Did you know that artificial vanilla is made from petroleum? That's why chemical oceanographer Rick Keil's lab sends water samples containing artificial vanilla to a lab in California for radiocarbon dating -- because artificial vanilla is made from petroleum, and thus contains molecules that are millions of years old. And that's not all. "The major chemical that we put into pharmaceuticals so that they don't taste bitter is artificial vanilla, " says Dr. Keil. "Other scientists have determined that 95 percent of the stuff in a typical pill is made from petroleum - chemically synthesized from oil." Whether or not this poses an environmental problem will be a long debate. But in the meantime, as Dr. Keil says, "It's certainly interesting to realize that you're putting dinosaurs in your body every time you take a gummy bear vitamin."
