How often have you been browsing through an ingredient list and come upon the words “natural flavors”? What is your reaction? Do you assume natural flavors are truly natural? Do manufacturers use the term “natural flavors” to protect proprietary rights?

Natural flavor is the fourth most common ingredient on food labels following water, sugar, and salt. What exactly is it?

Natural flavor is a catchall phrase. According to the Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, the US Food and Drug Administration defines natural flavors as:

The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional.

TITLE 21–FOOD AND DRUGS
CHAPTER I–FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION

 This definition may give some comfort to the origin of natural flavors but it is missing one important element. It does not exclude the addition of synthetic chemicals to the natural flavoring when using the term.

Natural flavors are derived from natural food sources, yet they are not necessarily all natural and may contain synthetic chemicals.

The New York Times explains:

The loophole, as it were, is that for nonorganic foods, the regulations do not restrict the dozens of other ingredients like preservatives and solvents that can go into a so-called natural flavor. Ultimately, because of the wide variety of ingredients that typically go into “natural” flavorings, “there does not seem to be much of a difference between natural and artificial flavors,” said David Andrews, a scientist at the Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy organization.

While food processors must list all of the ingredients on a food label, flavor manufacturers do not have to disclose their ingredients. They can add synthetic solvents, preservatives, emulsifiers, carriers and other additives to a flavor that qualifies as natural under current regulations. Natural flavors allowed for use in certified organic foods are subject to a different, far more restrictive set of regulations. They cannot contain a long list of ingredients, including synthetic solvents, carriers and emulsifiers or artificial preservatives, said Gwendolyn Wyard, the Organic Trade Association’s vice president of regulatory and technical affairs. They must use non-petroleum-based solvents, cannot be irradiated and cannot use flavor extracts derived from genetically engineered crops.

Are ‘Natural Flavors’ Really Natural?

Natural flavors differ from artificial flavors in that they are derived from manmade substances. According to the Code of Federal Regulations Title 21:

The term artificial flavor or artificial flavoring means any substance, the function of which is to impart flavor, which is not derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof. 

TITLE 21–FOOD AND DRUGS
CHAPTER I–FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION

There are almost 700 FDA approved chemical food flavorings!

There’s Not Much Difference Between Natural and Artificial Flavors

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) describes the not so big difference between natural and artificial flavor:

The main difference between a natural and artificial flavor is the origin of the flavor chemicals. Natural flavors must be derived from plant or animal material.^[1] Artificial flavors are synthesized in the lab. The actual chemicals in these two kinds of flavors may be exactly the same: the chemical structures of the individual molecules may be indistinguishable.

Synthetic ingredients in Natural Flavors and Natural Flavors in Artificial flavors

Given the loophole described above, the distinction is even more blurry. These “incidental additives” to either natural or artificial flavors include emulsifiers, solvents, and preservatives of either natural or artificial origin.

These labels get even more confusing when looking closely at Title 21, Chapter 1. Sometimes natural flavor by law has to be labeled as artificial flavor!

(ii) If none of the natural flavor used in the food is derived from the product whose flavor is simulated, the food in which the flavor is used shall be labeled either with the flavor of the product from which the flavor is derived or as artificially flavored.

TITLE 21–FOOD AND DRUGS
CHAPTER I–FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION

EWG interprets this quirky section of the law with the following example.

Paradoxically, the FDA requires a natural flavor to be labeled as an artificial flavor if it is added to a food not to reinforce a flavor already present but to lend a new taste. For instance, adding naturally-derived blueberry flavor to a plain muffin would require that the blueberry flavor be labeled “artificial flavor.”

Synthetic ingredients in Natural Flavors and Natural Flavors in Artificial flavors

The one sure way to make sure natural flavor is natural is to eat food labeled as certified organic. Stricter regulations dictate what can be included. Foods that simply containing organic ingredients may have flavorings made with chemical solvents and/or preservatives.