but enough of those little things adds up. If a person wants to follow some strict diet, then I think they need to own the responsibility for that. Contact the company directly and ask for a statement about the sourcing of their ingredients. If you can’t get a satisfactory answer (after all, companies have the right to use multiple sources, or to keep trade secrets) then you’ll have to decide whether you still want to risk eating the product. ---
**Author:** ![jrock645](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@jrock645](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrock645)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/35 "2014-08-04T18:25:03Z")
its disgusting to me that any of this junk would be in food. Since when is food not… well, food? I just don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/36 "2014-08-04T18:36:04Z")
While the tag _“You are what you eat”_ was always designed to encourage some introspection and possibly discomfort, this kinda takes it to a whole new level. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/37 "2014-08-04T18:47:13Z")
Virtually every food stuff can be described in various ways; some pleasant, some not-so-pleasant. [Relevant example.](http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=3438#comic) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/38 "2014-08-04T18:50:28Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > You missed this line in your cite: > > This is all nice to know, but 1) you’re not going to change my mind about eating beaver anal gland extract no matter how nice you make it sound and 2) the only way to know it isn’t in every product that contains “natural flavors” is to require a more specific labeling of it… From the Snopes cite: \*One company, in business for ninety years, informed The VRG that they have never used castoreum in their products. “At one time,” we were told by a senior level employee at this company, “to the best of my knowledge, it was used to make fragrance and still may be.” A major ingredients supplier told us this about some of their vanilla flavorings: “[Castoreum] is not a common raw material that is used and we don’t use it, so I can safely say that our natural vanilla flavors do not contain any animal juices. All vanilla extracts are free of it, too, wherever you go.”\* In other words, no one uses it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/39 "2014-08-04T19:10:54Z")
> [@jrock645](#): > > its disgusting to me that any of this junk would be in food. Since when is food not… well, food? I just don’t get it. Who says it’s not food? People have in the past and still do eat all kinds of things you’d think are strange. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736/40 "2014-08-04T19:44:17Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Who says it’s not food? People have in the past and still do eat all kinds of things you’d think are strange. Chorizo varies but it’s often Pork salivary glands and lymph nodes stuffed into intestines- _as the main ingredients._ When castoreum _was_ used, it was just a trace as a flavoring. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaver-anal-gland-extract-ought-to-appear-on-food-labels/694736.md?page=3)