I love me some ice cream. It's been my go to late night treat after I decided to quit alcohol. Cookies and cream was my number one, but lately? Plain old VANILLA.

My father-in-law had clued me in on some interesting information the other day about the potential origin of fake vanilla flavor.

Mass. Residents May Never Eat Vanilla Ice Cream Again After Learning This

He told me that vanilla flavoring can come from the rear end of a beaver! What? Really?

I had to look this up.

First off, is there really a vanilla bean?

There is little black dots on the label! Is that really a bean? I mean, some ice creams are vanilla, and some are vanilla bean.

To understand vanilla extract, you've got to know the basics about vanilla. First off, a vanilla bean is no bean—it's actually the fruit of orchids in the genus Vanilla. Those vanilla orchids only grow in a very small subsection of the world, with Madagascar producing a whopping 80% .-bonappetit.com

So, what's the deal with the beaver and vanilla?

Castoreum is found in beavers and has been used in perfumes and flavoring over the years.

Castoreum is a heavily-scented brown or tan goo that is secreted from a beaver's castor gland, which is located nail-bitingly close to its anal gland. Beavers use castoreum to communicate with each other about marking territory, establishing colonies, and deterring predators. -allrecipes.com

It has also been a natural food flavoring for nearly the last century. And yes, it has been used as a replacement for vanilla, raspberry, or strawberry in some flavorings and food items.

Yikes.