Natural flavors are among the top four most-commonly used ingredients on food labels – but are they healthy?
Sometimes it can be unclear whether something labelled as “natural blueberry flavor” contains real blueberries, but that does not make it unhealthy.
Assuming you do not have an allergy, most flavoring ingredients should be safe when used at their intended levels; however, it’s still wise to check all details closely.
How They’re Made
Influencers often perpetuate the belief that anything labeled as natural is healthy, so it might come as a shock when you learn that your glass of seltzer with “natural grapefruit flavor” actually contains chemicals ranging from vanilla, jasmine and benzoin siam – even though “natural flavors” have no such defining criteria according to FDA definitions; natural flavors come from plants or animal sources while artificial ones are created artificially in labs.
Wright noted that to create the flavor of one piece of fruit, IFF’s team needs to consume approximately 25% of global supplies of that particular fruit – not an ideal situation when flavors must last on shelves for weeks at a time.
Instead, the IFF team looks for less expensive methods of reproducing the molecular fingerprint of desired fruits or herbs. Natural flavors can come from plants, animals and microbiological processes; while chemicals like alcohol, glycerol and propylene glycol may also contribute. Food manufacturers don’t need to disclose where their flavors originated or the chemical combination they end up including in packaged food items that make you happy!
Regulations
Natural flavors can be found in various foods and beverages, such as seltzer, sodas, juices, candies, yogurt, baked goods, protein bars soups and salad dressing. Yet many consumers may be wary about how natural these ingredients really are.
Government regulations vary by region, but generally define natural flavors as those derived from plant or animal raw materials through physical, enzymatic, or microbiological processes. In the US, natural flavors must not contain artificially-derived chemicals.
Organic products must meet even higher standards and cannot contain natural flavors created using synthetic solvents, carriers or artificial preservatives. Blue Pacific Flavor’s R&D and Compliance teams have been working diligently to source organic raw materials so we can offer organic versions of our natural flavorings.
However, the FDA does not require food labels to disclose what’s in a “natural flavor”, unless it contains one of eight common allergens like milk, egg, fish, shellfish wheat peanuts or soy – making many consumers question their nature and authenticity.
Substitutions
Although natural flavors start out as part of nature, those found on food labels as “natural flavors” may contain chemicals from any number of sources. They’re allowed to use solvents, emulsifiers and preservatives that isolate them from their original botanical source–which doesn’t need to be listed on an ingredient list–while remaining opaque as to exactly which substances comprise those flavors.
Natural vanilla flavor can come from various sources, ranging from African violets and the bark of Benzoin Siam trees in Thailand, to beeswax or castoreum (a compound composed of beaver anal gland extracts).
Food companies use flavoring ingredients in many of the foods we eat, from candy bars and granola bars to frozen dinners and ice cream. Unfortunately, because they’re not required to disclose all their sub-ingredients, people with allergies or diet restrictions are often unaware that their food contains them; furthermore, no regulatory body like the FDA imposes safety reviews – an issue of significant concern to those concerned with both their health and environment.
Ingredients
“Natural flavors” might sound straightforward, but when it comes to food labeling they can often be misleading. While natural flavors often start as real ingredients but go through extensive chemical processing steps. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “natural flavor” refers to any essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate distillate or product of roasting heating or enzymolysis which contains flavor constituents derived from spices fruits vegetables nuts yeast herbs bark buds roots leaves or similar plant materials which contains flavoring constituents derived from spices fruits fruit or fruit juice vegetable/vegetable/vegetable juice/vegetable juice/enzymolysis.”
Natural flavors are added to many processed foods, from candy and granola bars to frozen dinners and some ice creams. Manufacturers don’t have to disclose which chemicals make up natural flavors unless they contain common allergens like milk, eggs, fish shellfish shells (shellfish allergies), wheat peanuts tree nuts or soy. Chemical additives may include solvents emulsifiers and preservatives which have no relation with their original source resulting in flavor mixtures which often exceed 90% other substances apart from their natural extract sources.
