What is flavour?

In our industry, flavour is a concentrated preparation of odorous and flavouring substances, with or without solvents or carriers, used exclusively to give foods a particular smell or taste, and which amplifies or improves such smell or taste.  Flavour can also be used as a masking agent, which is an ingredient used for masking an unpleasant odor or taste in a foodstuff or a pharmaceutical product.  Flavour can also be used as a taste enhancer, which is a substance used in such small amounts as to produce little or no odor of its own, but which increases the odor or taste effect of other food components well above their normal level or at least enough to make them palatable.  Salty, sweet, bitter and acid properties are not included in the scope of definition.  A flavour is not meant for direct consumption.  The quality of flavour is based on its end-use application.

1) Natural Flavours – Natural flavours are the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive which contain the flavour constituents derived from natural sources, and provide flavour enhancement to a particular product. 

2) Natural Flavour Type (WONF) - In order to boost the strength of a natural flavour, other natural flavour ingredients can be added during flavour development. This results in a blended flavour that is referred to as WONF (with other natural flavours). Essential oils and botanical extracts generally comprise these added ingredients. The resultant flavour can be used at a relatively low usage level.
Advantages: Psychological and legislative advantages, generally more economical than natural flavours. 
Disadvantages: Quality fluctuations, less heat stable, limited availability, low concentration (except with essential oils).

3) Natural and Artificial Flavours (N&A) – These are defined as simply a combination of natural and artificial flavours. In many cases, an N&A flavour will give a more natural taste since all the volatile components of the natural flavour, lost during the extraction/distillation process, are replaced with the artificial.
Advantages: More versatile, usually more economical than natural flavours, more heat stable combines the body of a natural flavour with the strength and stability of artificial flavour.
Disadvantages: Labeling legislation 

4) Artificial Flavours – Artificial flavours can be defined as any substance or substances, the function of which is to impart flavour, which are not derived from natural sources. Although most artificial flavour ingredients are chemically identical to the flavour compounds found in nature they must be classified artificial if they are not derived from natural sources.
Nature-Identical Flavoring:  Label declaration used in European products which is classified as artificial flavour in North America.
Advantages: Lower cost, more flexibility, increased heat stability
Disadvantages: Labeling legislation

Types of Vanilla Available Today

Embassy Flavours has a long tradition of manufacturing and sourcing high quality pure, artificial and blended vanilla extracts and vanilla flavour concentrates in both liquid and powder formats. The following is a brief explanation of the different types of vanilla available. Please contact us to determine the vanilla that is right for your individual needs.

1. Pure Vanilla

Pure vanilla is an extremely complex flavour. The major flavour component of the vanilla bean is natural vanillin, which may appear as a white crystalline material on well-aged vanilla beans. In addition, there are approximately 300 other flavour components, most of which are present only in trace amounts. These include aromatic aldehydes, esters, oils, acids and resins most of which are easily lost or changed by the presence of heat and/or pressure during processing. Despite the development of sophisticated equipment and processes, flavour scientists have never been able to duplicate the flavour of pure vanilla exactly.

2. Pure Vanilla Strengths

Pure vanilla is sold in various strengths, designated as folds. As established by the U.S. FDA, a fold of vanilla is the extractive matter as described in the graph below. Pure vanilla can also be concentrated by removing some of the solvent. Stronger vanillas are usually used in manufacturing when large batches of product are being flavoured.

How it is regulated:
The strength of vanilla is regulated by the following:

Number of Folds                       Amount of extractive matter (amount of vanilla bean content)

One (1) 100 g to 1 L of liquid            (13.35 oz to 1 US gallon)
Two (2) 200 g to 1 L of liquid            (26.70 oz to 1 US gallon)
Five (5) 500 g to 1 L of liquid            (66.75 oz to 1 US gallon)
Ten (10) 1 kg to 1 L of liquid             (133.50 oz to 1 US gallon)

3. Vanilla WONF Blends

In order to boost the strength of pure vanilla, other natural flavour ingredients can be added during flavour development. This results in a blended vanilla flavour that is referred to as WONF (with other natural flavours). Essential oils and botanical extracts generally comprise these added ingredients. The resultant flavour can be used at a relatively low usage level.

4. Vanilla-Vanillin Blends

Vanillin may be added to pure vanilla at a rate of up to one ounce to the fold of pure vanilla. To determine the strength of this combination, the folds of pure vanilla and the ounces of vanillin added per gallon are added together.  A single-fold pure vanilla with one ounce of vanillin is a two-fold vanilla blend. Other folds of vanilla and vanillin are similarly added together to give the total fold strength of the combination. The addition of vanillin to pure vanilla at the rate of one ounce to the fold of vanilla reduces the usage of the combination by 25%.

5. Artificial Vanilla

The basic flavour ingredients of most artificial vanillas are USP Vanillin and/or Ethyl Vanillin. USP Vanillin is an artificial product derived from a by-product of the paper or petro-chemical industries. Ethyl Vanillin is approximately three times as strong as USP Vanillin and is made from Guaiacol, a coal tar derivative, by a chemical process. The USP Vanillin and/or Ethyl Vanillin are dissolved in alcohol, propylene glycol and/or glycerine and other flavour chemicals may be added. Caramel colours may also be added to artificial vanilla for appearance and some may even contain pure vanilla.

