In Defense of Pumpkin
Spice
By Alexa Sarcoma
For those of us that do not live in
Southern California, October means cable-knit sweaters,
scarfs, and leaves turning orange. But how does one tell in areas without
seasons that autumn has begun? Simple. Pumpkin spice flavored everything. Instead of leaves turning
orange, entire grocery store shelves turn orange,
with seasonal products in anticipation of the essential Thanksgiving dessert, pumpkin pie. The question is no longer should this be made to be pumpkin spice
flavored, the question is can it be
made into pumpkin spice flavored, and the answer is always yes. There are
pumpkin spice flavored cream cheeses, cookies, cereals, breads, chips,
marshmallows, yogurt, and the famous pumpkin spice latte. The flavor
combination has also infiltrated the restaurant business as well, where
creations like a pumpkin spice fried chicken doughnut sandwich, slathered with
pumpkin spice aioli are served.
In recent years, consumers
have begun to question
what ingredients are in their food. It was only a matter of time before the
beloved pumpkin spice flavoring was questioned. Once
the news broke that for the most part, pumpkin spice does not actually contain
pumpkin, there was public outcry. They wanted change. They wanted real pumpkin.
Starbuck’s reformulated and add real pumpkin to its pumpkin spice lattes in
response. That is how pumpkin spice be, right? Real pumpkin, sugar, some
spices, and hope for something that tastes like a pumpkin pie? Not exactly.
As it turns out, pumpkin spice is a
carefully engineered flavor that doesn’t contain any pumpkin because it doesn’t
need to. This is a relief considering the current lack of pumpkins in
California due to the historic drought and uncharacteristically hot summer
happening. This lethal combination has stunted the growth of the pumpkins that
did not rot and collapse from the heat, leaving the top pumpkin growers in
California mourning fields of withered and rotted pumpkins.
Luckily, even in times of drought,
consumers can still get their pumpkin spice fix because the flavor can be
achieved without any actual pumpkin. The goal is to recreate the flavor of a
Thanksgiving pumpkin pie in something that is not a pie. The flavor is all
about the spices typically used in a pumpkin pie, like cinnamon, allspice, clove,
nutmeg, ginger, and vanilla. The flavor of pumpkin just is not strong enough to
compete with these spices and goes unnoticed. The signature taste of pumpkin
pie can be attributed to the heat from during baking causing new flavor
compounds to occur that don’t exist in these spices before baking (Drahl 2014).
To replicate this flavor, scientists have identified the key flavor compounds
from each spice, or the essence of these spices, and use them to replicate the
flavor and fragrance in a variety of products.
There are approximately 340 flavor
compounds (IFT 2014) in the traditional mix of pumpkin spice, but scientists
only use key flavor compounds of the spices to create a recognizable pumpkin
spice flavor. For example, cinnamic aldehyde is commonly used for cinnamon
flavor (IFT 2014). Eugenol replicates the flavor and aroma for allspice and
clove (IFT 15). Turpenes like sabinene for nutmeg, zingiberene for ginger, and
vanillin for vanilla (Drahl 2014). Each of the ingredients listed above is
Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by the FDA as well as Flavor & Extract
Manufacturers Association (FEMA) for use as a food flavoring (FDA 2015).
Of course, the regular form of spices
could be used instead of their isolated flavor compounds, but the flavor
created would be different than the expected pumpkin spice. It would be more
like chai-spiced tea than pumpkin pie (IFT 2014). Additionally, the price of
the product would most likely increase, as companies would have to purchase
imported spices rather than their synthesized flavor compounds. This would also
increase the environmental impact by drastically increasing demand for these
spices, so it would require an increase in finite resources like
land and water. The spices needed, like ginger, clove, cinnamon, and vanilla
are mainly sourced from Asian and African
countries, further contributing to pollution from international transportation
to North American companies, where the demand for pumpkin
spice flavoring is most popular. India and Thailand are major
producers of ginger, Indonesia and Madagascar are major producers of vanilla,
and Sri Lanka is a major producer of cinnamon (Chomchalow 1996). None of the spices
essential to the taste of a classic Thanksgiving
pumpkin pie are sourced from North
America.
Using the flavor compounds saves
resources, decreases pollution from trade, and reduces demand. Each flavor
compound can be extracted from multiple sources or synthesized using multiple
methods and reactants in labs.Without the help of these synthesized flavor compounds, it is questionable if the world spice supply could meet the demand of American consumers. Of course, the choice is
ultimately up to the consumer on how they want their pumpkin spice products
made. The main differences between the two is that conventionally manufactured
pumpkin spice flavor will have the flavor most similar to a Thanksgiving
pumpkin pie and it will have a smaller impact on the environment, while using the familiar, traditional form of spices will not.
References
Chomchalow N. Spice
Production in Asia-An Overview. IBC
Asian Spice Markets Conference; Singapore, 27-28 May 1996. Bangkok,
Thailand: Assumption University.
Drahl C. 2014.
Pumpkin Spice Flavor. Chemical and Engineering News. 92(43):31. http://cen.acs.org/articles/92/i43/Pumpkin-Spice-Flavor.html
Institute of
Food Technologists. 2014. Pumpkin Spice 101. http://www.ift.org/knowledge-center/learn-about-food-science/food-facts/pumpkin-spice-101.aspx. Accessed 2015 September 17.
U.S. Food and
Drug Administration. 2015. 21CFR182.60. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=182.60
