What is a Natural Flavor?
What is natural? What is artificial? Does it even matter?
Paul Bass is suing supplement company Nature Made. He claims that he was tricked into believing their synthetic Vitamin E pills were made from natural sources.
Nature Made?
The issue here is one of a deceptive brand. Having the words "Nature Made" across every product would lead you to believe that the product came from natural sources. The Nutrisuplaw blog goes onto explain the differences between natural and synthetic Vitamin E.
What is Natural Flavoring?
This leads to an interesting question regarding the word natural. On many food labels, you will find an ingredient called "natural flavor". What exactly is a natural flavor?
According to the US Code of Federal Regulations*, a natural flavor or flavoring is:
...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.Eric Schlosser, in his book Fast Food Nation, makes this statement:
Consumers prefer to see natural flavors on a label, out of a belief that they are more healthful. Distinctions between artificial and natural flavors can be arbitrary and somewhat absurd, based more on how the flavor has been made than on what it actually contains. (via Truthseeker)
Schlosser claims that it is an issue of extraction process rather than substance.
A natural flavor is not necessarily more healthful or purer than an artificial one. When almond flavor -- benzaldehyde -- is derived from natural sources, such as peach and apricot pits, it contains traces of hydrogen cyanide, a deadly poison. Benzaldehyde derived by mixing oil of clove and amyl acetate does not contain any cyanide. Nevertheless, it is legally considered an artificial flavor and sells at a much lower price. Natural and artificial flavors are now manufactured at the same chemical plants, places that few people would associate with Mother Nature.
What is natural or artificial may not necessarily give us a clue as to the quality of the food. Eat Rhubarb leaves and you will get sick. If you have an allergic disposition then any number of natural foods may potentially be harmful allergens.
How Complicated Should It Be?
Many food labels require you to have a degree in chemistry in order to understand what is in the food. Most of us know Sodium chloride (salt) - but what about diacetyl tartaric acid ester of mono-diglycerides?
Do we need to understand every component in a food? How on earth do we wade through the overwhelming amount of nutritional information and determine what is healthful and what is harmful?
*In order to read the regulations for flavorings - you need to go to the US CFR site, and search for the term "natural flavor". The first document returned will have the appropriate information.
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71 Comments
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Created / Updated: January 4, 2012
Many compounds found naturally, such as various plant esters and flavoring compounds, can also be easily synthesized in an organic chemistry lab. Structurally, they are EXACTLY THE SAME. So it really doesn't matter where the flavoring comes from, as long as it's the actual molecule/molecules you want. I can see using natural flavorings if you are after a specific blend of chemicals...it can be difficult to get the ratios correct if you are synthesizing.
ReplyYou're missing the point. The label "natural flavors" is misleading. MSG may be legally labelled "natural flavors" in order to hide it. Healthy natural flavors exist, but some are excitoneurotoxins. The classic example is "hydrolyzed soy protein." This "natural flavor" is no more than a form glutemate. Glutemate is the neurotoxin that has been proven to break down the blood brain barrier, and therefore allow undigested proteins to enter the brain. This is a suspected cause of autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis.
Also, MSG is suspected (and I only say "suspected" because manufacturers will sue those who make this claim) of causing compulsive eating. The list of hidden glutemates is very long. Obesity is unnatural, yet epidemic because our food supply is saturated with low cost, flavor additives. These excitoneurotoxins put the appetite in overdrive and make it hard to stop eating. Don't take my word for this. Read up on it or watch Dr. Russell Blaylock videos on YouTube. It will blow you away.
ReplyI wish they would simplify the process. I have a mitochondrial condition that causes very bad reactions if I consume large amounts of Glutamates. Of course I know that there are Glutamates in everything. Even Yeast is a natural source of Glutamates. And these concentrations are OK for me. It's when I get a thousand times more than are found in Nature - regardless of the source - that gets me sick. I don't really care if it's "all natural" or "synthetic". What I care about is avoiding synthetic CONCENTRATIONS of Glutamates.
So ya, I agree that this is used to hide things they know people won't buy. They know if it said "Contains concentrated Glutamates" sales would go down. But really, for things like that we need a Dosage system.
I remember reading somewhere a good comparison. Coca Leaf Tea is good for you. But concentrate it a thousand fold and you end up with cocaine. The two are substantially different and that is the kind of difference between natural concentrations of glutamates, and "natural" glutamates in unnatural concentrations.
