Opting for products with natural ingredients means choosing to avoid artificial flavoring; however, this may not always be straightforward.
Food and drinks contain both natural and artificial flavoring compounds like methyl anthranilate (grape flavor) or diacetyl (butter flavor), yet eating an excess of highly processed food won’t automatically make you healthier simply by omitting certain chemical compounds!
What is a natural flavor?
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines natural flavors in food products as chemical flavoring compounds derived from plants or animals – such as spices, fruits, vegetables, herbs or even tree bark – extracted through chemical methods. Manufacturers are permitted to incorporate them along with nearly 700 FDA-approved chemical flavoring compounds or additives considered “generally recognized as safe” into their products.
But this does not necessarily equate to using natural ingredients; according to Wright, creating natural flavors requires mixing 50 to 100 different chemicals together.
Solvents, carriers, emulsifiers and other aids fall under this category of ingredients that don’t need to be listed on product ingredient labels because they are “incidental additives,” not part of its flavor profile. Manufacturers are even allowed to declare themselves safe with such substances (they must self-declare this fact on product labels); hence why FDA only mandates warning labels on natural-flavor-containing products.
What is an artificial flavor?
All flavors are composed of chemical compounds. Natural flavors come from plants like strawberries, vanilla beans or bananas; artificial ones are manufactured synthetically in laboratories; though some of their molecules may originate in nature (although that might still happen). Though it may seem natural is better, the distinction often doesn’t make much of a difference; some naturally occurring flavors possessing identical chemical structures as artificial products and thus aren’t considered artificial by the FDA. Vanilla flavoring typically relies on vanillin, an organic compound found naturally (such as in vanilla bean seeds), but can also be produced synthetically via castoreum, which comes from beaver anal glands.
Food manufacturers blend and combine chemical compounds to craft unique flavors for their products, while flavor technicians (flavor chemists) create blends of ingredients to meet consumer tastes while adhering to stringent safety and efficiency protocols. A single flavor could contain as many as 100 different components.
Which is better for your health?
Some may shy away from artificial flavorings due to fears surrounding diacetyl (a chemical found in microwave popcorn factories that caused workers to contract bronchitis), yet such reactions are generally unlikely. Both natural and artificial flavors are considered safe by most individuals.
Food manufacturers and supplement companies use both natural and artificial flavors in their products for added taste and variety, however excluding artificial ones doesn’t make processed food or supplements healthier.
Vanilla flavoring used in many ice creams comes from castoreum, extracted from beaver anal glands. Manufacturers can also produce this flavor from chemicals in a lab at much lower costs. I suggest switching up your diet to focus more on whole food than processed, to naturally limit or eliminate artificial flavors – then enjoy foods and drinks without artificial additives at Thorne! All our colors, flavors and sweeteners come from natural sources.
Which is better for the environment?
Food shopping requires being informed. Understanding the differences between artificial and natural flavors helps you make smart choices for yourself and your family.
Natural flavors are extracted or essence from spices, fruits, vegetables, animals, buds, bark roots leaves flowers or plants and companies use these natural flavorings to add vanilla or chocolate flavors to food and beverages.
However, products labeled as natural or organic must not contain synthetic extraction or carrier solvents and artificial preservatives; furthermore they must conform with stringent organic requirements, which prohibit synthetic flavorings or additives.
Some individuals may be concerned with castoreum, an ingredient often used to produce natural vanillin flavors. Although beavers produce this fatty waxy substance in their anal glands, scientists can create its equivalent synthetically. Thorne only utilizes flavors sourced from whole food sources rather than chemicals.
