Largest-ever study of controversial pesticides finds harm to bees

Re:Largest-ever study of controversial pesticides finds harm... by crimsonalucard on Tuesday July 04, 2017 @03:00PM (#14697625)

Naturally Harvested vanilla currently can go for $600 dollars a pop. Although the plant was originally from Mexico, 80% of the worlds' natural vanilla is now harvested in Madagascar.

It is highly unlikely any of you have tasted "all natural" vanilla as 99% of food products in the super market utilize an artificial version of the same critical flavor compound found in the plant: vanillin.

Vanilla plantations do not have the capacity to satisfy the worlds' demand with or without insect pollination.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Largest-ever study of controversial pesticides finds harm... by Programmatic on Tuesday July 04, 2017 @05:23PM (#14698388)

I can't say as I've paid much attention and I'm sure the majority of ice cream is made from artificial vanilla, but:

Vanilla beans appear to be about $6-7 each retail and $4-5 wholesale according to these random websites, despite there apparently being a bean shortage currently:

https://www.beanilla.com/vanilla/vanilla-beans

https://www.amadeusvanillabeans.com/store/one-stop.php

Additionally, Haagen-Dazs, a mass-market brand, offers ice cream with real vanilla:

https://www.haagendazs.us/products/2474/ice-cream/vanilla-be...

I sincerely doubt that it's "highly unlikely" that most people have tasted real vanilla in their lifetimes.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Largest-ever study of controversial pesticides finds harm... by crimsonalucard on Tuesday July 04, 2017 @08:25PM (#14699179)

I also sincerely doubt that it's "highly unlikely" that most people have tasted real vanilla in their lifetimes. We are in total agreement here because I never said "lifetime" I meant highly unlikely that people have tasted real vanilla in the vanilla product that they buy from the super market. I thought the 99% statistic made that clear... Apologies for not being more detailed, but please don't put words in my mouth, I never said "lifetime."

Also thanks for specifying the price of individual beans. If you calculate the price per pound you will see that it fluctuates,.. last I heard they were $600 per pound. Just to let you know, when people go shopping for vanilla beans, most people don't buy one bean at a time, they buy it by weight because each bean can have a different weight, FYI.

[ Parent | on HN ]