Vanillin: More Than Just a Favorite Flavoring?

The vanilla bean, which contains vanillin and hundreds of other components, is a valuable agricultural crop thanks to consumers’ fondness for vanilla flavoring in products ranging from ice cream to coffee. Recently, a lower than expected supply of vanilla crops, increased demand for industrial and gourmet grades of vanilla beans, and diminished vanilla bean inventory have contributed to continued price spikes. Consumer demand for natural and organic vanilla and indirect contamination with …