# Just what the heck are the additives "parfum" and "fragrance"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 28, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-what-the-heck-are-the-additives-parfum-and-fragrance/537593 "2010-04-28T02:44:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-what-the-heck-are-the-additives-parfum-and-fragrance/537593/1 "2010-04-28T02:44:09Z")
You know, the generic perfumy scent added to darn near **everything**. I didn’t want to hijack the thread on hating perfume, but I was curious just what the heck these mysterious ingredients are. I mean, if you wanted to postulate a paranoid scenerio where the Illuminati make sure their secret chemical is added to everything, you couldn’t do better than “fragrance”. What’s more, it seems to be almost mysteriously difficult to discover just what this stuff is. No one seems to know, at least by a casual search of the web. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-what-the-heck-are-the-additives-parfum-and-fragrance/537593/2 "2010-04-28T02:52:13Z")
I don’t believe it’s any one chemical. I believe that it is a catch-all term. like when something mentions natural flavors. I’m not asserting any special knowledge. That’s just the idea I got when I looked this up a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-what-the-heck-are-the-additives-parfum-and-fragrance/537593/3 "2010-04-28T03:04:33Z")
Yeah, “parfum” is what the labelling regs call the smelly stuff. It’s nothing sinister, it could be natural or synthetic, and there are thousands of scent chemicals out there. It’s a whole industry. The chemical company ICI used to have a “flavours and fragrances” division called Quest, which has since been sold to [this Swiss firm](http://www.givaudan.com/givcom/). So to say “nobody knows what they are” is pretty disingenuous. [Here](http://www.givaudan.com/givcom/jsp/channelViewUtil.jsp?channel=Ingredients/Fragrance/Products), there’s pages of the stuff: > [@](#): > > Acetal CD > Floral, Green, Honey, Rosy > > Adoxal > Fresh, Aldehydic, Marine, Powerful, Floral > > Aldehyde C 10 Decylic Food Grade > Powerful, Waxy, Aldehydic, Orange, Citrus peel > > Aldehyde C 11 Undecylenic Food Grade > Powerful, Aldehydic, Floral-Green, Rosy, Citrus > > Aldehyde C 110 Undecylic Food Grade > Aldehydic, Citrus peel, Fatty, Diffusive > > Aldehyde C 12 Lauric Food Grade > Aldehydic, Intense, Woody, Fresh, Clean and so on… ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-what-the-heck-are-the-additives-parfum-and-fragrance/537593/4 "2018-05-19T22:03:23Z")
Sorry for the bump, but I had a slightly different question on the subject: so how the heck do manufacturers get a pass on not specifying all these chemicals, when they’re otherwise required to put an exhaustive breakdown of the contents on the labels? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2018, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-what-the-heck-are-the-additives-parfum-and-fragrance/537593/5 "2018-05-19T22:11:48Z")
They’re [exempted by law](https://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ProductsIngredients/Ingredients/ucm388821.htm): > [@](#): > > Labeling of Fragrance Ingredients > > If a cosmetic is marketed on a retail basis to consumers, such as in stores, on the Internet, or person-to-person, it must have a list of ingredients. In most cases, each ingredient must be listed individually. But under U.S. regulations, fragrance and flavor ingredients can be listed simply as “Fragrance” or “Flavor.” > > Here’s why: FDA requires the list of ingredients under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA). This law is not allowed to be used to force a company to tell “trade secrets.” Fragrance and flavor formulas are complex mixtures of many different natural and synthetic chemical ingredients, and they are the kinds of cosmetic components that are most likely to be “trade secrets.” To learn more, see the regulation on cosmetic ingredient labeling and the Federal Register notice for this regulation, which addresses “trade secrets” and the FPLA. Click on the links in that site for more details. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-what-the-heck-are-the-additives-parfum-and-fragrance/537593/7 "2020-03-25T08:37:36Z")
Reported.