When reading food labels, natural flavors may appear. But what exactly are they, and are they safe to eat?
Wright states that natural flavors are created using ingredients derived from plants and animals. His company, as well as all flavorists, use only safe ingredients when creating flavor products.
What is a natural flavor?
Natural flavors are an increasingly prevalent element in many foods and supplements, from sauces and granola bars to greens powders and coffee. But what exactly are they, and can we safely consume them?
According to the FDA, natural flavors are substances extracted from plants or animals for flavor enhancement; these processes include extraction, distillation, roasting and enzymolysis. Natural food flavors only add taste enhancement without adding nutritional value.
Maccoux suggests opting for whole foods without flavor enhancers to maximize nutrition intake and avoid foods containing natural flavors as these may contain additives that could potentially trigger allergies or sensitivities. By doing so, they’ll allow your body to make use of all available nutrients in these foods.
What is a natural WONF flavor?
Natural WONF flavors are a blend of juice concentrates with other natural flavor chemicals designed to match the characteristics of specific fruits (e.g. strawberry). This method offers an affordable way of extracting flavor directly from fruit as some fruit flavors may be expensive or require special handling processes.
By adding natural flavor chemicals from other sources to WONF flavors, more complex taste profiles can be created and certain tastes or aromas enhanced.
Finding the appropriate natural flavoring solution depends on your formulation, budgetary and manufacturing needs. In order to connect with today’s consumers and meet label claim goals more easily, partnering with an expert flavorist who can guide the way is essential.
What is a natural FTNF flavor?
Natural FTNF flavors are created using extracts or concentrates of specific fruits that provide true-to-flavor character, making them a suitable option for products requiring clean label declarations.
As consumers become more health and wellness-minded, their taste preferences are shifting toward natural and authentic flavors that meet consumer expectations. Natural FTNF flavors meet this standard perfectly, offering them a distinct competitive advantage in the market.
Natural FTNF flavorings can be combined with Type Flavors to produce unique and innovative taste profiles, for instance creating tropical fruit punch by using pineapple, mango and passion fruit extracts. This allows manufacturers to meet consumer expectations for variety in food and beverages products while still having the flexibility needed to adjust ingredients as market conditions shift.
What is a natural type flavor?
Natural flavors are an indispensable component in many food and drink products, offering their flavor-enhancing capabilities while offering no nutritional benefit to their final form.
People may be concerned about what constitutes “natural flavors” when reviewing an ingredients list, but usually there’s nothing to worry about when it comes to natural flavorings that have been approved as FDA regulated “food-grade”.
Only rare circumstances require natural flavorings to contain ingredients which are unfit for human consumption, like castoreum. This substance secreted by glands in a beaver’s back end can be used as an authentic vanilla-like natural flavoring agent.
What is a natural and artificial type flavor?
“Natural” can be an attractive label for consumers, yet there are important issues surrounding its use in food ingredients lists. Since the term is not tightly regulated and can lead to misleading results when applied to ingredients lists; natural flavors often contain chemical mixtures not always derived from their named source such as citral (from lemongrass) and raspberry ketone (4-phenylbutan-2-one), which do not come directly from strawberries.
Wright points out that food manufacturers add natural flavors to a surprising number of food products, from granola bars and yogurt parfaits to canned soups, spaghetti sauces and apple sauce. He asserts that natural flavors add no nutritional value or calories; additionally they have no impact on taste either.
