I had to check, I thought I was reading The Onion.

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Oarsman Oct 3, 2013

Beaver butts emit goo used in vanilla flavored foods
Oct 02, 2013 12:18 PM EDT

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.
Oarsman Oct 3, 2013

Manufacture have been using castoreum as an additive in foods and perfumes for at least 80 years, according to a 2007 study in the International 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.
『тӈԑ•ʟɛɢɪɵɳ』 Oct 3, 2013

I read this not 10 minutes after eating a Twinkie
✯βιuεᏀяιffoη✯ Oct 3, 2013

Can't be worse than McDonald's...
✦☠Sʘ͢U͡THPΛ͞W☠✦ Oct 3, 2013

✯βιuεᏀяιffoη✯ wrote:
Can't be worse than McDonald's...

So true
✯ᎷᎪᎠᎠᎻᎪᎢᎢᎬᏒ✯ Oct 3, 2013

FDA. What a sad joke on American people.
~REVENGE~ Oct 3, 2013

I believe beavers are also used for strawberry flavoring as well. I'd like to know the thought process behind the event that led to that discovery.
⚸яѻɢɛʀ✞тɦǟȶ⛧ Oct 3, 2013

❎❎~REVENGE~❎❎ wrote:
I believe beavers are also used for strawberry flavoring as well. I'd like to know the thought process behind the event that led to that discovery.

Hey Cletus! You won't believe how good this beavers ass smells/tastes!
4nick8r Oct 3, 2013

I eat beaver, I guess this isn't much worse.
☠ðůﾅ⌖ʟḁẘ☠ Oct 3, 2013

292 pounds? That's nothing
◾️〓MOOSΞKILL〓◾️ Oct 3, 2013

I'm my many years on this planet I have smelled many beavers.....not one was even close to vanilla....I will continue my search in earnest.
💩💩ᎡᏌᎠᏀᏓᏣᏌᎦ💩💩 Oct 3, 2013

"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"

Isn't that just beaver shit? I've heard on the grape vine that skittles are made of frog bollocks and the hearts of sex pest gerbils....taste the rainbow
King of Chaos Oct 3, 2013

Castoreum also comes from the Castor plant that is also poisonous. That's the usual source since the FDA.
☠ðůﾅ⌖ʟḁẘ☠ Oct 3, 2013

King of Chaos wrote:
Castoreum also comes from the Castor plant that is also poisonous. That's the usual source since the FDA.

Isn't that where ricen comes from. Castor beans?
☣ 🎸ӈɪƖƖßıƖƖγ🎸☣ Oct 3, 2013

⌖🔥ཧ़ཀंེབ།༨ཛყ🔥⌖ wrote:
King of Chaos wrote:
Castoreum also comes from the Castor plant that is also poisonous. That's the usual source since the FDA.

Isn't that where ricen comes from. Castor beans?
Yeah.
Add: KOZY Oct 3, 2013

Roger That wrote:
❎❎~REVENGE~❎❎ wrote:
I believe beavers are also used for strawberry flavoring as well. I'd like to know the thought process behind the event that led to that discovery.

Hey Cletus! You won't believe how good this beavers ass smells/tastes!
Shrooms