ReplyElliander, from what I've read is that the antioxidant properties work as a natural glutamate inhibitor.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10653482
"Antioxidant therapy has been shown to be beneficial in neurological disorders including Alzheimer's disease and cerebral ischemia. Glutamate-induced cytotoxicity in HT-4 neuronal cells has been previously demonstrated to be due to oxidative stress caused by depletion of cellular glutathione (GSH). The present study demonstrates that a wide variety of antioxidants inhibit glutamate-induced cytotoxicity in HT-4 neuronal cells. Low concentrations of alpha-tocopherol and its analogs were highly effective in protecting neuronal cells against cytotoxicity."
ReplyI can easily believe that substances not found in nature, even newly developed in the lab, aren't necessarily bad for us. After all, is there that much difference between the way the cosmic chemistry lab that is the universe created these chemicals through stars and supernovae and atmospheres and bacteria, and our own labs? It's not like one is magically good and the other lacks a cosmic blessing.
ReplySo yeah, I don't think we should be turned off by whether something's artificial, only if it's been shown to be dangerous.
The only reason I'd see for rejecting food that has flavours is that it's a sign the food is highly processed, and has lost the nutrients that give fresh foods their flavour.
Yes, Claire, there is a difference between nature's factory and the chemistry lab.
An organic compound may be either dextro- or levo-rotatory. (That refers to how it relects polarized light.) Compounds found in nature are totally dextro- while lab products come out half and half dextro- and levo-rotatory.
I don't know what this means for our nutrition, but it must mean something.
ReplyYou're referring to the arrangement of the molecule in space right?
In a mixture of L and R stereo-isomers (same molecule different arrangement) called Racemic both exists, but the effects in can have on the body vary by molecular species.
For example R-glucose is used as fuel for out bodies while L-glucose is one our bodies cannot break down but has the same taste.
Some stereo-isomers can have negative effect, like Thalidomide. The R isomer is safe and can prevent morning sickness
The S Isomer is harmful and causes birth defects.
So depending on the species the isomer can be harmful, or inert or have a completely different effect, so each must be studied effectively.
As for the chemical process, there are mechanisms that generates only one isomer as a product, while there are other less favorable ones that generate both molecules in equal quantities.
I assume in most cases if the isomer proved to be harmful, they will isolate the beneficial optical isomer from the harmful one to avoid a repeat of the Thalidomide case. But in cases where the isomer has no proven harmful effect the isomers are unlikely to be separated.
So I'm just saying it depends on 'proven harmful effects' whether or not the company will include the isomer in the product.
I assume most who want to be on the safe side wouldn't, but some companies are cheap and will want to cut costs from additional processing.
Er, so some background of what this means
ReplyNature precisely makes everything with the correct ratio and balance. Man does not.
ReplyNature also makes cancer.
Replyno...wrong...man made cancer
ReplyYou have no real basis for saying things like that. All that "balance with nature" is but a wash. True, some factors that increase the prevalence of cancers are the side effect of the current civilization. But also, many people wouldn't ever get cancer if they lived a completely "natural" cavemen life - because they would die sooner of something else!
ReplyIf we all lived a natural "caveman" life, then maybe we would die of diseases before we had a chance to die of cancer. But if we lived a natural life, not as a caveman, then we would indeed live longer and healthier lives. Do your research and look at other countries that grow and cook their own foods, without all the processing. They are living to 108 and older, and are walking around without canes, or medicine!! So yea without pollutants, we would definitely have lower incidences of cancer.
Replyy! Companies can't be trusted. Their only agenda is to make a profit
do u take someone elses version of reality or do u create ur own
its all about self controll. either u controll what goes in ur body or somone else will
when all people demand that labels are more specific (why cant they be , surley the manufacturers know whats in there foood > prooving there deseptiveness..)then we will be a better more in controll world ... or... we could be in a not so nice cooperatin controlled world
love
Replyyou all need to google simian virus 40 or maybe Dr. Leonard Horowitz and get the truth on what we all ready have been vaccinated with.
ReplyIf humans were to eat and live in harmony with nature, they wouldn't get cancer. It is a mutation caused by man. A bag of cheetos is created from elements that nature provides. That doesn't mean that nature made it.
ReplyYeah but cheetos are just too nice
ReplyCancer isn't caused by man, it's simply random mutations that occur in cellular DNA during the replication process. UV radiation, free radicals in the environment and in our food, etc., can cause it. Most of the mutations have existed for generations but haven't shown up because the cause of death was usually something else (like disease)
ReplyThat is a good definition of what cancer is, but you have listed potential man made triggers as well.
ReplyNature makes cancer in much the same way that Nature made radiation sickness in Hiroshima.
ReplyNature didn't cause radiation sickness in Hiroshima; the atomic bomb did.
