As we know, things falling under the label of "natural flavors" can include flavor compounds from some pretty off-the-wall sources. In the US, the chemical compound castoreum has long been approved for use as an additive, frequently in vanilla products. The catch: naturally-occurring castoreum occurs naturally in...beavers, or to be exact, in the material exuded by the castor sacs of adult beavers. And since those sacs are located on the beaver's backside, people taking a deep dive into ingredient souces started getting concerned about how closely beaver bums were involved in their vanilla flavoring. Today, the castoreum used in vanillas is more often than not synthetically produced. So, yes, beavers and vanilla is a thing, and no, artificial vanilla is not made from beaver butts.