Artificial flavors may have a reputation for being harmful, but choosing products without artificial flavors will reduce exposure to potentially hazardous chemicals.
Flavoring agents are chemicals used to produce distinctive flavors and aromas. They may be created either naturally or artificially; with natural flavorings coming from plant or animal materials.
Flavor Science Has Come a Long Way
Scientific tools exist that can be used to study flavor such as chromatography systems, mass spectrometers and fume hoods; but one of the most essential assets for flavorists is their sense of smell and taste.
Flavor science has come a long way, enabling food scientists to combine natural and artificial flavors for nearly any flavor profile imaginable.
Natural flavor comes from its source in nature while artificial flavor is created through chemical processes. When reading ingredient labels and choosing your groceries, it is crucial that you are aware of this distinction between them.
The Same Compounds Can Be Naturally Derived From Other Sources
Looking at the ingredients list on your beverage of choice, you may have noticed some products are labeled with having “natural flavors.” What exactly does that entail?
Flavor chemists use natural ingredients to craft processed food products with unique and distinctive taste profiles, like dill pickle-flavored potato chips or cherry soda. Flavor chemicals may exist naturally within foods or may be created via chemical synthesis or industrial fermentation on an specialized culture.
Many flavor compounds are made up of natural components found in fruits, vegetables and meat products; however, others can be manufactured synthetically while still meeting FDA definition of natural. This occurs because flavoring substances deemed “natural” often come from animal sources or plant oils extracted through pressing or steam distillation processes; additionally these extracts may also contain chemical solvents or preservatives that do not come directly from nature.
It’s Not Always Easy to Tell the Difference
At present, distinguishing “natural flavors” and other flavor additives isn’t always clear-cut. The key factor here is usually price; manufacturers value transparency or taste experience above profit when choosing their ingredient source.
Natural flavors come from extracting food-based ingredients such as fruits, vegetables and herbs – an expensive and labor-intensive process, particularly with rare or difficult-to-grow plants.
Artificial flavors, on the other hand, are synthetic flavors created in laboratories from ingredients you wouldn’t usually find on menus (such as coal tar or brominated wood rosin). Many manufacturers mix both natural and artificial flavors in their products and will indicate this on their label – for instance a blueberry muffin mix may use words “naturally flavored”, while simultaneously reading “artificial flavors”. This indicates that equal proportions of artificial and natural flavors exist within its formula. To be safe when purchasing such items it is wise to read ingredient lists when buying products containing both artificial and natural flavorings; some manufacturers use both in equal proportions in equal proportion. When purchasing products which contain both types of flavors (for instance containing both natural and artificial ones). Checking ingredient lists when purchasing can ensure buying.
The Bottom Line
Fruit, vegetable and herb flavor chemicals found naturally are generally safe; however, some have been linked with health issues like obesity and cancer in animal studies; therefore it would be prudent to monitor what you consume regularly for these presences.
Natural flavors – also referred to as natural type, natural WONNF and single-source flavors — consist solely of ingredients from their flavor source such as fruits or fruit juice or extract.
As well as preservatives and other essential ingredients that must be listed on food labels, processed food products also contain “incidental additives”, or non-regulated ingredients that make up about 80% of their overall formulation – such as propylene glycol and potassium sorbate — that may be highly irritating to some individuals with food sensitivities and allergies, making nutrient absorption harder for our bodies, leading to deficiencies that contribute to disease.
