Help with vanilla question

In the discussion regarding mexican vanilla I was made aware that some of my vanilla was contaminated with coumadin.

I asked if vanilla from the Dominican Republic has the same problems and received no reply that I saw.

I'm still trying to find out if this vanilla from the Dominican Republic is contaminated and how I can find out if it is.

Anyone know?

Reply to
FREECYCLE MOM
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Reply to
jimmyjames

Not sure how good an idea that is. Coumarin is a blood thinner, and is an active ingredient in some rat poisons, if memory serves.

As is so often the case, google is your friend. Search for "vanilla dominican republic coumarin". Among other things, I found

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which mentions that at least one company's product was seized at the border. FIRM: PRODUCT/CODE Centro Dominicano de Promocion Vanilla Extract/28C--51 Plaza de la Independcia Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

If you buy vanilla in Mexico or the Domincan Republic or other less developed nations, you are running a risk. If you buy it in the US, you are considerably safer. If you bought it in the US, I'd enjoy it without a second thought.

Mike

FEI# 1000290693

Reply to
Mike Avery

'rat poison' has such a great mystique . . . . Until you're unemployed for a while and end up riding around with your slacker friend who's a bug man.

Not saying you should eat rat poison, but, here's the lowdown, very simplified.

Pretty much all animal life depends to some extent on traces of vitamin K in the diet. You don't need much.

Lots of animals have the ability to synthesize a little bit of vitamin K. Birds can synthesize a lot. This means that if you're not getting it in your diet, and typically you are, your body can turn some other things you ate into enough vitamin K to get by.

Rodents can't.

A lot of poisons used on rodents specifically prevent their physiology from recycling vitamin k, and they essentially die of a lack of vitamin k in their bloodstream.

Coumarin, like most of the compounds used in most rat poisons, is anticoagulant by nature of interfering with vitamin k. If you fear you've ingested a lot of something like that very recently, eat some vitamin k.

This is one of the many points where you have a poison that's really really poisonous for one sort of animal and not *as poisonous for another.

I am however in favor of eating less poison. Like my friend, he says that the worst poison he uses on the job is a lot less poisonous than clorox bleach, and most of them are less poisonous than windex, but he still doesn't drive around handling poisons with his bare hands and munching on finger foods all day.

Reply to
Eric Jorgensen

None of this really helps. Taste it? Does it differ in taste? I'm willing to taste it, not drink it, but I need to know what I should be looking for in difference.

The bottle says Vanilla Negra, Industrias Guiguena.c. por A. 16 oz $12.

REG.SANITARIO 4957 REG IND 15058

And it has a bar code.

Reply to
FREECYCLE MOM

Well, it's not the same company I mentioned in my previous post (you did read all the way to the bottom, didn't you?).

And to repeat, in case you didn't, if you bought it in the USA, it's almost certainly safe. If you bought it in Mexico or the Dominican Republic, it's not as likely to be safe.

Mike

Reply to
Mike Avery

I don't know the answer but you can check this site:

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the bottom is a link to e-mail the owner. She might be able to answer your question for you. marcella

Reply to
Marcella Peek

considering the amount of vanilla used in most recipes I would not be overly concerned unless you are eating an enormous amount of it.

If you are really concerned the Poison Center (I forget its real name but is in the phone book, emergency numbers) or the FDA should be able to tell you if it was a legal import.

If you eat a cookie made with it and start bleeding from every bodily orifice then you know it is bad.

;)

Reply to
marks542004

I did read all the way to the bottom. I checked the site and the maker of my vanilla was on the list. If you read MY message it stated it was given to me by my son, who purchased it .... in the Dominican Republic. Now admittedly the banned substance is not vanilla, but if one is banned how safe is another of their product?

INDUSTRIAS GUIGUENA CxA SANTO DOMINGO DO-01, DO 10131 FLA-DO

606-0081198-2/5/1J 28CGY02 Almendra Concentrate 10-JUN-2004 UNAPPROVED
Reply to
FREECYCLE MOM

Thanks, I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

Reply to
FREECYCLE MOM

Um, you think?

Reply to
FREECYCLE MOM

Taste it...

They mix coumarin into it because it tastes so similar to vanillin that a normal tongue can hardly discern between them. If you want to smell coumarin as a pure and natural scent go to a incense shop and smell Tonka-bean (lat.: Dipteryx odorata). It has a lot of coumarin on it. (It is like a white powder on the bean) It can´t be that poisoning in normal quantities. Here in Germany we have a drink called "Maibowle". It is made with "Sweet Woodruff" (lat.: Galium odoratum). This plant developes coumarin when geting dry. You can smell the coumarin in it when you collect this plant and keep it for some days. People say that if you drink too much of that stuff you might get a headache but that´s about all.

So don´t be too worried about it, it is not a deadly drug...

Joschi

Reply to
Joschi Kley

That's what i was trying to say - since we're higher primates, vitamin K deficiency doesn't hurt us as much. Also since we're so large, it takes a lot of coumarin to affect a healthy person.=20

I think the advisories I'd read said something about people already taking anticoagulants, hemophiliacs, other people who have blood clotting problems already.=20

I don't think coumarin tastes as much like vanillin as it does smell like it, and smell is a big factor in taste. It's said to taste slightly bitter. But then, Vanilla started out as a perfume.=20

Reply to
Eric Jorgensen

I don't know. In fact I'm kind of wondering what I bought when we were visiting Barbados a few years ago. I brought back 2 bottles of vanilla with me, and 2 bottles of 'mixed spices'. The mixed spice had several mixed flavourings in it as well as vanilla. It smelled wonderful and I used to substitute it for vanilla when baking.

I guess I'm sticking to Club House vanilla. I tried a cheaper brand (house brand) of a large grocery A&P grocery chain and it was nowhere the same in quality of taste or fragrance. Now it's the real thing brand label or not at all. Feh!

Would anyone know if the vanilla from Barbados is unadulterated?

Reply to
mysterious

mysterious wrote on 01 May 2005 in rec.food.baking

I prefer the Penzeys double strength stuff. I don't have a clue about contamination of spices from the Mexico, central America or where ever. Never wanted to save a buck that bad to poison myself. I've always found you pay for what you get.

There are various spice merchants on the web if you don't like the Supermarket stuff.

Reply to
Monsur Fromage du Pollet

problems

vanilla

Can't help you with that one, but for myself I've bought some vanilla beans on Ebay and will make my own. The stuff that is suspect is being used in the pot pouri pot with water.

Reply to
FREECYCLEMOM

On Sun 01 May 2005 02:10:01p, Monsur Fromage du Pollet wrote in rec.food.baking:

Penzey's double strength vanilla is my favorite, but now that it's priced at just under $40 for 16 oz., it's clearly out of my price range. For that matter, the supermarket prices aren't that far behind it. Vanilla is simply being priced out of the market.

Reply to
Wayne Boatwright

Interestingly, a few weeks ago I was restocking some vitamins and decided to get some Vitamin K, but the pharmacist said that Vitamin K is obtainable only by prescription. But,

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shows what foods contain Vitamin K.Dee

Reply to
Dee Randall

If in question and doubt throw it out!

Reply to
eileen.chaffee

Vanilla extract? Hard to think of too much that can go wrong with a decent brand of real vanilla. It is mostly alcohol.

There are some brands that use sugar or corn syrup and if the container gets contaminated you might get some sort of mold around the top or similar, in which case ditch it, but what is the problem you are trying to solve?

Reply to
Boron Elgar

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