Why is vanilla extract not good?

Question:

Why is vanilla extract not good?

Answer:

The short answer is that there are MANY different types of vanilla. There is pure vanilla, vanilla extract, vanillin, vanilla flavouring. The average consumer often doesn’t realise the slight differences on the label. They just see vanilla.

Vanilla is a very expensive ingredient and can often be in short supply. It is susceptible to fraud and adulteration.

Extract is usually produced by soaking the vanilla pod in alcohol. The problem is that some manufacturers will soak them in a solution which can have an artificial vanillin (lab created vanilla) base or other solvents or enzymes.

There is a lot of variations of vanilla extract on the market, some popular supermarket brands come with preservatives.

I only will buy a product if it states vanilla powder (and this is still susceptible to fraud) as it is hard to ascertain from the ingredient label how the vanilla has been processed. The manufacturers that have gone to the effort of securing vanilla bean powder understand the difference in the quality of the ingredients (generally speaking).