Beaver butts emit goo used in vanilla flavored foods
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Beavers are among the largest of the rodents. (JOEL SARTORE/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC)
Next time you pick up a vanilla candy, think twice. A chemical compound used in vanilla flavored foods and scents comes from the butt of a beaver.
Castoreum comes from a beaver’s castor sacs, located between the pelvis and base of the tail. Due to its proximity to the anal glands, the slimy brown substance is often mixed with gland secretions and urine.
“I lift up the animal’s tail,” Joanne Crawford, a wildlife ecologist at Southern Illinois University told National Geographic
. “I’m like, ‘Get down there, and stick your nose near its bum.'”
“People think I’m nuts,” she added. “I tell them, ‘Oh, but it’s beavers; it smells really good.'”
Beavers use the brown slime, often compared to a thinner version of molasses, to mark their territory. The musky, vanilla scent is attributed to a beaver’s diet of bark and leaves.
Manufacture have been using castoreum as an additive in foods and perfumes for at least 80 years, according to a 2007 study in theInternational Journal of Toxicology.
But getting a beaver to emit castoreum is not easy. Foodies are willing to “milk” the animals in order to get their hands on the gooey substance.
“You can milk the anal glands so you can extract the fluid,” Crawford said. “You can squirt [castoreum] out. It’s pretty gross.”
Only 292-pounds per year is collected because the milking method is unpleasant for all parties involved.
And the worst part? The FDA-approved castoreum is not required to be listed as an ingredient on food items. Manufacturers may list “natural flavoring” instead.
Perhaps a bit too natural for us.
Michael Bradley - Time Traveler 
Better Beaver emissions than humans. ..that would be even un-eatable. …by the way vanilla flavor is my favorite. …lol
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It is kind of disturbing to me because I love vanilla and I thought all the flavor came from vanilla beans. Since they don’t label things, I am not sure even which things have beaver anal fluids in them. Nilla Wafers, Vanilla Ice Cream, custard?
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They all do apparently. ..I read about that while back and at first I was taken back…but now is not a big deal.after all we eat red meats etc…and well it taste good ..and I have not been poisoned yet….lol
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I have three rescue dogs, and they drag their butts when their anal sacs get clogged. I have seen what happens when the vet or groomer – unclogs them – and it is gross. My wife almost vomited one time at the vet when the anal secretions splattered the vet and the clinic wall. The same stuff from a beaver that smells like vanilla – ack!
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I don’t think is as bad as that….and remember beavers do not have the same diet as dogs. . Most dogs eat like humans…you already said you like vanilla. …I suppose it is true that somethings are better off kept to yourself. In their case I guess they had to disclose this information…However ..that is the same reason I did not post the info…. when I found out a while ago…I figure that I would have been better off not knowing since it wasn’t hurting anyone. ..and it took me about a week to get over it..then went to the store and bought me some vanilla ice cream…Seriously though …I think that the only company that uses this method is Bayers ..to make vanilla ice cream…. as far as I know…:-)
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Correction .Breyers ice cream
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