[Sca-cooks] OT OOP Vanilla Extract

[Terry Decker]

My error.  You are correct.  Propylene glycol is officially "a flavor 
enhancer" and a half dozen other things under 21CFR170.3(o) "(IIRC, I've 
slept since then.)."

I think the actual reason it is added to vanilla is to stabilize the water 
in the product.  The chemistry, production and uses make interesting 
reading.  I particularly love the idea that your 50/50 mix is non-potable 
and a "safe" anti-freeze.

Bear

----- Original Message ----- 

Propylene glycol a sweetener?  I don't think so; it's got a very bitter back 
note, and a 50% W/W mix of alcohol and P Gl is considered non-potable by TTB 
(Your new, post 9/11 Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau, abbreviated TTB, 
nee Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms, abbreviated BATF).  And glycerin 
in large quantity can be bitter, as well (according to one of our chemists), 
though it is a very simple 3-carbon sugar structure and is sweet at low 
levels.
Anything sold as Propylene Glycol, with nothing else listed in the label, 
had better be straight propylene Glycol, at least if it's sold for use in 
foods.  Drug usage may have differing requirements; I'm not willing to take 
the time to find out, though.


Regards,
Brekke
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Terry Decker<mailto:t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
  To: Cooks within the SCA<mailto:sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
  Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 11:47 PM
  Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OT OOP Vanilla Extract


  Let me point out that glycerin and propylene glycol are sweetners and
  stabilizers.  Propylene glycol is also the solvent used in a number of 
dyes,
  so it might be worth checking to see what the FDA permits under the label 
of
  propylene glycol.  Sugar covers a multitude of sins, although in this case
  it is probably primarily glucose, sucrose and fructose, which can be used
  both as sweetners and coloring agents, depending on the degree of 
refining.
  Invert sugar is a mixture of equal parts of sucrose and fructose 
hydrolized
  from glucose.  If you slowly heat the sucrose during hydrolization you
  caramelize the sugar producing the caramel to which I was referring.
  Chemically, it is still a form of invert sugar.  Dextrose is glucose 
bonded
  with water.  Corn syrup is a dextrose syrup made from corn starch, which
  comes in a range of brownish shades although I don't know off the top of 
my
  head whether or not they use dyes in the product and whether or not they
  would be permitted under the FDA definitions.

  Bear


  Permitted additives, per CFR 21.169.175, are, and I quote:

  (1) Glycerin.
  (2)  Propylene glycol.
  (3) Sugar (including invert sugar).
  (4) Dextrose
  (5) Corn sirup. [sic]

  These are the ONLY additions permitted for Pure Vanilla Extract.  Anything
  else should be called "flavor", "with color", or have some other modifier 
to
  indicate that it is not strictly pure vanilla extract.  There's a whole
  story on the importance of bean moisture, too, that goes along with this
  ruling.

  Regards,
  Brekke
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Terry 
Decker<mailto:t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net<mailto:t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>>
    To: Cooks within the 
SCA<mailto:sca-cooks at ansteorra.org<mailto:sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>>
    Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2005 10:43 PM
    Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OT OOP Vanilla Extract


    Vanilla extract is produced by alcohol extraction from aged vanilla 
beans.
    The FDA requires that pure vanilla extract be 35 per cent alcohol (with
    13.35 ounces of vanilla beans per gallon of 35 per cent solution).  The
  FDA
    also permits sugar, corn syrup, caramel, colors and stabilizers to be
  added
    to the extract.  When these additional items appear on the label, the
    extract is most likely unaged.  Fresh vanilla extract tends to be harsh
    tasting and adding 20 per cent or more sugar smooths the taste while
    caramels, colors and stabilizers give the product an aged appearance. 
Top
    quality vanilla extract has only vanilla, alcohol and water for
  ingredients
    and its smooth flavor and dark rich color are the result of aging the
    product between one and two years.  Aging costs money.

    Bear


    ----- Original Message ----- 

    Hello I've never posted to the list but I've got a question. When did 
they
    start putting corn syrup in vanilla extract?  I have found such in the
    Publix store brand, in the McCormick brand, and in the Nielsen-Massey
  brand
    at the gourmet shop. The only kind that didn't have corn syrup was the
  Spice
    Islands brand but, at $11.99 for two ounces, it's three or four times 
more
    expensive. Was there a problem with the vanilla crop? Is home-made 
vanilla
    extract just as good?
    Cheers,
    Isabella
    (Daniel's better half..)

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