Vanillin is yet another ingredient found in many chocolates that leaves people scratching their heads, so what is it?
Vanillin sounding just like vanilla is no coincidence and that is because many companies use vanillin as a substitute for the more expensive natural vanilla that other companies are including in their chocolates. Many people would have you believe that vanillin is simply an artificially produced element, created in labs and therefore an abomination when included in your favorite sweet treat; however, the fact is that vanillin does occur naturally as well! When extracted from the highest quality vanilla beans this organic compound resembles the laboratory made product almost identically. So why the big fuss by some foodies out there? Well, as with many trends these days people tend to believe that natural is better and man made is not as healthy for consumption as the naturally occurring substance.
So why create something artificially that occurs naturally? The cost of obtaining natural vanilla extract and the scarcity of it results in it being an impractical ingredient for many items, not just chocolate. When vanillin of equal caliber to the naturally occurring substance can be created using commercial synthesis at a significantly lower cost it is no wonder that man made is winning out over naturally occurring in this debate.
So what does vanillin do exactly? Vanillin is the vanilla flavor that you taste in vanilla extract, it is also the vanilla aroma that you smell when you open that bottle of extract during baking. When occurring naturally it shows as a white dust on the outside of vanilla pods which have been cured. Madagascar is the world’s biggest producer of natural vanillin. Artificial vanillin, however, can be created worldwide using chemical processing of which the two step process used by the Rhodia company is the most popular.
Artificial production of vanillin has evolved over the years coming from the first chemical production which involved synthesis from Eugenol which is found in clove oil. This method was used until the 1920′s when it was found that a bi-product from wood pulp – a brown liquor which contained lignin could be used to produce artificial vanillin. As environmental concerns grew, however, this second method of production became less and less popular and consequently the method of most vanillin production is the use of guaiacol – a petrochemical. While this may sound alarming many people are not aware of the sheer amount of daily products in our lives that come from petrochemicals including: aspirin, clothing, furniture, electronics and much more!
So what other products is vanillin used in? While a reported 75% of the vanillin produced is used by the chocolate and ice cream industries there is also significant demand by other sectors of manufacturing as well. Vanillin is used in the fragrance industry to add hints of vanilla to perfumes, the wine business to smooth the flavor of wines, the pharmaceutical industry to neutralize foul tasting medications, and as in the process of chromatography where it is used as an all purpose stain.
While many will continue to criticize the use of vanillin in the production of chocolate the fact remains that it is a useful compound which creates a cost effective way to bring vanilla flavoring and a smoothness that natural vanilla can sometimes miss when incorporated in to chocolate.
