:eek: How many beavers is that?
I ain’t rolling them dice.
You cannot deny that the product is as ‘all natural’ as you can possibly get.
Re Cochineal/Carmine
I accidentally drank some at a Dope Fest. I forgot to read the ingredients on a bottle of fruit punch (I don’t remember what brand) before drinking some. I also can’t remember if the label said carmine or cochineal.
Regarding Lac Secretions
If you see confectioner’s glaze in the ingredients, odds are it’s lac secretion. Sugar Babies, Sugar Daddies, Junior Mints, and most brands of candy corn use lac. Recently, the Union Of Orthodox Rabbis Of America declared lac secretions to be kosher (there’s still debate on the matter. The kosher organizations of Israel, for example, still hold that it ain’t kosher). With OU approval, I can now eat candies containing bug sweat.
Re Beaver Secretions
If this was a concern, and various cites make me think it isn’t, one could stick to brands that are certified kosher with a recognizable mark. These symbols are trademarked and EXTREMELY well-guarded. If the symbol (called a hesher) is used with permission, then all ingredients and stages in the processing have been thoroughly investigated. If the hesher is used without permission, the offending company is slapped with a lawsuit very quickly indeed.
Isn’t beaver anal gland extract a delicacy in France?
It’s an ingredient in many things. A shocking number of people are unaware that it’s made from leftover horns, hooves, and bones.
I’m also positive (though I have no cite) that these same animal bits are the source of collagen in certain cosmetics. I remember seeing an ad by one of the big cosmetic companies that their mascara now had added collagen and was more volumizing than ever. Honest.
If you stop and think about it, a lot of stuff we eat is pretty weird. I’m not talking out there, like haggis, or Rocky Mountain Oysters. I mean, look at dairy. It’s like, “Hey, I’m just going to go and squeeze those dangly things on the cow and drink whatever comes out!” Or eggs? Who thought it would be a good idea to eat something that popped out of a chicken’s butt?*
However, if you’re looking for the really gross stuff:
9 Horrifying Foods You Won’t Believe People Actually Eat
The 6 Most Terrifying Foods in the World
The Gallery of Regrettable Food
*Yes, I know eggs don’t actually come out of their butts.
Yeah, I noticed the error later, I have to learn to not follow the English Firefox dictionary recommendations on Hebrew words.
Are any rodents, like beaver, kosher? I know mice are specifically impure.
Nope. A land animal has to have cloven hooves and chew it’s cud to be kosher.
Then no, beaver anal gland juice can never be kosher. I’m loving Hebrew National’s ads selling the goyim on the idea of kosher hot dogs. Hebrew National makes a good dog, and though I’m not Jewish I like that the rabbis are keeping a jaundiced eye on things. Too bad more of ConAgra’s brands aren’t as trustworthy.
Maybe you don’t want to, but the beavers do!
Sorry, I’m going to have to slap an argumentum ad absurdum fail on this one for lameness. The ingredient has a one-word name. Putting it on the label doesn’t put us on the slippery slope to Babel.
So then don’t eat it. Simple as that.
Most folks don’t know what carmine is. If you put “castoreum” on labels, almost nobody would know what it was. It certainly wouldn’t be an adequate warning for your purposes.
The people who wouldn’t know what “castoreum” was and wouldn’t feel inclined to find the meaning themselves aren’t the people who give a shit if it’s listed on the ingredients in the first place. Consumers who want to be informed will take the initiative to at least understand the information provided them.
I think you missed the point of the thread.
What he said. Right now, if it is in any food product, it is a secret. Labeling it puts the ball in the consumers’ court.
As consumers, we have the right to know whether there is DNA, RNA, amino acids, antifreeze, monkey pus and beaver anal gland secretions* in our food. I want it all labeled.
And meat - there should be DVDs accompanying every package of sausages so we know how they are made.
Information is power.
*I actually don’t mind the beaver anal gland extract, as long as it’s non-GMO. Just keep that DNA out of my food. Next thing you know it’ll incorporate into our genomes and we’ll develop flat tails and beady eyes.
On a semi-serious note, it has been proposed that food be extensively bar-coded so that the curious/wary/paranoid can look up what’s in a product using a smartphone or similar device. This would avoid the need for companies to print labels listing every conceivable ingredient, manufacturing process, country of origin etc. This however would not be enough for people whose interest in “open” labeling is to discourage sales of a particular product.
I just realized this solves our global warming/rising sea levels problem. Off to the patent office!
What’s that supposed to mean?
All food products with castoreum in American are labeled, since there are no food products in America with castoreum. Why are you missing that point? It’s like demanding that ground up Egyptian Mummy must be clearly identified on food labels.
And more importantly its probably a heck of a lot more expensive than other “natural” vanilla flavors. The only way it would make sense economically to see to use it would be as part of a gourmet product, in which case you would probably want to advertise its presence as a select ingredient like Kopi Luwak.