Amanda Fortini, writing for slate.com:
But the vanilla that wearies us is rarely vanilla at all. Anywhere from 90 percent to 97 percent of vanilla-flavored products are made with vanillin, a substance found in small quantities in natural vanilla but made synthetically for processed commercial foods. Real vanilla contains hundreds of different components that contribute to its nuanced taste and aroma. It is as different from vanillin as sugar is from Equal; vanilla possesses subtlety and depth, while vanillin is loud, brassy, superficial. And yet most Americans have become accustomed to the latter. Many actually prefer it. Food manufacturers thus have little incentive to choose real vanilla: Using pure vanilla extract costs American ice cream manufacturers approximately 73 cents a gallon of ice cream, as opposed to 12 cents a gallon for extract made from vanillin, Tim Ecott writes in Vanilla: Travels in Search of the Ice Cream Orchid. It is primarily premium food products that contain pure vanilla—as well as, surprisingly, Coca-Cola, which industry insiders say contains the real thing. (Perhaps this is the meaning behind Coke’s slogan.)
Fascinating!