The United States Agricultural Department, Circular No. 19, contains the
standards for foods. Among these are standards for Flavoring Extracts.
By this regulation Extract of Lemon must contain at least 6.4 ounces of
Oil of Lemon to 1 gallon of finished product, or, as the circular puts
it, 5 per cent Oil of Lemon by volume, and Vanilla Extract the
extractive matter from at least 13.35 ounces of the bean to the gallon
of finished product. The flavor is extracted from the bean by a mixture
of alcohol and water, as the resins in the Vanilla-Bean will not impart
their flavor to alcohol alone or to water alone, but to a mixture
containing from 40 to 60 per cent of alcohol, according to character of
bean. Long experience is required to accomplish the results desired.
The Vanilla-Beans brought into this country range in price about as
follows:
Mexican, $3.50 to $6.00 per pound.
Bourbon, $3.00 to $5.50 per pound.
Guadalupe, $3.00 to $5.50 per pound.
Seychelles, $3.25 to $4.50 per pound.
Tahiti, $1.75 to $2.50 per pound.
And a large variety, such as Java, South American and others, ranging in
price from $2.75 to $5.00 per pound.
These prices represent wholesale prices and vary from time to time.
The use of Tahiti Beans, coming from the Islands of Tahiti, has grown
very largely in the last few years. They are much used by manufacturers
making the cheaper extracts.
The Vanilla-Bean dries out very quickly, but if properly cared for and
protected does not lose its strength. In fact, the flavor greatly
improves with age.
The same beans can be treated for extract by different persons and an
entirely different quality of goods produced, just as two cooks can take
the same kind of flour and one will produce a delightful loaf of bread
while the bread of the other will not be fit to eat.
We age our Bee Brand Extracts for two years in white oak casks before
placing them on the market. Thus they become mellow and have a rich,
dainty bouquet, which cannot be obtained by any other process. The
minimum cost of carrying large vats of Vanilla is about 12 to 15 per
cent per year. A fine, properly aged Extract of Vanilla, such as Bee
Brand, made from the best beans, would cost from $8.00 to $9.00 a gallon
to manufacture, and yet “Strictly Pure U. S. Standard Extracts” can be
made to cost not over $3.50 per gallon.
Frequently you will find that a cheap pure Extract of Vanilla is almost
as strong as the fine, or high priced, Bee Brand goods, but its flavor
is rank and it has not the same bouquet and delicacy of flavor, the
comparison between the two being the same as that between cheap cigars
(three for 5 cents), which may be just as strong as a fine Havana, or
stronger, which costs 25 cents, but the latter has a flavor and quality
which the former do not approach.
The average consumer thinks if an Extract is pure it must be good, and
is satisfied with that statement. This belief on the part of the
consumer is largely due to the fact that many jobbers and large
retailers want their goods under their own names, requesting the
manufacturer to put up the cheapest Extract that will comply with the
law, regardless of the kind of beans or other materials used in its
manufacture. They simply ask for goods that comply with State and
National laws, but you can readily see what the word “pure” means under
this condition.
These jobbers and retailers think when they have complied with the law
they have done all that is necessary. We refuse positively to sell our
Bee Brand goods, or any other Flavoring Extracts, under any other name
than our own.
The consumer must realize that purity is one thing, strength another,
but _quality_, the cardinal feature by which to judge, can be obtained
only by buying goods under the name of a reputable manufacturer.
At one time the use of the ground or pulverized Vanilla-Bean directly in
the article to be flavored was considered by bakers and ice-cream
manufacturers a strong card to feature in their advertising.
Since the introduction of Domestic Science into so many of our
educational institutions, with the subsequent general interest which the
movement has aroused, the American housewife has come to learn that by
the use of the ground bean only one of the several flavoring principles
is obtained, _i. e._, vanillin.
The other active agents may be obtained only by intensive processing,
and thus a full-toned extract is secured.
There is a great deal of “Vanilla Compound,” or “Imitation Vanilla,”
sold. This is made always from manufactured Vanillin or Coumarin, or
both. The natural Vanillin comes from Vanilla-Beans themselves. Put a
fresh Vanilla-Bean where it is very cold and crystals will form on the
outside. These crystals are pure Vanillin. For a long time this was
thought to be the only flavoring principle of the Vanilla-Bean, but it
has been proven to be only one of a number.
The Vanillin in general use is manufactured by artificial means. It is a
white powdery substance with a strong Vanilla-like flavor, but it lacks
that softness which only Vanilla-Beans produce. In the process of making
cheap Extracts, Vanillin is frequently toned up in strength and pungency
with Coumarin.
Coumarin occurs naturally in Tonka Beans and Deer Tongue. The Tonka Bean
is a short, stumpy bean about 1½ to 2 inches long by ½ inch wide, and is
used for flavoring tobacco. Coumarin is made commercially from the
leaves of Virginia Deer Tongue and is manufactured in very large
quantities, as it is cheaper than that made from Tonka Beans.
It may be of interest to know that Bee Brand Flavoring Extracts were
awarded the only Gold Medal at the Jamestown Exposition, and that we now
have the only Gold Medal awarded Flavoring Extracts since the National
Pure Food laws have been in existence.
The Committee on Awards had no connection with the Exposition Company,
as it was appointed personally by Ex-President Roosevelt, who named Dr.
Harvey T. Wiley as chairman.