CHEMISTRY

Last week you may have thought I was a little too taken up with the ingredients in common drinks.  Well, as a follow up, I have the following good info for you.  The FDA allows companies to use the words "natural flavoring" for quite a few ingredients.  I'm sure this phrase gives you a warm, cuddly feeling.

One of these "natural ingredients" is beaver juice.  You heard me right and, "No", there is nothing sexual about this.  A common food ingredient comes from the exudate of the castor sacs located next to the anal glands of beavers.  The gooey slime is called castoreum.  The 'food people' don't want to use that name because it could turn users off; it goes as "natural flavoring".

The slimy brown substance gets mixed with gland secretions and urine and is used by the beavers to mark their territory.  I'm not sure who figured this out but this castoreum, because the beavers have a diet consisting of bark, wood and leaves, has the smell (and taste) of vanilla.  Viola!  If you eat or drink something that has a vanilla flavor, you may be ingesting beaver butt juice.

If you don't believe me, go catch a beaver; get a good hold of it (they can be mean); lift it's tail (you may need help with this) and stick your thumbs up near the anus.  Now, squeeze.  Ah!  the smell is grand...and totally natural.

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