By far, in Canadian retail and wholesale bakeries, artificial vanilla is most often used. Quality varies greatly between various manufacturers and distributor private label offerings. Price points can vary greatly and are achieved according to the ratio of pure vanilla or vanillin to alcohol, propylene glycol and/or water otherwise known as the dilution. It is quite difficult to analyze the pure vanilla or vanillin content of a given formulation.  Because of this, unscrupulous manufacturers may make exaggerated claims during times of price volatility and buyers should always deal with trusted sources.

Embassy Flavours has been producing high quality pure, artificial and blended vanilla flavours in various strengths for over 25 years.  From our popular Bakers and Supreme lines to custom blends created for specific customer needs, we are confident that our commitment to developing and manufacturing ingredients of the highest quality will ensure Embassy Flavours remains a market leader within the Canadian food industry.

Raw Materials for Flavourings

1) Extraction – Selective dissolving, washing out or leaching out of specific substances from the so-called carrier (i.e.: raspberries) by way of a suitable extraction agent (i.e.: water or alcohol). The carrier as well as the extraction agent may be solid, liquid or gaseous. Maceration, digestion, percolation and infusion are processes employed in extracting substances from solid carriers.

2) Distillation – Separation of individual substances from a mixture. In the case of simple distillation, a material, usually a liquid, is heated to boiling point. As the material is heated, each component substance evaporates separately when the temperature reaches its particular boiling point. The vapours are condensed in a cooler, and the resulting condensate is collected in a vessel.

3) Rectification – Any substance has the tendency to evaporate even at temperatures below the relevant boiling point. Rectifying columns are therefore used to avoid having to distil a fraction several times. This column consists of a longish, thick pipe over the distilling vessel, with various obstacle-type fillings. Only the vapours of the highest volatility reach the top of the column, where they are condensed. The condensate flowing back into the column is heated again by rising vapours and releases the more volatile substances first.

4) Concentration – Processing of the aqueous or alcoholic extracts or fruit juices obtained through extraction into a concentrate. To prevent loss of flavour or colour this process is effected under vacuum and at temperatures below 40°C. Evaporators used for this purpose are additionally fitted with a special follow-up cooler which effects condensation of the more volatile flavour components (i.e.: apple juice concentrate).

    How do you get Artificial Flavouring Substances?
These substances are obtained through synthesis or isolated through chemical processes from a natural product. Artificial flavours have two basic varieties: one is an exact molecular match to a natural substance (i.e.: vanillin), the other uses a combination of synthetic ingredients which have yet to be identified in any natural product (i.e.: ethyl vanillin). These chemicals in combination can impart a very realistic end flavour.

    How do you get microbiologically Produced Flavouring Substances?
These substances are obtained by means of fermentation or enzymatic action.  The base materials used for this purpose are often cheap and provide a definite advantage (i.e.: enzyme modified cheese).

Types of Liquid Flavour

1) Extract - The essential component is drawn by alcohol. The finished extract is obtained through filtration.  The extract can be further diluted or concentrated depending on the requirements of the finished product.
2) Essential Oil - These are the oils distilled or expressed from a seed, fruit, root, stem or leaf of a plant. Common examples of essential oils are lemon, cassia, eucalyptus, peppermint, clove and nutmeg. Over 150 essential oils are approved for use in foods and/or beverages. There are several variations of these oils, depending on the growing region, harvest time, and the method of extraction. Essential oils are available in various levels of terpene content.  Citrus oils typically have a high terpene level and in order to make them more resistant to oxidation and more soluble, part of the terpenes are removed by one of the following methods:  extraction, chromatography, and distillation.
3) Oleoresins - Oleoresins are the oil soluble extractive of a botanical that yields a combination of essential oil and resinous material. Oleoresins have a different flavour profile than the essential oils and supply taste properties as well as aromatic qualities. These materials are considered to be truer in flavour character to the original spice than the essential oils. Oleoresins represent a method of obtaining a spice-like flavour in a concentrated oil soluble liquid form.
4) Emulsion - A flavour whose components have been dispersed and encapsulated in either a gum or starch suspension. Emulsions are created when mixing oil and water and because of the difference in molecular size there is a tendency towards separation. To reduce and eliminate the separation, the technology of emulsions resolves the issue in two ways: firstly, the viscosity of the liquid is increased with the use of starches and gums making the separation more difficult; secondly, the flavour is put through a mechanical process which equalizes the molecular size of the oil and aqueous components eliminating the initial reason for separation. Emulsions are typically bake stable since they use oil-based components which have much higher heat stability than alcohol solutions. 
5) Essence - Essences contain the highly volatile top notes of natural products and are achieved through a variety of processing techniques.  Essences are by-products derived from the manufacturing of fruit concentrates.

1) Absorbates (Plating) - The liquid flavour is mechanically applied in a suitable mixing device onto a carrier in powder form. The most commonly used carriers are sugar, salt, starch, and dextrin.
Advantages: Low temperature and favourable costs. Suitable for low volatility substances.
Disadvantages: There can be no more than 5% of the flavour material plated on the median, therefore the flavour is weak. There is a chance of floating oil in the final product because the flavouring agent might detach from the water phase when used in aqueous solution.