FEARS over a poor vanilla crop has been salved. The Swedish National Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket) says the anal secretions from the beaver, in the form of castoreum, tastes just like vanilla.

Says the agency’s Ulla Beckman Sundh:

“Natural aromas can be extracts from plants, fungi, and in some cases animals. The labelling provisions do not require that the kind of flavour is indicated, with the exception of coffee and quinine. As far as I know the beaver is not an animal which is bred, so supply is not that great.”

File under: Vanilla with chocolate chips.