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Apparently there are vast factories up and down the New Jersey turnpike that deal entirely in flavors and smells. International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), the world’s largest flavor company, has a manufacturing facility off Exit 8A in Dayton, and Givaudan, the world’s second-largest flavor company, has a plant in East Hanover. Dozens of other companies manufacture flavors in NJ – in fact, altogether the area produces about two thirds of the flavor additives sold in the United States.

90% of American food is processed, and almost all of it is flavored. These New Jersey plants manufacture the flavors for the potato chips that inspired this post, as well as for sport drinks, microwave dinners, cereals, even pet foods. They also manufacture the aromas that permeate our laundry room (citrus fresh!) and even manipulate the chemical formulations behind the country’s biggest perfume brands.

The industry is worth over a billion dollars, which then begs the question – why don’t my Jalapeno Cheddar chips taste remotely like either jalapenos or cheddar? Are they incapable of making these flavors?

The answer is that the American palate is – or rather, has been until recently – one of the least discerning in the world. A good example of what I’m talking about can be found in Budweiser. The beer company has spent decades gradually eliminating bitterness from hops in its brews in order to make its product as palatable as possible to as many people as possible. In effect, Budweiser was trying to make its beer as inoffensive (and hence, tasteless) as it could. However, over the last few years the emergence and popularity of strongly-flavored micro-brews has caused Budweiser to re-examine its philosophy. Many in the brewing industry expect the company to begin launching products to compete with these stronger flavors.

Americans had been fed a bland diet since the First World War, when food processing began to come into its own. The inoffensive flavors (such as Kool Aid) developed after the Second World War further detuned the taste buds on this side of the Atlantic. It is only recently, with the re-introduction of natural foods to the average American’s diet, that stronger flavors have become popular once more. It is ironic that technology helped to destroy the market for natural flavoring, and yet it is technology in the form of globalization and logistics that has helped natural foods to stage a comeback.

That being said, companies are still wary of REALLY strong flavors. American cheese, by which I mean the cheese that goes by that moniker, is about as bland as it’s possible to get. Colby, Jack… terribly boring. But they’re still responsible for half the cheese sold in the States. Of course, now you can get a finely ripened Brie or a smoked Gouda in the cheese aisle at the local supermarket, but they don’t sell like the dull stuff.

So the reason my Jalapeno & Cheddar chips actually just taste of flavored salt is primarily historical, and not technological. Scientists have virtually perfected the art of flavoring, such that they could reproduce these flavors if there really was a market for them – but as yet, there isn’t. Give it a few more years though, with Wild Oats and Whole Foods and Trader Joes making inroads into the retail food market, and maybe eventually, like Budweiser, food companies will have to be more bold.

Incidentally, in ‘Fast Food Nation’ Eric Schlosser kindly reprints the recipe for artificial strawberry flavor. Here it is: amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl acetate, ethyl amyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenyl-2-butanone (10 percent solution in alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, g-undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent.

Mmmmmm…. methylphenylglycidate.