[Skeksy]

Have you ever wondered where artificial raspberry, vanilla or strawberry flavor comes from?

These are the dried perineal glands of the beaver. They contain castoreum — a food additive usually listed as ‘natural flavoring’ in the ingredient list. Castoreum is the exudate from the castor sacs of the mature North American Beaver, it is a yellowish secretion in combination with the beaver’s urine, used during scent marking of territory. In the USA, castoreum as a food additive is considered by the FDA to be generally recognized as safe, often referenced simply as a “natural flavoring” in products’ lists of ingredients. While it can be used in both foods and beverages as a vanilla, raspberry and strawberry flavoring.

Didn't know if this was the right area to post this story, but it's damn interesting.

[durt]

i thought 'tuna' flavoring came from beaver

[Sharon]

I'm surprised this knowledge hasn't put me off

[Oswald2001]

Those are really large glands.

Especially when you realize that beavers are not that big.