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Grade 10: A visit to International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF)

November 23, 2013

Grade 10: A visit to International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF)

We visited the company International Flavors and Fragrances in Putuo District on Friday, Nov. 22nd. The human resource officer presented an overview of the company to us and showed us around the office. The company was founded in the 19th century and, thus, has a long history. IFF is a public company listed in the NYSE, and it is one of the four successful global companies that sell flavors and fragrances.

As many people seek a healthier lifestyle nowadays, IFF is always in search of great-tasting foods with less sugar and less artificial flavoring. There are two interesting procedures we saw during the visit.

One is the method of producing flavoring for soft drinks. The operator mixed soda water and some condensed beverages in certain proportions. Then the sodas were ready to drink. I tasted the cola, Sprite, and sarsaparilla. They tasted a bit different from the sodas in the markets, but I really liked them.

The other interesting procedure we saw was the synthesis of tomato flavoring. A Singaporean employee demonstrated that the mixture of berry, burnt sugar, clove, sweet corn, soy sauce, and grass in certain proportions produces a substance with the taste and smell of tomatoes. The concoction he made smelled very strong. However, it was not ready to eat. Only when it is diluted with water to a concentration one-hundredth of its original concentration can anyone find it delicious.

This is such an interesting company. It fueled my desire to learn more about chemistry, and hopefully I can one day get a job in this field.

(Written by Stephanie Lu; Photo by Stephanie Lu; Supervising teacher: Sophia Yang)