In the United States, in 1895, E. H. Wright inaugurated the era of commercial distribution of pyroligneous acid under a new name, liquid smoke.

With the advent of lower cost fossil fuel sources, today these and other wood derived chemicals retain only small niches.

Today there are many manufacturing locations around the world, most of which pyrolyze wood primarily to generate condensates which are further processed to make hundreds of derivative products.

There are no standards of identity, prescribed production methods, or tests which distinguish between liquid smoke and pyroligneous acid; they can be considered to be the same.

[10] Variables such as feed rate, vapor residence time, particle size, oxygen infiltration, and temperature can have substantial effects on yield and composition of the condensates.

Wide ranges of chemical composition are reported throughout the literature and unless the process and conditions are cited, there is limited utility of such results.

[13] Liquid smoke condensates are made commercially for the global meat industry in the U.S. and Europe and are regulated by governments.

Liquid smoke is still referred to as wood vinegar, and is made and used indigenously in places including Japan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, and Southeast Asia.

[8] The application of liquid smoke to food has grown to encompass a wide variety of methods[14] employing thousands of commercial formulations worldwide.

[citation needed] Broad claims of medical benefits to humans in digestive ailments, dental infections, liver, heart, skin ailments, ears, eyes are found,[citation needed] but the literature is devoid of accepted scientific studies for such testimonial claims in humans.

The first government-sanctioned assessment of liquid smoke was undertaken by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1981.

Today, these products stand as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) in the United States and may be used at levels necessary to produce the intended technical effects.

The European Union established procedures for the safety assessment and the authorization of smoke flavorings used or intended for use in or on foods in 2003.

[24] The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was charged with evaluating information on primary condensate smoke flavorings.