Flavors are comprised of chemical compounds. These same components can be found both naturally and artificially flavored products.
Vanilla extract can be produced from vanilla beans or paper pulp; both yield vanillin, the key flavor compound in vanilla flavoring.
Some of these compounds can be harmful, like diacetyl, which has been found to cause lung problems among microwave popcorn workers.
Health Concerns
Flavor is an integral factor of diet. Recently, health and wellness trends have seen an upsurge in demand for natural flavors made with extracts of fruits, herbs and other natural ingredients; however consumers must carefully assess if these options truly represent healthy organic options.
Concerns have been expressed over the health impacts of artificial food additives. Some groups and diets argue that these chemicals cause behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders in children. While some research has implicated certain chemicals with such issues, other research indicates most additives are safe when consumed within typical dietary amounts (Warner 2023).
Natural flavor substances can help lower chemical contamination in foods, making this especially important for people who are sensitive to food chemicals and preservatives, or following strict vegan diets. Additionally, this feature makes meals healthier for vegans who do not consume animal-derived ingredients in their meals.
Safety Concerns
Natural flavors are created from food ingredients derived from plants or animals. Their flavor molecules may not necessarily come directly from what is mimicked; sometimes they must be extracted by chemical processes, synthesized in laboratories, and added later. Even certified organic ingredients could still have been exposed to synthetic solvents or chemicals during extraction processes.
Artificial flavors are synthetic chemical mixtures designed to imitate the taste of different food ingredients. Their purpose is to provide consistent and predictable flavour profiles across many product types while creating new combinations with greater consumer appeal that may also reduce costs and create unique tastes. All artificial flavors must undergo stringent regulations by FSSAI, FDA and EFSA for safety evaluation purposes.
Cost
All flavors, whether natural or artificial, are comprised of chemical compounds. When creating new flavors, flavorists begin by reading scientific literature to understand which chemicals exist naturally in apple, before selecting from among those chemicals to create their new taste and eliminating those which either don’t contribute much in terms of taste or are not permitted due to toxicities.
Flavors derived from nature tend to be more costly than their synthetic equivalents due to the complexity of extracting them from plants and animals, but their higher prices can be offset by being less environmentally harmful and less likely to pose health concerns for consumers.
There are also “natural and artificial” flavors, which combine natural and synthetic ingredients for optimal taste profiles. These products are tailored to meet consumer demand while satisfying customers’ preferences for specific flavor profiles. Sometimes listed simply as “flavors”, such ingredients could include natural or synthetic emulsifiers, solvents and preservatives.
Taste
Artificial flavors offer consistency, versatility, and cost-effectiveness that enables food and beverage manufacturers to create innovative products with innovative flavor combinations not possible using natural ingredients alone. They’re also more stable than natural ones ensuring consistent tastes across batches and seasons.
Natural and artificial flavors are both created from chemical compounds that give food or beverages their distinct flavors, such as cinnamon (cinnamaldehyde), vanilla (vanillin), etc. These same chemical compounds can also be extracted and concentrated from foods like herbs, spices, fruits, vegetables or any culinary items that contain these same compounds.
Natural and artificial flavors used within regulatory standards and approved limits are safe for consumption by consumers. FSSAI and EFSA both conduct extensive safety evaluations prior to authorizing additives in food, assuring their safety for consumption by consumers.
