Consolidated Financial Statements (Policies)	9 Months Ended
Consolidated Financial Statements (Policies)	Sep. 30, 2016
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation These interim statements and related management’s discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and the related notes and management’s discussion and analysis of results of operations, liquidity and capital resources included in our 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K (“2015 Form 10-K”). These interim statements are unaudited. The year-end balance sheet data included in this Form 10-Q was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America. We have historically operated and continue to operate on a 52/53 week fiscal year ending on the Friday closest to the last day of the quarter. For ease of presentation, September 30 and December 31 are used consistently throughout this Form 10-Q and these interim financial statements and related notes to represent the period-end dates. For the 2016 and 2015 quarters, the actual closing dates were September 30, and October 2, respectively. The unaudited interim financial statements include all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) and accruals necessary in the judgment of management for a fair statement of the results for the periods presented. When used herein, the terms “IFF,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” mean International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.
Reclassifications and Revisions	Reclassifications and Revisions Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified and revised to conform with current year presentation. The Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2015, has been revised to properly reflect in-bound goods in transit. Accordingly, Inventory and Accounts payable decreased by $17.0 million. This adjustment was not material to the previously issued financial statements.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements	Recent Accounting Pronouncements In August 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued authoritative guidance which requires changes to the classification of certain activities within the statement of cash flows. This guidance will be effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2017. Early adoption will be permitted for all entities. The Company does not expect this adoption will have a significant impact on its statement of cash flows. In March 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance which requires changes to several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the treatment of income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification of certain items on the statement of cash flows. This guidance will be effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2016. Early adoption will be permitted for all entities. Among other changes, the standard requires that employee taxes paid when an employer withholds shares be presented in the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows as a financing activity instead of an operating activity. The Company expects to adopt this change retroactively and that the impact of this aspect of the standard on the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows will be approximately $20-$25 million on an annual basis. The Company is currently evaluating the other changes required by the standard. In February 2016, the FASB issued authoritative guidance which requires changes to the accounting for leases. The new guidance establishes a new lease accounting model, that requires entities to record assets and liabilities related to leases on the balance sheet for certain types of leases. The guidance will be effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 31, 2018. Early adoption will be permitted for all entities. The Company expects the adoption of this guidance will result in significant increases to assets and liabilities on its Consolidated Balance Sheet and is still evaluating the impact on its Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income. In September 2015, the FASB issued authoritative guidance relating to the adjustments made during the measurement period for items in a business combination. Specifically, the new guidance requires adjustments related to the finalization of estimates to be recorded in the period when they are determined and to provide certain additional disclosures. This guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015. The Company adopted this guidance during 2016 and the adoption did not have a significant impact on its consolidated financial statements. In April 2015, the FASB issued authoritative guidance which requires that debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability. This guidance is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015. The Company adopted this guidance retrospectively in 2016 and accordingly has reclassified all debt issuance costs on long-term debt as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of the debt liability in the Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2015. The adoption of this guidance did not have a significant impact on its consolidated financial statements. In May 2014, the FASB issued authoritative guidance to clarify the principles to be used to recognize revenue and made subsequent clarifications under the new requirements during May 2016. The guidance is applicable to all entities and is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2017. Adoption as of the original effective date is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that this new standard will have on its consolidated financial statements.
Accounts Receivable	Accounts Receivable The Company sells certain accounts receivable on a non-recourse basis to unrelated financial institutions under “factoring” agreements that are sponsored, solely and individually, by certain customers. The Company accounts for these transactions as sales of receivables, removes the receivables sold from its financial statements, and records cash proceeds when received by the Company.

Disclosure of accounting policy for trade and other accounts receivables. This disclosure may include the basis at which such receivables are carried in the entity's statements of financial position (for example, net realizable value), how the entity determines the level of its allowance for doubtful accounts, when impairments, charge-offs or recoveries are recognized, and the entity's income recognition policies for such receivables, including its treatment of related fees and costs, its treatment of premiums, discounts or unearned income, when accrual of interest is discontinued, how the entity records payments received on nonaccrual receivables and its policy for resuming accrual of interest on such receivables. If the enterprise holds a large number of similar loans, disclosure may include the accounting policy for the anticipation of prepayments and significant assumptions underlying prepayment estimates for amortization of premiums, discounts, and nonrefundable fees and costs.