CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS (Parenthetical) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2012 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 EUR (€)
Payments pursuant to Spanish tax settlement	$ 105,503	€ 84,000

The payments made to the foreign tax authorities related to the overall foreign tax settlement.

No definition available.

Name:	iff_PaymentsRelatedToForeignTaxSettlement
Namespace Prefix:	iff_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration