1 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:11,240 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Savor production of I Heeart Radio. 2 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: I'm Any Rees and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: have a classic episode for you about artificial flavorings. Yes, 4 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:22,439 Speaker 1: and this is uh can we call it oldie but 5 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: a goodie? I sure it's yeah, it's fun. It originally 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: aired in um February of Wow, Yeah, wow, yes, um, 7 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: And interestingly enough, I love it. I love it when 8 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:42,279 Speaker 1: your listeners ask me these questions as if it's very 9 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: important to you. But I believe I mentioned in this 10 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: episode that artificial flavoring is one of the wide categories 11 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: of food that I kind of cheat and say I 12 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: don't like artificial flavors fruit artificial flavors, right, And I've 13 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:05,839 Speaker 1: had a couple of listeners right in with follow up questions. Yeah, 14 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: and I'm only too happy to go into it. Um 15 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 1: oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't like fruit artificial flavoring, 16 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: and I actually don't. I actually think I might because 17 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: one of the other ones is carible. Um, and I 18 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: actually think my bigger problem might be or whatever, which 19 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: is also I think part of the doctor Pepper thing, 20 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: which I also I despise more than anything. I can't 21 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: put into words how much I hate Dr pepper. Wow. 22 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: I I don't despise flavor. Usually if I dislike a food, 23 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: it's a texture issue more than a flavor issue. Um. 24 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: There are a couple of foods like I think I 25 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 1: talked about in the chestnuts episode, which I forgot that 26 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: we did, um until and trying to do that to me. 27 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: I would I put it on the schedule for us 28 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: to do an episode about, and she was like, nah, no, dude, 29 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: it's a very sad story. Um. But but no, they 30 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,519 Speaker 1: they're they're yeah, like like like chestnuts, I just like 31 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 1: because they taste a little bit too rich to me. 32 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,239 Speaker 1: But even that, I'm kind of getting over. I don't 33 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:25,920 Speaker 1: understand this severe version that you have. I wish I 34 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: could like this. It's a physical like my whole body 35 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: is like no, yeah, nope, yeh know it like makes 36 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: you angry, it does. I'm getting a little heeded talking 37 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: about um, but I do. It's funny because it is 38 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:42,920 Speaker 1: one of those things I do like talking about. I 39 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: really appreciate when you listen or like I'm just like 40 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: a scientist taking notes, like like, well, just curious because 41 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: there's something I'm sure I'm fine with I've definitely had 42 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: some and I'm you know, just okay. But and a 43 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: lot of it is more not the Dr Pepper level 44 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: of hate. It's just like I would never I would 45 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: rather not eat it. I would never choose to eat it, 46 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: seek it out. If someone offers it to me, I 47 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: will say no. It's not like that level, at visceral level. Um, 48 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: but it is interesting. I don't I don't know what's 49 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: going on either. And that's one of the things that 50 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 1: fascinates me about humans in general, is why they like 51 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 1: what they like and why they don't like what they 52 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: don't like. Yeah, it's um, you know, we are we 53 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: are all our own little little mysteries, just just booping 54 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 1: around the universe being mysterious to ourselves as well. You're right. 55 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: I like that we are all our own little mysteries. Um. 56 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: But this one, this one a lot of mysteries and 57 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: a lot of interesting historical taste facts. I just thought 58 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: about how people think like it should taste, for instance. Yeah, no, 59 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: and then right right, this was a really fun one 60 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: in terms of science. Um, I get really riled up 61 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: a few times in it. Uh. As always, we did 62 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: a super brief like oh man has there been any 63 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:18,480 Speaker 1: wacky news about artificial flavoring um and and people are 64 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: still mad that it's artificial, and that's you know, and 65 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: you know again we're see above, we where all our 66 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: own mysteries. And if yeah, I don't personally see scientifically speaking, 67 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: a reason to be that angry about it, well, I 68 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: only see it in terms of my friends tricking me 69 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:48,160 Speaker 1: into drinking and drink that I despise. But yes, scientifically 70 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: i'm generally, but you're not. You're not like out there 71 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: like lobbying against dr pepper. You're like, no one should 72 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: drink dr pepper. You're not like set it on fire? 73 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 1: Are like that? Why have I never thought of? No? No, 74 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 1: I want people to like what they like. Most most 75 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:13,600 Speaker 1: everyone I know loves it um like. That's not even exaggeration. 76 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure most everyone I know loves it UM. 77 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 1: So I would never deprive someone just because I have 78 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: an issue that's very personal. There's no science involved other 79 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: than my example study of one. But yes, yes, you 80 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: are correct, Like would you like go Ford, go for it, 81 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: go forth and drink this thing that Annie viscerally despises. 82 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: I don't know how it's turned into this. I think 83 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 1: we're going to get a note from our advertising at people. 84 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: No longer a sponsor, no longer for for For the record, 85 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: I do love Dr Pepper, so I, oh, let's because 86 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 1: I always do this. I just have to draw griptic kids. 87 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: But alas, the episode is not about this one specific products. 88 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 1: It's not. It's not. We've gone on quite a long 89 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: time now about something that's this episode, right, is not 90 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: about So so let us get into that episode and 91 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 1: I'll let former Annie and Lauren take it away. Hello, 92 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: and welcome to food Stuff. I'm Lauren Vogel Bump and 93 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 1: Diamond Eries, and today we're talking about artificial flavor. That's right. 94 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: I would say this is like food Stuff's throwback episode. 95 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:46,039 Speaker 1: Oh it's we reference essentially everything we've ever talked about, yes, 96 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: and future episodes that we are going to talk about. 97 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,839 Speaker 1: So we gave ourselves so much homework. We really did, 98 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,720 Speaker 1: and you as well. You're welcome. Yea, Okay, So let's 99 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 1: start out with what the heck are these things? Lauren? Well, 100 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: artificial flavors are mixtures of chemical compounds that mimic the 101 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 1: flavor and or scent of certain foods, sometimes because they're 102 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: the same compounds that naturally appear in those foods. Right, 103 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: And a quick note here, the f d A has 104 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: no legal definition of natural when it comes to food 105 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: in the United States. UM marketers are allowed to use 106 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 1: that term willy nilly as long as the product doesn't 107 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: contain any added colors, synthetic substances, or yep, artificial flavors. However, 108 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: apart from knowing those things are in there, you don't 109 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: really know what is in there when it says natural. Yeah, 110 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: they do have a definition for flavor that whose significant 111 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional. A natural 112 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: flavor is one that comes from a plant or animal, 113 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 1: but that can include bacteria and yeast, and artificial flavor 114 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: is one that's produced in a lab via chemical and 115 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: or mechanical processes. Um. And note that an artificial flavor 116 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 1: and a natural flavor can be molecularly identical. It's just 117 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:15,040 Speaker 1: how you got that compound. So artificial flavors show up 118 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 1: in a lot of things processed food and drinks. You know, 119 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: your ramen and your soda pop and weird chips and 120 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: dessert themed vodka. Um as of of Americans grocery purchases 121 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:33,840 Speaker 1: contained added flavors, but artificial flavors are also in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, 122 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: hygiene products. You know, lip bomb, to cough syrup, to toothpaste, 123 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:39,840 Speaker 1: to vitamins, to any kind of pill that's given a 124 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: sweet outer coating to help that medicine go down medicine. Man. 125 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:47,360 Speaker 1: The folks who work in this industry are called flavor 126 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:51,200 Speaker 1: chemists or flavorists, and their jobs are not easy. Only 127 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: about five hundred are certified by the Society of Flavor 128 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 1: Chemists worldwide. And their job is not easy because, okay, 129 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 1: like the calm pounds that make say a strawberry smell 130 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: and taste like a strawberry, are a lot of compounds, 131 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,960 Speaker 1: and they're all working together in these strange and ephemeral ways. 132 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: And that's because the way that we smell and taste 133 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 1: things is complicated. The average adult has about ten thousand 134 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:19,439 Speaker 1: taste buds, not just on your tongue, by the way, 135 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: a few are spread throughout the rest of your oral cavity. 136 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:24,360 Speaker 1: And these are nerve endings that are triggered to send 137 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 1: signals to your brain when they interact with specific types 138 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:30,560 Speaker 1: of molecules. These cells give you all kinds of levels 139 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:35,439 Speaker 1: of sweet sour, bitter, salty, and savory sometimes called umami. 140 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: Then you've got other nerve cells throughout your oral and 141 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: nasal cavities that detect molecules that give us a sense 142 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:46,680 Speaker 1: of chemical heat and cooling and tingling. You know, spicy, 143 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 1: hot or minty or mentholi stuff like that. Those same 144 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 1: cells also detect a stringency that's what tells your brain 145 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 1: that lemons or or dry wines taste not just sour, 146 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:03,400 Speaker 1: but like physical puckery. Yeah, and then you've got all 147 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: faction are sent uh nerves and your nasal cavity alert 148 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: your brain when they interact with more other different molecules, 149 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: both from outside and inside your mouth. For strawberries, for example, 150 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:18,720 Speaker 1: researchers have isolated over three hundred compounds that affect our 151 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:22,319 Speaker 1: experience of smell and taste. For tomatoes, it's over four 152 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:27,800 Speaker 1: D Wow. Also, even once you do isolate a bunch 153 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:31,520 Speaker 1: of these compounds, it's not really all that useful unless 154 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 1: you can figure out a way to produce them cheaply 155 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:36,360 Speaker 1: and in large quantities. In a lot of cases, we 156 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,760 Speaker 1: don't know how the plants make these compounds to begin with, 157 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:42,760 Speaker 1: so figuring out a way to produce them is hard. 158 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 1: It's very difficult, Yes, and it is a big industry. 159 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 1: One market estimate from lefting Well and Associates put the 160 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:56,440 Speaker 1: total flavor and fragrance industry sales for at twenty four 161 00:10:56,760 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: billion dollars. And that's not like consumer purchase is that's 162 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 1: sales straight from the companies that produce these flavor incent 163 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 1: compounds to other companies that put them in stuff. That 164 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: is a hefty, hefty number, a hefty sum. My favorite 165 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 1: thing about artificial flavors um that I kind of did, 166 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: never thought about, is that in some cases it's like 167 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: you're tasting the past and speaking of the past. Let's 168 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 1: talk about history. But first let's take a quick break 169 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: for a word from our sponsor, and we're back. Thank 170 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:45,480 Speaker 1: you sponsor, Yes, thank you. All right. So, the very 171 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:50,359 Speaker 1: first iteration of artificial flavors were oils made from extracted 172 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 1: fragrances and flavors in ancient Egypt. Every Sinna or even Senna, 173 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:59,559 Speaker 1: the Persian physician and philosopher, took this a step further 174 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:03,720 Speaker 1: in the eleventh century. He realized that you could distill 175 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 1: oils by steaming the plant to get the oil. Whatever 176 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:09,839 Speaker 1: you're trying to get and then let it condense back 177 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:12,440 Speaker 1: to a liquid, sort of like what you would do 178 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 1: with alcohol. This innovation opened the doors for a lot 179 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: more flavors and sins. The first historical records we have 180 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 1: of artificial flavorings come out of the mid nineteenth century 181 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: the Crystal Palace Exhibition, London eighty one, all kinds of 182 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:36,199 Speaker 1: scientific and technological advances on display for the public, including 183 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:40,760 Speaker 1: artificially flavored candies for the sampling in pineapple, apple, pear, 184 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: and grape flavors. With industrialization and full swing, all of 185 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:50,880 Speaker 1: these flavors were compounds discovered as accidental byproducts and other 186 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 1: scientific endeavors, and synthesized in labs. Similarly to artificial sweeteners. 187 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:00,199 Speaker 1: Scientists doing other experiments maybe get a whip of of 188 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:03,960 Speaker 1: something fruity and they thought to themselves, hmmmm, I bet 189 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 1: we could use this to flavor things. And these first 190 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 1: artificial flavors were generally single chemicals diluted with alcohol. Also 191 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:16,440 Speaker 1: similar to artificial sweeteners, these flavors came from things you 192 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:25,959 Speaker 1: might not suspect, like quote substances of intensely disgusting odor. Yeah, 193 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:29,200 Speaker 1: and like I said about tasting a bit of the past, 194 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:32,320 Speaker 1: thing we're going to be talking about some artificial flavors 195 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,720 Speaker 1: that just don't taste like what they claim to be imitating. 196 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 1: And one is artificial cherry. Oh yeah. The cherry flavoring 197 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:43,720 Speaker 1: found in most sodas and candies is more reminiscent of 198 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:47,680 Speaker 1: wild cherries or cherry liqueur. And that's because when it 199 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 1: was first derived, it was this Esther method. And the 200 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: chemical behind cheap artificial cherry is benzalda hide, which is 201 00:13:56,960 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 1: also used in almond oil. I was reading about this 202 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:03,640 Speaker 1: in an of view with artificial flavoring expert Nadia Brenstein, 203 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:07,880 Speaker 1: and she described it as an heirloom or in heritage 204 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:12,960 Speaker 1: flavor artificial flavor, which I kind of love. Yeah, yeah, huh. 205 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:15,760 Speaker 1: That's that's why it doesn't taste at all. Like Okay, 206 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,840 Speaker 1: I totally get the almond thing. As we mentioned in 207 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:24,360 Speaker 1: our Vanilla episode vanill In, the compound behind Vanilla's flavor 208 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 1: was isolated in eighteen fifty eight by Nicola Theodore gobli Um. 209 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: It was the first artificial flavor that was derived from 210 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 1: the actual ingredient it was meant to mimic. Almost two 211 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: decades later, in eighteen seventy four, a pair of German 212 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:43,720 Speaker 1: scientists by the names of Ferdinand Tianman and Wilhelm Harmon 213 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: used pine tree bark to synthesize vanillan. The very next year, 214 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,080 Speaker 1: they opened the world's first vanillan factory, so that the 215 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:54,920 Speaker 1: popular flavor was no longer going to empty your bank account. 216 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 1: We talked about that a lot in the Vanilla episode. 217 00:14:57,400 --> 00:14:59,520 Speaker 1: Should you like to listen to that? If you haven't already, 218 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 1: by the time this factory opened, you could get all 219 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:05,640 Speaker 1: kinds of artificial fruit flavors. According to one writer in 220 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty four, artificial essences of nearly every fruit are made, 221 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: some of which are absolutely perfect in their resemblance to 222 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:15,760 Speaker 1: the real fruit essence, while others leave a great deal 223 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 1: to the imagination. That's one of those kind of like 224 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: backhanded compliment insult things. Yeah, you think it's going well 225 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:29,120 Speaker 1: right up until then, in the eighteen sixties, a decade 226 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: before bananas were available in the US, people could purchase 227 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: artificially banana flavored candies. They were derived from a compound 228 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 1: found in the original commercialized banana grow Michelle, which is 229 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: why we call it fake banana. Or this seems to 230 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:49,680 Speaker 1: be the general consensus, but not totally agreed upon in 231 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,720 Speaker 1: the scientific community. Yeah, one researcher who looked into it 232 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 1: found no particular evidence that artificial banana flavoring came directly 233 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 1: from the grow Michelle. But he did find that the 234 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: grow Machell variety, which you can still get from a 235 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:07,600 Speaker 1: few specialty growers in places like Hawaii, has a flavor 236 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:11,760 Speaker 1: that's sweeter and more flat or or simple than today's 237 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 1: Cavendish banana. And this is scientific. Gas chromatography showed fewer 238 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,960 Speaker 1: known flavor and or sent compounds in the grow Machelle, 239 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:26,440 Speaker 1: so compared with the Cavendish banana, grow Machelle bananas taste 240 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 1: sort of artificial. Uh m, well, this brings us to 241 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,040 Speaker 1: juicy fruit. What kind of fruit is juicy fruit? By 242 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 1: the way, no one knows. If you don't know what 243 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:41,240 Speaker 1: juicy fruit is, it's the Wrigley's fruit gum that it's 244 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:43,920 Speaker 1: an yellow package, or it was when I was a kid. 245 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: Uh uh, this is when it debuted. The interesting thing 246 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: here is it's got no clear flavor, and when you 247 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:55,960 Speaker 1: taste it, you're like, yeah, that's juicy fruit, but you 248 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,120 Speaker 1: don't know what fruit is. The juicy one we are 249 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 1: discussing is not specified and juicy fruit went all away 250 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:06,119 Speaker 1: with it, going so far as to adopt the slogan 251 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:10,600 Speaker 1: in the nineteen forties the gum with the fascinating artificial flavor, 252 00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:17,000 Speaker 1: m Well, they embraced it. As the century drew to 253 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:21,160 Speaker 1: a close, you could find so many artificial fruit flavors. 254 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:24,639 Speaker 1: The US, Canada, France, Britain and Germany used them, and 255 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:28,200 Speaker 1: all sorts of things like candy jams or drug store soda. 256 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:31,320 Speaker 1: They seemed to be doing a pretty decent job at 257 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:35,520 Speaker 1: the flavor part too. When a Massachusetts Board of Health 258 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:39,440 Speaker 1: inspector came asking around about these things in the eighteen seventies, 259 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: what's going on here? A soda vendor told him customers 260 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: cannot distinguish the artificial from the true fruit flavors. However, 261 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:52,800 Speaker 1: not everybody agreed, including Charles Soul's, the author of a 262 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:57,159 Speaker 1: eight soda and Beverage handbook that included this note, no 263 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 1: amount of chemical skill can imitate the fine flavors of 264 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:04,600 Speaker 1: many fruits. I like that quote just because it has 265 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 1: a lot of fs in it. But then we get 266 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: to the US Pure Food and Drug Act in six 267 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:17,440 Speaker 1: thanks in part two, hines that hines, Yes, that hines 268 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:21,280 Speaker 1: catch up Hines absolutely, and we have a catchup episode 269 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: in the works, and he is fascinating, So look for that. 270 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: Look for that an upcoming episode. There's all this concern 271 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:34,639 Speaker 1: about artificial flavors being part of the problem of masking 272 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 1: the problem. Specifically, it's like rotting food or especially rotting food, 273 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:42,720 Speaker 1: kind of like non food food ingredients. Yeah, basically tricking 274 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:47,520 Speaker 1: you into eating something that you weren't eating. Yeah. After 275 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 1: President Roosevelt um past the Pure Food and Drug Act, 276 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:54,399 Speaker 1: anything containing imitation in quotes flavors had to be labeled 277 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: as such. This, the codified differentiation between genuine and in 278 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:04,119 Speaker 1: autation foods, was the first statutory distinction in the US. 279 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:08,080 Speaker 1: If the flavor came from the actual thing, it was genuine. 280 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:13,200 Speaker 1: If it was synthetically derived, then it was imitation. Artificial 281 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:17,760 Speaker 1: flavor manufacturers smarter the bit at this. I can imagine 282 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:20,760 Speaker 1: not the law necessarily, but the fact that they were 283 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 1: being called impure or dangerous. The Flavor and Extract Manufacturers 284 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 1: Association launched a campaign in nineteen to improve their negative 285 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:33,639 Speaker 1: image and what they viewed as an unfair association with 286 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:41,440 Speaker 1: quote adulterators, food poisoners, and drug dopesters. Some like chemists 287 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:46,760 Speaker 1: Allois von Isaacovis believed the law improved sales and that 288 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:50,600 Speaker 1: synthetics could be better than the real thing. Just to 289 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:54,600 Speaker 1: point out, artificial, artificially produced compounds can actually be more 290 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:59,040 Speaker 1: pure and safe than naturally produced ones due to you know, 291 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:02,880 Speaker 1: when you've got iological organisms creating stuff for you. They 292 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 1: they're organisms, and their stuff can vary. Right when you're 293 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:08,159 Speaker 1: doing it in a lab, you have the opportunity to 294 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 1: really isolate it out. This is true either way. Um. Meanwhile, 295 00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:16,800 Speaker 1: in eight a Japanese chemist unlocked an easy way to 296 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:21,840 Speaker 1: convey savory flavor through food. Monosodium glutamate m S. G 297 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: Akita isolated MSG as the compound in c KELP that 298 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:31,440 Speaker 1: gives an extra depth of flavor to kombudashi. Broth And 299 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:35,320 Speaker 1: coined the term um mommy to describe it, derived from 300 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:40,119 Speaker 1: a colloquial word for tasty. Uh so yes u mommy 301 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:45,400 Speaker 1: is a nineteen odds marketing term. Anyway. Uh MSG went 302 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:47,640 Speaker 1: on the market in nineteen o nine as a food 303 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:51,160 Speaker 1: supplement that could make bland but nutritious food more appealing. 304 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:55,680 Speaker 1: Now that was a hope anyway, after aggressive educational marketing, 305 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:58,959 Speaker 1: it really caught on with upper middle class housewives and 306 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:01,679 Speaker 1: spread to Taiwan, China, and the United States over the 307 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: next couple of decades as an inexpensive and vegetarian alternative 308 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:09,399 Speaker 1: to using pricey animal products in cooking, although it was 309 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 1: a household product in Asia and it was mostly an 310 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:17,000 Speaker 1: industrial and restaurant ingredient over here in the States. Right 311 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:22,120 Speaker 1: More on that later. Sometime around n a fellow who 312 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:25,840 Speaker 1: worked out he worked out He worked with the flavor 313 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: extracts for soda past a woman whose perfume was a 314 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: dead ringer for concord grapes. He was able to track 315 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:37,239 Speaker 1: down the chemical behind the fragrance, and he discovered they 316 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:41,080 Speaker 1: were already using it in Germany and Austria as orange 317 00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:44,359 Speaker 1: blossom essence. That's because they had a different type of 318 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:49,880 Speaker 1: grape than the concord, with a different flavor and smell. Interestingly, 319 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:53,840 Speaker 1: this was a long time before scientists actually knew that 320 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 1: this was a flavor chemical in grapes. Yeah, and some 321 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:00,720 Speaker 1: flavors are easier to figure out than others. One that 322 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:05,520 Speaker 1: is apparently notoriously difficult is coffee. In the nineteen twenties, 323 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:10,199 Speaker 1: Dutch chemists isolated a compound called diocetle that imparted a 324 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 1: buttery flavor to foods. It's produced naturally by the lactic 325 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,399 Speaker 1: acid bacteria at work in some alcohols like chardonnay and 326 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:22,440 Speaker 1: also in cultured butter. Makes sense. As industrialization gripped the 327 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:27,120 Speaker 1: dairy industry, creamery's started using this artificial diceetle to standardize 328 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,960 Speaker 1: their butter or to cut corners by skipping the culturation 329 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:34,640 Speaker 1: step entirely. More on that in our butter episode and 330 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:39,879 Speaker 1: our popcorn episode. Yeah all the throwbacks. Also in the 331 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties, chemists at the U. S d A Tried 332 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:47,440 Speaker 1: to nail down artificial apple flavor from a ton of apples, 333 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:50,359 Speaker 1: not like an actual ton. Uh. They were only able 334 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:54,679 Speaker 1: to extract less than two grams of usable stuff, and 335 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:58,280 Speaker 1: from there they isolated five chemicals which you can find. 336 00:22:58,320 --> 00:22:59,919 Speaker 1: It was part of the public domain since it was 337 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 1: government research. Flavor science is complicated. Most flavor compounds held 338 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:11,720 Speaker 1: by companies are proprietary. One of the best examples of 339 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:16,000 Speaker 1: these secret flavorings was peach, first perfected in the Cincinnati 340 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: area by a firm called Fries and Fries. Everyone was 341 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:22,440 Speaker 1: trying to figure out their secret uh and the cat 342 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 1: came out of the bag when a flavored chemist learned 343 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:29,399 Speaker 1: that they discovered one of the compounds accidentally after a 344 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,920 Speaker 1: mishap and castor oil production resulted in the entire factory 345 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:35,880 Speaker 1: smelling like peaches. I mean, of the things that could 346 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:41,720 Speaker 1: happen after, that's pretty good. Yeah, that's the best possible mistake. Yeah, 347 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:45,240 Speaker 1: and um. Another chemical component in their peach flavoring was 348 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: discovered after somebody left a piece of cheese soaked an 349 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:52,280 Speaker 1: owl call down in the basement next to the furnace. 350 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,880 Speaker 1: Whether on purpose or by accident, the article did not specify. 351 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,920 Speaker 1: Huh the iPad. Someone might just leapt is cheese down there. 352 00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:05,200 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, just accidentally dropped piece of cheese. And they're beer. 353 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:09,800 Speaker 1: I've not known, the world will never know. Another weird 354 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:12,439 Speaker 1: fact that I love. Um. People seem to think that 355 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:16,560 Speaker 1: red drinks are sweeter than nod red drinks in taste tests, 356 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:19,800 Speaker 1: regardless of whether or not they actually are, just because 357 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:24,200 Speaker 1: we associate red with certain flavors. Um. Oh, and unless 358 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:27,919 Speaker 1: SODA's purple, most folks can't tell you after tasting it 359 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:30,240 Speaker 1: that it's great flavored. They need that perfect need the 360 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:34,359 Speaker 1: purple indicator. They don't recognize the flavor without the color. Yeah, 361 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:36,280 Speaker 1: this is one of those things that there's a difference 362 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:39,280 Speaker 1: between flavor and taste. Taste is the literal thing that's 363 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,320 Speaker 1: happening with your taste buds, and flavor is all that 364 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:46,199 Speaker 1: other stuff. Yeah s, sound, etcetera. Yeah. So at this 365 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:49,439 Speaker 1: point in our timeline, uh, the the industry is actually 366 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:53,800 Speaker 1: about to get a lot easier to work in due 367 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:56,440 Speaker 1: to a technological innovation, which we will talk about when 368 00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: we get back from one last break for a word 369 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:11,600 Speaker 1: from our sponsor and we're back, Thank you, sponsor. So 370 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:15,400 Speaker 1: the entire flavor industry would get a serious boost when 371 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:19,600 Speaker 1: chromatography technology advanced in the nineteen forties and fifties. The 372 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:25,159 Speaker 1: first gas chromatographs were produced commercially later that decade. Scientists 373 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 1: going back to the beginning of the twentieth century had 374 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 1: been investigating ways to separate out and identify compounds that 375 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,880 Speaker 1: make up various substances. And it turns out that if 376 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 1: you heat a sample of something to the point that 377 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,399 Speaker 1: it vaporizes, and then pass that vapor through a column 378 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: of liquid, all the chemical components from the sample will 379 00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 1: interact with the liquid and the sides of this column 380 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:52,439 Speaker 1: slightly differently because of their inherent molecular properties, sort of 381 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:56,399 Speaker 1: like like runners of different speeds. These chemicals will separate 382 00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:59,879 Speaker 1: themselves out from one another as they flow through this chamber, 383 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,199 Speaker 1: and then you can use a chemical detector of one 384 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:04,360 Speaker 1: kind or another to figure out what each of those 385 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:12,240 Speaker 1: compounds is. So suddenly chemists had a relatively inexpensive way 386 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,399 Speaker 1: to like automatically detect chemicals from stuff. You didn't need 387 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:19,240 Speaker 1: like tremendous training to use this machine. You could start 388 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,879 Speaker 1: identifying the compounds and products that may or may not 389 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,520 Speaker 1: give them their flavor, may or may not, may or 390 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:28,480 Speaker 1: may not. Doors are opening, they are. And as mass 391 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:32,920 Speaker 1: production of food and nationalization of products took off, so 392 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:35,760 Speaker 1: did the need to add back in flavor that was 393 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:38,960 Speaker 1: lost in mass production and to have a product with 394 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:43,520 Speaker 1: a consistent flavor a cost country and even around the world. 395 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:46,960 Speaker 1: More and more foods were processed, and therefore more and 396 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:52,159 Speaker 1: more foods were artificially flavored. The first flavored potato chips 397 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 1: from Irish company Potato came out in the nineteen fifties 398 00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:00,439 Speaker 1: with Falton vinegar and cheese and onion varieties. On US 399 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 1: grocery shelves, you'd find barbecue, are Sarah cream and onion. 400 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:06,960 Speaker 1: This was the time that grocery stores were really taking 401 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:10,400 Speaker 1: off and so many products were competing to end up 402 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:14,320 Speaker 1: in the American shoppers cart. Having a memorable flavor was 403 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:18,360 Speaker 1: a big part of that. In seven, a VP at 404 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:21,720 Speaker 1: General Mills, Oh yeah that General Mills said that flavors 405 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,040 Speaker 1: should serve quote as a built in trademark which will 406 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:28,600 Speaker 1: invariably be identified with its brand name and its producer. 407 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,560 Speaker 1: In the nineteen fifties, the slogan of a popular um 408 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:37,399 Speaker 1: fragrance and flavor brand was nothing sells like flavor and 409 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:42,639 Speaker 1: that it was the silent salesman. I know. The Food 410 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:48,280 Speaker 1: Drug and Cosmetics Act got a makeover. That's when the 411 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:52,320 Speaker 1: list of generally Recognized as Safe g r a s 412 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:55,879 Speaker 1: was introduced in the US, and it meant that manufacturers, 413 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:57,520 Speaker 1: if they wanted to be on that list, had to 414 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:01,040 Speaker 1: prove they were worthy of the designation. And it made 415 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,760 Speaker 1: things easier for the f d a UM and for 416 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 1: companies wanting to use the ingredients on the list, including 417 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:12,760 Speaker 1: those in the artificial flavoring category. Wow, but artificial flavors 418 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:15,800 Speaker 1: were not immune to the same health concerns that impacted 419 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:20,200 Speaker 1: artificial sweeteners. In ninety three, a compound that had been 420 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:24,119 Speaker 1: used as part of artificial sweeteners and vanilla, called kumarin 421 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,960 Speaker 1: was taken off the market voluntarily by companies after a 422 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:32,119 Speaker 1: study came out linking it to liver damage in rats. 423 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:36,119 Speaker 1: Of flavoring in root beer called saffrol was removed this 424 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:41,800 Speaker 1: way to That same year, the Food Additives Amendment passed, 425 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,440 Speaker 1: but as it happened, the f D a bit off, 426 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 1: a bit more than it could show. There were more 427 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,880 Speaker 1: than a thousand chemicals in these additives for them to 428 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:54,920 Speaker 1: test a lot of them and were present in really 429 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,920 Speaker 1: small amounts. So the FDA raised his hands and was like, oh, 430 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:01,640 Speaker 1: you know, Gay, we'll just ague at your word. For 431 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:05,840 Speaker 1: most of these, they allowed the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers 432 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 1: Association to decide what should be tested, and as you 433 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,880 Speaker 1: can imagine, they were pretty laxed about the whole thing. 434 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:15,320 Speaker 1: This is still the arrangement today and as often there 435 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:18,600 Speaker 1: were over three thousand chemical additives on the generally recognized 436 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 1: a safe list, although in nineteen sixty eight and sixty 437 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:26,600 Speaker 1: nine controversy over the safety of artificial sweeteners sacharin and 438 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:30,840 Speaker 1: cyclomate prompted President Nixon to order an FDA review of 439 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 1: all the additives on its g R A S list. 440 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 1: Amidst all of this, in nineteen sixty eight, a Chinese 441 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,960 Speaker 1: American doctor wrote a speculative letter for the New England 442 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,200 Speaker 1: Journal of Medicine, a sort of thinking out loud piece 443 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 1: about effects that he had anecdotally noticed after eating at 444 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:52,320 Speaker 1: Chinese restaurants, including stuff like heart palpitations, and the journal 445 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:57,840 Speaker 1: labeled this Chinese restaurant syndrome. Although the doctor brought up 446 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:00,360 Speaker 1: a whole list of possible culprits, from like heed to 447 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:04,520 Speaker 1: wind duck sauce, too imported mushrooms, the press latched on 448 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:07,600 Speaker 1: to the item on the list that was an unnatural 449 00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:13,760 Speaker 1: additive MSG. Yeah, there was no conclusive research about its effects, 450 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:17,520 Speaker 1: but the press and the public rallied against it, and 451 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:21,640 Speaker 1: some factions in Japan picked up the battle cry. One 452 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:25,160 Speaker 1: writer who was promoting in general a return to natural 453 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 1: foods when as far as saying the frightening thing about 454 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 1: processed foods made by large corporations, in addition to the 455 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,680 Speaker 1: toxicity of the large quantities of food additives used, is 456 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:39,960 Speaker 1: that they caused the spiritual ruin of Japanese women. What 457 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:44,480 Speaker 1: his His idea here was the cooking healthy meals for 458 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:46,680 Speaker 1: your family as a form of prayer and a road 459 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:51,200 Speaker 1: to internal peace. And yeah, apparently additives like MSG can 460 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:55,640 Speaker 1: just ruin that. I had no idea. We talked a 461 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 1: little bit about MSG in our episode on Ramen, but 462 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 1: to reiterate here, research published in two thousand and six 463 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:07,400 Speaker 1: that reviewed almost forty years worth of research studies found 464 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:11,880 Speaker 1: no serious side effects or sensitivities in humans at large 465 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:14,000 Speaker 1: to the amount of m SG that you could possibly 466 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:17,040 Speaker 1: consume through food, like maybe headache or dry mouth if 467 00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:19,160 Speaker 1: you're eating on an empty stomach and you're not probably 468 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:23,320 Speaker 1: properly hydrated. But the the only really bad effects that 469 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:26,040 Speaker 1: any researcher has ever found about MSG were when they 470 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:30,800 Speaker 1: injected it into mice. Don't don't inject yourself with MSG. 471 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 1: Food stuff another trace of advice from food stuff. We're 472 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:39,480 Speaker 1: here to help, we are. We will have to do 473 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:41,960 Speaker 1: a whole episode though sometimes on MSG. It's it's a 474 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 1: really fascinating story. It's one of those terrific corporate efforts 475 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:49,240 Speaker 1: that that took off extremely well and had some dips, 476 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:52,240 Speaker 1: and yeah, it's great. Yeah, I'm excited to return to that. 477 00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:57,440 Speaker 1: The diet foods that really started to take off from 478 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:02,040 Speaker 1: the sixties and seventies necessitated all of artificial flavorings so 479 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:05,720 Speaker 1: that they didn't taste so still so boring and the 480 00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:09,680 Speaker 1: words of this ad Providing taste appeal for foods lacking 481 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,880 Speaker 1: either sugar or salt, and sometimes both is an extremely 482 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:17,440 Speaker 1: difficult problem, and flavor differences in some degree are inevitable. However, 483 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:21,720 Speaker 1: the flavor chemists can, by diligent research, provide an acceptable 484 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:26,160 Speaker 1: flavor of such foods. Like acceptable, that's such a low bar. 485 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:31,080 Speaker 1: It's kind of true, though, oh yeah, absolutely. Some things 486 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:36,360 Speaker 1: I read suggested companies designed artificial flavors to lack an aftertaste, 487 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:39,320 Speaker 1: which encouraged you to eat more of their product. And 488 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:40,680 Speaker 1: I don't know how true that is. I didn't have 489 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:42,640 Speaker 1: time to like dig into it, but I have heard 490 00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:45,600 Speaker 1: similar things recently, so I thought i'd mentioned it. Another 491 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:47,560 Speaker 1: thing we have to come back to. This episode is 492 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:50,320 Speaker 1: full of like this path, this path, this path, Oh yeah, 493 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 1: to choose your own adventure. In the nineteen seventies, the 494 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,720 Speaker 1: chemical synthesis of Vanillen pushed ahead with new ways to 495 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:01,080 Speaker 1: chip cheaply, not simply cheaply. Some size of vanillin from 496 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:06,240 Speaker 1: various chemical precursors, including guaya cole, which is a byproduct 497 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:09,480 Speaker 1: of the petroleum industry, and lingnan, which is a byproduct 498 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:14,040 Speaker 1: of the wood and paper industries. These methods of production 499 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:18,480 Speaker 1: of synthesis are cheap, but they're not always great environmentally speaking. Um, 500 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:21,240 Speaker 1: you've got to use some hazardous solvents and other chemicals 501 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:25,760 Speaker 1: to produce and purify your vanillen for lignant. For example, 502 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:29,200 Speaker 1: every kilo of vanillan that you make creates a hundred 503 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:31,600 Speaker 1: and sixty kilos of waste that you have to figure 504 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 1: out how to safely dispose of, and products that use 505 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:38,920 Speaker 1: these synthesized vanillans have to be labeled artificial, which consumers 506 00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:44,320 Speaker 1: don't always like. Those finicky consumers. Of course, we should say. 507 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:48,280 Speaker 1: Natural flavors can also take an environmental toll. Agriculture uses 508 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:52,560 Speaker 1: tremendous amounts of resources and can use harmful chemicals too. Um. 509 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:55,959 Speaker 1: That's why traditionally, artificial flavors have been so much cheaper 510 00:33:56,000 --> 00:34:01,600 Speaker 1: than natural flavors until in two thousand and nine, researchers 511 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:04,280 Speaker 1: were able to make a type of yeast that makes 512 00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:10,200 Speaker 1: vanilla flavored bacteria foop after feasting on sugar it excretes vanillan. 513 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:15,640 Speaker 1: This means they can technically label it as natural. This 514 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:19,840 Speaker 1: natural vanillan went on sale in the US, but not 515 00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:25,960 Speaker 1: without controversy, especially from the anti GMO crowd. Other obligatory note, 516 00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:29,399 Speaker 1: there's no reason to distrust genetically modified foods and food 517 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:32,480 Speaker 1: products as a whole. It's actually a super impressive feat 518 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:35,839 Speaker 1: to get yeast in bacteria to create vanilla plants make 519 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:39,000 Speaker 1: it as an anti microbial. Its whole job in plants 520 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:41,720 Speaker 1: is to not is to kill bacteria, so it tends 521 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:47,960 Speaker 1: to be toxic to microbes. That's pretty pretty neat. Yeah, 522 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:50,560 Speaker 1: but yeah, there's there's a lot of bacteria and yeast 523 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:55,759 Speaker 1: being genetically modified and and farmed to produce natural flavors 524 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:58,919 Speaker 1: these days. Yes, and their next goal is I bet 525 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:04,640 Speaker 1: you can guess, engineer a natural calorie free sugar. Yeah, 526 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:07,440 Speaker 1: and they have a lot of funding behind them to succeed. 527 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:11,880 Speaker 1: Um and here, Yeah, this finally brings us to the 528 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:16,880 Speaker 1: most important question. Yes, what the heck is blue raspberry? 529 00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:20,400 Speaker 1: What is it? Why is it blue? I don't know, 530 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:24,120 Speaker 1: actually I do. This is the thing that like I 531 00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:29,120 Speaker 1: really wanted to know in this whole episode. Okay, the 532 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:31,720 Speaker 1: answer takes us back to the summers of the early 533 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:36,840 Speaker 1: nine I remember them not at all. Oh, but I 534 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:39,880 Speaker 1: can imagine on these hot summer days, kids were reaching 535 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:44,040 Speaker 1: for a cool treat in the form of flavor ice 536 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:48,080 Speaker 1: pops or otter pops. And yet those are the clear 537 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:50,359 Speaker 1: tubes of icy sugar that have probably been in your 538 00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:52,719 Speaker 1: freezer since you've owned one. You don't know how they 539 00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:54,640 Speaker 1: got there there there though, Yeah, we've got some in 540 00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:59,319 Speaker 1: our freezer. I have no idea really, yeah. Um. The 541 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:02,720 Speaker 1: problem with these ice pops is that they were limited 542 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:07,560 Speaker 1: to four flavors at the time, cherry, strawberry, watermelon, and raspberry, 543 00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:10,879 Speaker 1: all of which are shades of red, and it made 544 00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:15,000 Speaker 1: it kind of hard to differentiate between flavors. Hard but doable. 545 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:19,320 Speaker 1: And the f d A came out with research suggesting 546 00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:22,720 Speaker 1: red number two, the die responsible for the red color, 547 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:27,440 Speaker 1: was very bad for your health. So these popsicle companies 548 00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:30,520 Speaker 1: switched it up, um, using different dyes to get the 549 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:33,439 Speaker 1: shades of red and pink. But these new dyes were 550 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:39,200 Speaker 1: either more expensive and or possibly worse for you health wise. Um, 551 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:42,240 Speaker 1: the popsicles, I guess I should say pops ice pups 552 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:46,680 Speaker 1: companies set their eyes on. An alternative at the time, 553 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:51,680 Speaker 1: the blue raspberry flavored icy. You know those frozen eated 554 00:36:51,719 --> 00:36:53,719 Speaker 1: fun things, right, that's they're saying, I didn't come up 555 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:57,759 Speaker 1: with that frozenated frozen ated fun h Okay, you get 556 00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:04,680 Speaker 1: him a like, yeah, movie theaters or gas stations. Yeah. Um. 557 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:07,840 Speaker 1: They had been out on the scene since nineteen seventy. 558 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:12,600 Speaker 1: It was basically a raspberry flavored icy, but died blue 559 00:37:12,719 --> 00:37:15,640 Speaker 1: with F D and C number one instead of red 560 00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:19,279 Speaker 1: with red number two. And actually the flavor behind blue 561 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:24,320 Speaker 1: raspberry is more similar to BlackBerry, something called white bark raspberry. 