Update: I found this quote on the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream site: “Castoreum is not an ingredient that we use in our ice cream, we use solely pure vanilla extract, but we appreciate you contacting us regarding this issue.” Sweet diggety! I can continue to eat Chunky Monkey. 🙂
Holy Canolies, guess what else might be in our ice cream? {A big thanks to my friend Jen who passed this AWESOME info along.} Apparently seaweed wasn’t enough, ice cream can also contain an ingredient called Castoreum. Doesn’t sound too terribly gross or offensive, right? Think again. Because there is no delicate way to put this, I am just going to let Wikipedia do the talking:
Castoreum /kæsˈtɔriəm/ is the exudate from the castor sacs of the mature North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) and the European Beaver (Castor fiber). Within the zoological realm, castoreum is the yellowish secretion of the castor sac which is, in combination with the beaver’s urine, used during scent marking of territory.[1][2] Both male and female beavers possess a pair of castor sacs and a pair of anal glands located in two cavities under the skin between the pelvis and the base of the tail.[3] The castor sacs are not true glands (endocrine or exocrine) on a cellular level, hence references to these structures as preputial glands or castor glands are misnomers.[4] Castor sacs are a type of scent gland. Today, it is used as a tincture in some perfumes[5] and as a food additive.
Here’s the tricky part, it’s commonly used to get a vanilla flavor in food–and is listed as “natural flavoring” in the ingredients. Which, makes it read a lot better than beaver extract, but also makes it difficult to know which brands use it and which don’t. {According to Wikipedia, though, it’s less commonly used than vanillin, a synthetic form of vanilla.} I don’t think I’ll look at another pint of Chunky Monkey quite the same again.
Good find Jen! Way to go! Does this make you want to start making your own ice cream or what?
~Mavis
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Crystal says
It is also used as a “natural flavor” for strawberry and raspberry flavored items too!
Tammy says
I’ve been doing my best to avoid buying things with “natural flavorings” in them for this reason, but also because I really want to know what is in my food! And when you say “natural flavorings” it is a blanket statement for things that may or may not be healthy and things I want to eat. I was at the health food store specifically to buy Rice Dream but it has natural flavorings in it! So I bought some organic ice cream bars that had only real ingredients listed.
Linda says
I am so grossed out!! Yep, I’ll be looking for that “natural” ingredient and avoiding it like the plague!!
Jen Maldonado says
Glad you found the article as stomach turning as I did and sorry if it ruined your relationship with Chunky Monkey 😉
Kristina Z says
This sounds like civet musk (from a type of cat), which is in a lot of upscale perfumes, and folks go around with it dabbed behind their ears and on their wrists. Or for that matter, milk products are just us consuming the mammary secretions of another species. I consider both “natural”. I think we can overthink these things to the point where we can’t stand to eat anything.
Cecily says
Well said Kristina.
Peggy Stenglein says
Thank you Kristina!!
Pauline Petros says
I’m confused – are you saying Mavis that Ben and Jerry are misleading (lying) by trying to hide this ingredient under the cover all ‘flavouring’?
yas says
Who in their right mind tasted beaver scent gland goo and thought it was a good idea to use it in human foods as a fake flavor substitute? It would at least make some sort of logical sense to use it in perfumery. I don’t need to think real hard to know I don’t want to eat an animal’s scent goo.
I’ll stick to real vanilla in foods I buy already made. I make my own vanilla extract for use at home – you just get some good vanilla beans, cut them into pieces and soak them in a jar of high-proof alcohol for a while – lots of how-tos online for anyone who wants to make their own. The longer they steep the darker the color and the richer the flavor. 🙂
Julie says
Not to be weird, but I just cannot picture a beaver farm for “castoreum harvest”. Do they slaughter the beavers for their anal sac contents or to they “milk” beavers? If they slaughter – what do they do with the beaver carcass? That sounds like a LOT of effort raising them to just get a few teaspoons (??) of liquid. That’d be like raising one chicken that’s 30 lbs+ and have to hand-remove ONE egg, then dispose of the bird. Lame. Or, if they harvest, milk. the beavers. What a huge ordeal! For those that live where there are beavers – they are not animals to “handle” I would imaging the work would not be worth the “cheap” flavoring the butt-juice is used for. Vanilla beans are MUCH easier to handle :/