Vanillin: Is it Real or is it Fake?
Nutella also consists of vanillin, which is not actually real vanilla. When we htink of the word vanillin, the first thing that might come to mind is vanilla, but vanillin and vanilla are actually very different. When products list vanillin as an ingredient, it means that that they use synthetic vanilla. The most common sources of vanillin are Lignin vanillin ( a by-product of paper which is treated with chemicals to add a strong vanilla taste).
Products that use vanillin are usually things like chocolate, marshmallows and vanilla flavoured ice cream. Companies choose to use vanillin rather than pure vanilla extract simply because it is cheaper, and depending on where it is produced, can have a stronger taste of vanilla than pure vanilla extract.
Another ingredient that goes into vanilln is something called Coumarin, which come from a bean found in Brazil. It is comoon;lly used as an ingredient in vanillin made in Mexico, Central America, and in the Caribbean. Couramin has most of the parts of pure vanilla, giving vanillin a strong vanilla taste. The bad thing about this ingredient is that it can be toxic. It has been banned in the United Staes, which means that Nutella had to use a vanillin that doesn't us Coumarin.