‘Vanilla pearls’ or ‘vanilla caviar’. Our market survey

Master ice cream makers and pastry chefs pursue perfection also through the search for the finest natural ingredients. Vanilla – originating from Mexico and mainly cultivated in Central Africa (Madagascar, Uganda) – is one of the mainstays of the confectionery tradition in Europe. And the use of ‘vanilla pearls’ or ‘vanilla caviar’, presented as the  cru of the prized pod, selected and extracted from its pods.

However, our market survey and laboratory analyses reveal that some products are not true ‘vanilla’, but rather a ‘vanilla-flavored aromatic preparation’. That is, an ingredient composed of multiple ingredients, sometimes not even declared on the label. Professional users are therefore at risk of unknowingly providing incorrect information to their consumers and customers.

Vanilla. Ingredient, aroma or flavoring preparation

Vanilla is used in the production of ice cream, yogurt, and sweets, but also in beverages (even in Coca-Cola). Depending on the preparations and recipe or food technology requirements, it is used in the following different forms:

a) ‘vanilla’ ingredient

– as is, as a raw food (pods and berries),
– in powder (100% powdered vanilla),

b) vanilla flavor

– in liquid or powder, vanilla flavor can be defined as ‘natural vanilla flavor’ only when at least 95% derives from vanilla, (1)

c) flavor preparation

– pastes, concentrates, extracts are instead qualified as flavoring preparations. (2) Since these are compound ingredients, their content must be specified on the label or in the ingredient register of the products where they are used.

‘vanilla pearls’ or ‘vanilla caviar’. Our market survey

Pastry shops and ice cream parlors  artisan,  pastry chef and starred chefs have also started to appreciate in recent years the ‘vanilla pearls’, or ‘vanilla caviar’. Words relevant to their prices, given that vanilla – after saffron – is the second most expensive spice in the world.

The market survey carried out by GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade) begins with the analysis of the flagship product of Eurovanille. A French group boasting more than 6000 clients in over 80 countries, leader in the Italian market.

Eurovanille, ‘Bourbon vanilla pearls’

The ‘Bourbon vanilla pearls – origin Madagascar pods’ of Eurovanille show a significant discrepancy between the product offered and that sold. Of such severity, unfortunately, as to constitute a hypothesis of commercial fraud. In fact:

– the website  web company reports a matrix ‘composed entirely of Bourbon vanilla seeds, finely sieved, and then combined with our natural vanilla concentrate, in order to obtain a dense paste’,

– the Italian catalog declares ‘100% vanilla’, specifying that 1 gram of product equals 1 pod of the most prized vanilla variety, Bourbon indeed,

– the ingredient list, on the label, indicates ‘mixture of vanilla seeds obtained from extraction and natural Bourbon vanilla seeds (62.5%), Bourbon vanilla concentrate (37.5%)’,

– laboratory analyses carried out on our instructions by an accredited laboratory instead reveal the presence of molasses (8.8 g/100g), glucose (4.6 g), fructose (2.8 g), sucrose (1.4 g) and ethanol residues (0.0065 g), hopefully  food grade.

Vanille Lavany de Madagascar, ‘caviar – vanilla pearls’

The ‘caviar – vanilla pearls, Bourbon of Madagascar’ of Vanille Lavany de Madagascar – another French spice merchant – is presented this way on the site  web corporate: ‘the caviar – pearl is the result of a mixture of our unused Lavany vanilla beans and concentrated Bourbon Vanilla from Madagascar – oleoresin’.

The ingredient list remains unknown both on the technical sheet and the website  web of Vanille Lavany de Madagascar, as well as on Amazon. Where the 200 g jar of ‘pearl caviar’ is thus sold illegally at the modest price of € 184.50 (922.5 €/kg). The product, at least, is labeled as ‘flavoring preparation based on Bourbon vanilla from Madagascar’ (3)

Profumi del Madagascar, ‘vanilla caviar’

Profumi del Madagascar  is an Italian company dedicated to the trade of vanilla, spices, and handicraft products arriving from the African island. Its ‘vanilla caviar’ is presented as ‘a specialty obtained from the extraction of the pulp found inside the vanilla pod’.

