Does your ice cream have castoreum?

Castoreum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Castoreum 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 in combination with the beaver’s urine, used during scent marking of territory. 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.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.

Today, it is used in trapping, as a tincture in some perfumes, as a food additive, or touted as an aphrodisiac.

Food use

In the United States, Castoreum has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a food additive, often referenced simply as a “natural flavoring” in the product’s list of ingredients. It is commonly used in both food and beverages, especially as vanilla and raspberry flavoring.

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Sounds delicious, right? I can’t believe the crap they put into our food. I’m scared to eat anymore and that’s unacceptable to me. We shouldn’t live in fear of what’s hidden in our food.

Watch Jamie Oliver explain it to David Letterman..  I love this guy!

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