Haribo

Next, we move to candy everyone has had, but may not know the company, Haribo. They are based in Germany and are a company that takes its quality seriously, at least, according to their website. According to their website, their candy is made in Turkey. That makes a lot of sense. When I think quality, I think Turkey.
So, while filling out the e-mail form, they asked for my address and it's a mandatory field. This scared me a little, are they going to send some German thugs to my house?

Scary.

Searching their website, I did find out they use beef and pork gelatin and are not kosher. Sadly, however, there was nothing about beaver butt juice.
This is the email I sent them:
"Hello, I was wondering if any of your delicious products uses castoreum as a natural flavor. If I don't receive a response within 30 days, I'll assume the answer is yes. Thank you for your time."
I changed it up a bit to sound nicer.

By the way, here's the most common product of theirs I see:

When I was a kid, I ate these things by the pound. That's why I have diabetes.

Jelly Belly Answer

So, I received an e-mail back for Jelly Belly and good for them for getting back to me so fast. Here's their response:
"We do not add castoreum to any of our candy; however, we purchase our flavorings from different flavoring houses. They are only required to disclose the top 8 allergens as an ingredient. The rest of the ingredients that make up their flavorings are proprietary so we do not know if any of them contain castoreum."

Wait, what?

Conclusion: They don't know what's in their own candy.

Jelly Belly

Going to start with an old time favorite. Jelly Belly.

Real raspberries, or butt juice?

This is the email I sent them:

"Hello, I was wondering if any of your jelly beans uses castoreum as a natural flavor. If you do not respond within 30 days, I'll assume the answer is yes. Thank you for your time."

Reference #  W053253-032913

I had to include the "If you do not respond within 30 days" threat, because I hear some companies never answer, because the answer is yes.

Any products you're wondering about? Let me know!

Castoreum and you.

Castoreum is a yellowish secretion, of the castor sac, in male and female beavers. These sacs are beneath the beavers tail, right next to the anus. Also, it's a food additive. That's right, there's no telling how many times you've ingested it either, as it is used as a raspberry, strawberry, and vanilla flavoring. Don't bother looking for it on a list of ingredients either, it's often listed as "natural flavoring".

Eat it! Eat my butt juice!

I don't like the idea of ingesting beaver butt juice, aka castoreum, even if it is deemed "reasonably safe" by the FDA. So, I had an idea. I'm going to gather a list of strawberry, raspberry, and vanilla products and contact the manufactures to see if castoreum is a "natural flavor" in their product.

Doesn't that look tasty?