The ‘vanilla caviar’ product by Gasy sata company for Profumi del Madagascar, however, lists in the ingredients ‘non-exhausted vanilla seeds’ (80%) and ‘extract’ (20%). Therefore, it is once again a flavoring preparation under false pretenses. Although, presumably, made with traditional methods. (4)

F.lli Rebecchi, ‘natural flavor Bourbon Vanilla Madagascar’

F.lli Rebecchi Valtrebbia S.p.A. – in addition to marketing Bourbon Vanilla Madagascar in pods and powder – has in its catalog a product that contains both vanilla seeds and its concentrate. The product in question is however presented correctly, as ‘natural flavor Bourbon Vanilla Madagascar’, senza suggerire alcun accostamento a ‘perle’ o ‘caviale’. (5) Una perla di onestà in un mercato dominato da illeciti e inganni.

Aromatic preparations vs. seeds and pods

The so-called ‘vanilla pearls’ or ‘vanilla caviar’ of Eurovanille, Vanille Lavany de Madagascar and Profumi del Madagascar – despite advertising promises – are therefore made with vanilla seeds (often exhausted and odorless, but characteristic in appearance) and concentrates or extracts. These serve to give the flavoring preparation the desired aroma and consistency. (6)

Concentrates and extracts They are made, depending on the case, using sugar syrup or glucose syrup. That is water and fructose, or vegetable glycerin, or hydroalcoholic solution. Vanilla immersed in these solutions thus releases its aromatic components by osmosis, often enhanced by heat treatment, into the concentrate or extract. Both of which clearly cannot in any way be equated with seeds or pods.

Advice for artisans, chef and confectionery businesses

Appearances deceive  and the regulatory authorities have not yet dedicated the necessary investigations to this sector to crack down on frauds. Pending this, artisan businesses – pastry shops, ice cream parlors, catering establishments – and confectionery industries that use these products:

– have every right to demand technical data sheets for vanilla-derived products from their suppliers, (7)

– must indicate on the label and/or sales signs of pastry and ice cream products the wording ‘flavoring preparation’, seguita tra parentesi dai suoi specifici ingredienti.

The denomination ‘vanilla’ – and thus, ‘vanilla dessert’, ‘vanilla ice cream’, can only be used when the ingredient has been made exclusively, 100%, with the precious beans and/or pods. In all other cases, one may instead refer only to ‘al gusto di’ or ‘with the aroma of’.

Dario Dongo

Notes

(1)  Natural flavors, answers lawyer Dario Dongo. FARE (Food and Agriculture Requirements). 16.10.18,  https://www.foodagriculturerequirements.com/archivio-notizie/domande-e-risposte/aromi-naturali-risponde-l-avvocato-dario-dongo

(2) Flavoring preparations can in turn be qualified as ‘traditional’, under the conditions set out in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1334/08  relating to flavors and certain flavoring food ingredients intended for use in or on foods. Consolidated text as of 31.12.20 at  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02008R1334-20201203&qid=1619076336370

(3) Vanille Lavany de Madagascar then presents its ‘Bourbon vanilla extract’ as a product ‘exclusively with Bourbon Vanilla beans from Madagascar’. Except then to report, in the  pole position of the ingredients list, inverted sugar syrup in first place and caramel in third

(4) Profumi del Madagascar also markets a vanilla extract where the ingredients list declares vanilla pods (40%), cane sugar syrup (30%), vanilla seeds 30%. For an unlikely total of 110%. See https://profumidelmadagascar.it/shop/spezie/vaniglia/vaniglia-bourbon-estratto/

(5) Rebecchi Valtrebbia S.p.A. Products in the catalog, on http://rebecchi.com/index.php/vaniglia-bacche, http://rebecchi.com/index.php/vaniglia-polvere e http://rebecchi.com/index.php/vaniglia-liquida

(6) EU Reg. 1169/2011, article 8.8

(7) Allergens, B2B information, answers lawyer Dario Dongo. FARE (Food and Agriculture Requirements). 13.11.17,  https://www.foodagriculturerequirements.com/archivio-notizie/domande-e-risposte/allergeni-informazione-b2b-risponde-l-avvocato-dario-dongo