Fragrance > Regulatory & Research | Perfumer & Flavorist

For decades, the flavor and fragrance industry has operated within a relatively stable classification system. Ingredients were broadly categorized as natural extracts, fermentation-derived materials or synthetically produced molecules. These distinctions were largely sufficient when production routes were clearly separated and molecular identity aligned closely with manufacturing method. However, these boundaries are becoming increasingly difficult to define.

When the Molecule Is the Same, but the Label Isn't: How 'Natural' Keeps Its Edge

How maturing biocatalytic production routes are reshaping long-standing distinctions between “synthetic” and “natural” aroma ingredients in the flavor and fragrance industry.

CO₂ Emission Reduction with BASF Aroma Ingredients

CO₂ Emission Reduction with BASF Aroma Ingredients

Explore how fragrance and flavor companies are approaching Scope 3 emissions, improving transparency, and implementing practical sustainability strategies without compromising performance.

Visiting Patina's booth at WPC. Founded by artist-perfumer Sean Raspet and engineer Laura Sisson, the company is building a machine-learning–driven platform called Sense1 that models how molecules interact with human olfactory receptors. Its goal is to replace today’s language-based system of describing smells (like “floral” or “woody”) with a biological “code of smell” that can precisely represent and predict scent at the molecular level.

Editor’s Note: What I Learned at the 2026 World Perfumery Congress

The industry is adapting amid a rise in tech, ingredient innovation and a market boom.

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CO₂ Emission Reduction with BASF Aroma Ingredients

CO₂ Emission Reduction with BASF Aroma Ingredients

For an industry valued at €180 billion, supporting 3.5 million jobs and generating €30 billion in exports, the agreement is being viewed as a competitiveness measure as much as a regulatory update.

Europe’s Cosmetics, Fragrance and Essential Oils Sectors Rally Behind Omnibus VI Deal

Research suggests that odors below the threshold of conscious detection can still shape perception, influence behavior and alter emotional responses.

The Invisible Influence: Why Subthreshold Odors Deserve More Attention

More than 200 guests attended the White House event, while FCA's Capitol Hill activation, themed 'The Scent of Innovation,' attracted more than 350 lawmakers, staffers and industry representatives.

FCA Brings Fragrance Innovation to the White House in Landmark Policy Push

CO₂ Emission Reduction with BASF Aroma Ingredients

CO₂ Emission Reduction with BASF Aroma Ingredients

Explore how fragrance and flavor companies are approaching Scope 3 emissions, improving transparency, and implementing practical sustainability strategies without compromising performance.

'If I step back, what defines the past year is our indisputable leadership in naturals, built on a unique ability to take craftsmanship from Grasse to the world, and bring the world back to Grasse to continuously enrich perfumery’s future,' says Ana Paula Mendonça, president, IFF Scent.

Inside IFF: Where Nature, Biotech and AI Converge in Fragrance

'The fragrance industry is evolving into a high-growth, emotionally resonant, and digitally enabled sector,' says José Balibrea, Managing Director Iberchem/Vice President, F&F Croda. 'With our positioning, craftsmanship, and strategic execution, we are well placed to capture opportunities and outperform the global market over the next five years. I am confident the best is yet to come for us.'

Scaling Fragrance: Iberchem on Growth, Emotion and the New Creative Tech Era

Givaudan delivered strong results in 2025, with sales of CHF 7.5 billion, up 5.1% on a like-for-like basis.

Givaudan’s Next Era of Growth, Innovation and Fragrance Excellence

The fragrance industry is navigating a defining period of transformation, marked by significant shifts in corporate leadership, a profound integration of advanced technology and an industry-wide commitment to a new definition of consumer value centered on emotion, wellness and sustainability.

Fragrance Leaders & Newsmakers 2026: The Great Reset—Leadership Shifts and the 4 Forces Driving the Industry’s Future

Insights from major fragrance houses and upstarts reveal a future defined by the complex, yet integrated, dynamics of human creativity, scientific precision and hyper-local market relevance.

Using an advanced all-optical imaging and optogenetics platform in awake mice, researchers found that the olfactory bulb rapidly filters incoming odor information within the first 30–40 milliseconds of a sniff, preserving odor identity while suppressing later, more concentration-dependent signals.

New Mouse Study Reveals the Brain’s 'Temporal Filter' for Odor Identity and Why Concentration May Matter Less Than Timing

Odor perception may be governed less by static receptor maps and more by dynamic temporal coding across neural networks.

The work identified molecular weight, size, shape and polarity as the dominant drivers separating weak from powerful odorants—findings that align with long-established mass-transport principles governing volatility, sorption and receptor access.

AI Takes on Odor Strength: New Study Maps the Molecular Drivers of Fragrance Impact

Odor strength reportedly proved consistently predictable across a range of state-of-the-art models.

Founded by engineer Laura Sisson (at left) artist-perfumer Sean Raspet (at right), Patina is building a machine-learning–driven platform called Sense1 that models how molecules interact with human olfactory receptors.

Patina Is Building an AI “Scent Code” to Turn Fragrance Into a Programmable Molecular System

Patina envisions a future where scent and flavor can be designed on demand, allowing perfumers and brands to compose fragrances with the same precision as digital media.

The fragrance industry stands ready to work constructively with Government to achieve a regulatory framework that maintains the UK's well-deserved reputation for the highest standards of safety, whilst removing unnecessary barriers to competitiveness, growth and innovation. The ATRm, as currently designed, does not meet that test.

Scent, Science and Sovereignty: IFRA UK's Position on the UK REACH Alternative Transitional Registration Model

The fragrance industry stands ready to work constructively with Government to achieve a regulatory framework that maintains the U.K.'s well-deserved reputation for the highest standards of safety.

Patients on GLP-1 drugs sometimes describe stronger or more noticeable smells, particularly a reduced tolerance for heavy or fried food odors, alongside occasional increased awareness of perfumes and ambient scents.

GLP-1 Drugs Are Reshaping Scent Preferences and Perceptions

Accounts point to a spectrum of olfactory changes rather than a single predictable effect as reward signalling is subtly rearranged.

Researchers developed a topical cream based on Pogostemon cablin (patchouli) essential oil and evaluated it against Aedes aegypti, the mosquito responsible for dengue, Zika and yellow fever transmission.

New Study Shows Patchouli's 3-Hour Mosquito Protection Potential

molecular docking showed key oil constituents binding to mosquito odorant-binding proteins.

Reaching adverse-effect levels for common fragrance materials would require exposures such as eating approximately 166,000 almonds or more than 300,000 raspberries per day or applying tens of thousands of perfume sprays daily.

Dose, Exposure, and Daily Life: Putting Fragrance Toxicology in Context

How should toxicological findings be interpreted in the context of human health and real-life fragrance use?