Millions of people across the globe are eating "beaver butt" and don't even know that they're consuming such a substance.
It's called "castoreum," and it's emitted from the castor sacs within the animal's anus. For a beaver, this slimy brown substance is used to mark its territory, but for us humans, it's used as an additive that is often labeled as "natural flavoring" in the foods we eat - vanilla, strawberry and raspberry probably being the most common.
Why is castoreum used? The most notable characteristic (after being processed) has to be the smell of castoreum. Instead of smelling horrible, like most people would expect from an anally produced secretion, it has a pleasant scent, which supposedly makes it a perfect candidate for food flavoring and other products.
The question that many people put forth would have to be "who in their right mind actually made this odd discovery?"
Another industry that utilizes castoreum is the fragrance w
Learn more: Beaver butt used as 'natural flavoring' in your food