562 00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:28,760 Speaker 1: Still though that berry isn't blue. Um, it's the reddish purple, 563 00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:31,320 Speaker 1: and it does take on a bluish hue when ripe, 564 00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:37,240 Speaker 1: but it's definitely not blue raspberry. Blue white bark raspberry 565 00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:40,200 Speaker 1: flavor plus F D and C blue number one equals 566 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:44,400 Speaker 1: blue raspberry. The color was chosen in part because children 567 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:47,759 Speaker 1: are drawn to bright colors um, as observed in the 568 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:52,240 Speaker 1: case of lemonade versus pink lemonade sales. Apparently pink lemonade 569 00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:56,560 Speaker 1: way out cells lemonade UM. Once the popsicle companies started 570 00:37:56,600 --> 00:38:01,120 Speaker 1: selling pops of this flavor, it became a regular one 571 00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:05,319 Speaker 1: of the greatest mysteries of life. So oh and by 572 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:08,880 Speaker 1: the way, one thirty two millions sixteen ounce blue raspberry 573 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:13,560 Speaker 1: ices are consumed every year in the US. Oh yeah, 574 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:19,799 Speaker 1: that's a lot. Um, We've shot her speechless. She had 575 00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:22,360 Speaker 1: to sit back in her chair to take a break 576 00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:28,360 Speaker 1: after that one. All right. Back in the early two thousands, 577 00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:32,360 Speaker 1: consumers kind of kind of took up this redde number 578 00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:37,120 Speaker 1: two rally again UM and started pushing back against artificial 579 00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:40,920 Speaker 1: ingredients UM based on those nineteen seventies studies and a 580 00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:44,600 Speaker 1: couple other newer ones that were linking UM artificial colors 581 00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:49,440 Speaker 1: and preservatives to hyperactive behavior in children. And if you'll remember, 582 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:51,440 Speaker 1: this was when a d D and a d h 583 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:54,640 Speaker 1: D were the huge concerns. Everyone was, you know, like, 584 00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:58,120 Speaker 1: is mine, does my child have this affliction? How will 585 00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:00,279 Speaker 1: they survive? Not that it's not a big certain it 586 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:03,680 Speaker 1: certainly is, and it's anyway. UM. Huge corporations took notice 587 00:39:03,719 --> 00:39:06,880 Speaker 1: of this and began research to replace these artificial ingredients 588 00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:10,880 Speaker 1: to retain their marketability, and Nestle Company made the trend 589 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:14,120 Speaker 1: official in when they announced that they would be removing 590 00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:19,239 Speaker 1: and replacing all artificial color flavors and preservatives in their 591 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:23,560 Speaker 1: entire line of confections in the UK, that is Nest. 592 00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:25,440 Speaker 1: The USA would make the same announcement a couple of 593 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:28,480 Speaker 1: years later. The movement just hooked up with the Whole 594 00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:33,840 Speaker 1: like organic Whole Foods health blog kind of trend and snowballed. Yeah, 595 00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:36,400 Speaker 1: and then we talked about that in our Cheddar episode 596 00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:38,960 Speaker 1: of Macaroni and Cheese getting rid of it, and so 597 00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:42,000 Speaker 1: many um companies now are trying to get rid of 598 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:47,399 Speaker 1: and again it's not unfortunately like like more research needs 599 00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:49,960 Speaker 1: to be done to see whether or not these things 600 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:56,440 Speaker 1: are actually harmful. But yeah, I guess it's driving our 601 00:39:56,480 --> 00:40:01,799 Speaker 1: important chemists industry. Yeah, those flavor is hard work out there. 602 00:40:01,880 --> 00:40:05,000 Speaker 1: You've got your work cut out for you. This episode 603 00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:07,879 Speaker 1: has so many, so many things I want to look 604 00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:10,560 Speaker 1: in two more and including this. I read a company 605 00:40:10,560 --> 00:40:13,480 Speaker 1: in London is trying to bring three course dinner chewing 606 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:16,880 Speaker 1: gum from Charlie and the Chocolate factory to life, obviously 607 00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:21,359 Speaker 1: with the help of artificial flavoring future fictional foods. Oh 608 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:24,319 Speaker 1: my god, why haven't we thought about a Willie Walk episode? Yet? Okay, yes, 609 00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:27,480 Speaker 1: I know, And and then I thought of deff beer 610 00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:29,799 Speaker 1: from The Simpsons, and I added that to the last two. 611 00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:34,279 Speaker 1: Our list is ever growing excellent. Yes, this brings us 612 00:40:34,280 --> 00:40:38,880 Speaker 1: to the end of um artificial flavoring, with a little 613 00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:41,480 Speaker 1: note that there's many things we must return to. Yes, 614 00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:45,360 Speaker 1: I'm particularly interested in color, the association with color and food. 615 00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:48,560 Speaker 1: That was so fascinating. Color psychology is always really great 616 00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:54,359 Speaker 1: to look into. Yes, and that brings us to the 617 00:40:54,520 --> 00:41:00,319 Speaker 1: end of this classic episode. We hope you enjoyed it, um, 618 00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:03,839 Speaker 1: and also if you're doing any I was just thinking 619 00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:07,719 Speaker 1: about this today because I my baking project of the 620 00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:10,000 Speaker 1: holidays is usually I was trying to think of when 621 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:13,279 Speaker 1: I use artificial flavors. It's usually gingerbread cookies, and I'll 622 00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:18,080 Speaker 1: do a like icing and dies and candies and so 623 00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:20,680 Speaker 1: it's not as much artificial flavoring. So I was just 624 00:41:20,719 --> 00:41:24,360 Speaker 1: trying to think of things. But you listeners, we always 625 00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:28,240 Speaker 1: love to hear about whatever baking or cooking projects you 626 00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:31,560 Speaker 1: are embarking on. Oh oh, absolutely, and I'm sure that 627 00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:35,279 Speaker 1: y'all are getting up to some um, some really spectacular ones. Um. 628 00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:40,360 Speaker 1: We are also pulling together the the mail for the 629 00:41:40,480 --> 00:41:46,879 Speaker 1: last listener mail of one I know, yes, so so yeah, 630 00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:49,000 Speaker 1: so now is now is the time? If if you 631 00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:53,800 Speaker 1: have something to send to us? Yes for ninth listener 632 00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:57,360 Speaker 1: Mail episode of which I'm already work shopping the titles, 633 00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:01,799 Speaker 1: but you probably know what will be what it will be? Yes, 634 00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:05,839 Speaker 1: please please please send us your notes and letters. You 635 00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:08,719 Speaker 1: can email us at Hello at savor pod dot com. 636 00:42:08,960 --> 00:42:11,600 Speaker 1: We are also on social media. You can find us 637 00:42:11,640 --> 00:42:15,200 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at savor pod and we 638 00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:17,640 Speaker 1: do hope to hear from you. Savor is production of 639 00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:20,000 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio four more podcasts from my Heart Radio. 640 00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:22,759 Speaker 1: You can visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 641 00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:25,640 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks as 642 00:42:25,680 --> 00:42:28,839 Speaker 1: always to our superproducers Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks 643 00:42:28,840 --> 00:42:30,359 Speaker 1: to you for listening, and we hope that lots more 644 00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:31,600 Speaker 1: good things are coming your way