ReplyIm sure Katz was being sarcastic!! lol
ReplyI am man. I am a descendant of rock soup. I am nature. A rock in the ground is nature. I pick up the rock and SMASH in your brains. It is natural. This is the theory of evolution. I am God. I am natural. I did not create myself - nature did - just as nature created all things. Natural selection and survival of the most fit are the accepted truths of universal life. If you are unfit, I have the right to eliminate you. This is the law of evolution. After all, the stars exploded and made me. I am the descendant of star dust. I am descended from worms. I am mud. I am Man. I am Nature. Shut up and eat your sugar substitutes excreted from genetically mutated bacteria.
ReplyAll I'm trying to figure our is there anything in a "natural flavour" additive that can be harmful, if taken in normal amounts. Because Natural flavour is on almost everything in the grocery store.
ReplyI also would like to know is 'natural flavor' harmful? According to Dr. Russel Blaylock, an eminent neurosurgeon 'natural flavor' is one of the things that MAY be related to MSG,and nutrisweet(aspartame) that kills brain cells. I would like to know if everything called 'natural flavors' falls into this category. I have a mysterious low-grade infection in my mouth which gives me a very bad taste and need to chew gum constantly(with natural flavor)to mask the taste. This is the only product that I can use(I can't handle sugars because of candida)
ReplyHi - I had some mouth sores recently due to a virus I was fighting. Among other natural remedies, two things that really helped were adding a few drops of tinctures of chlorophyll and oregano oil to a small glass of Artesian Wells water and swishing it around the mouth.
ReplyI would also drink these some days too.
Also when brushing teeth, finish by rinsing with a little water and a capful or two of H2O2.
When "natural flavor" is listed on a list of food ingredients, it implies that there is a flavoring blend added that is a trade secret that can't be listed. There isn't a specific flavor that is "natural flavor".
Think about it, geniuses...do you honestly think the "natural flavor" that's used in strawberry jelly beans is the same "natural flavor" that's used in vegetable beef soup?
However, look for MSG in foods (monosodium glutamate). It is used as a flavor enhancer and can often cause allergic reactions. By law it has to be listed on the ingredient list.
ReplyMSG has to be listed by law.That is why you need to watch out for; natural flavor,yeast extract,hydrolyzed protein etc(.A full list is given in the book "Excitotoxins,the Taste That Kills" by Dr.Russell Blaylock,as well as on the website).These are(or can be) aliases for MSG,deceptively called something else.Taste enhancing is big business and all the mega-companies want their products to tittilate your tastebuds,even if it kills you(or at least your brain cells)
ReplyAnd yes,the same product could be used to enhance the taste of jelly beans and vegetable soup.It may contain nothing related to the particular item,just something to pump up the flavor already present,like salt(sodium). Apparently MSG does a "better" job than salt.
I have stopped using anything with any of these aliases,with the exception of the gum that masks the bad taste(infection) I have.So I need to know is 'natural flavor' ALWAYS bad.Can anyone shine some light on that?
I 100% agree :-)
ReplyTom, I've read your posts and I still don't understand why it would be bad at all, much less always bad. Is the theory that it will kill your brain cells like you said aspartame does? Cause that is a pretty outrageous claim right there. To me it sounds like this Dr. Russell Blaylock is making baseless accusations. If you're gonna say it kills brain cells, at least explain how it allegedly does that.
ReplyHey Jan,
There is a lot of info out there on exitotoxins now. MSG and Aspartame are both exito toxins. In test cases they caused brain tumors in 100% of the cases. You will not hear about this though (unless you look) because they were not testing for tumors, so those results are N/A
Keep reading, keep searching and eat more veggies. lol. Oh by the way, That "Water" that they spray on our food in the store...Has MSG in it.
ReplyWoooowwww, now that i did not know!!!! Why would they spray msg on "fresh" vegetables??? That is ridiculous.
ReplyHe's lying. Commenters here really have to adjust their tinfoil hats. MSG has gotten a bad rap because of bad science and misinterpreted statistics.
Is all "Natural Flavour" bad? No. Is some? Maybe. The real problem is not labeling everything as bad or cancer causing, but the secrecy. Labeling something as "Natural Flavours" means we can research and decide for ourselves.
ReplyJan, Dr.Blaylock is a neurosurgeon and explains in his book and videos,in great detail(more than the average person can probably follow)that 'excititoxins' kill brain cells and are involved in Alzheimers,AlS,etc.. Aspartame,MSG,etc.are excitotoxins.But manufacturers disguise these under different names; yeast extract,natural flavor, hydrolyzed protein etc. He lists 3 categories of additives.
ReplyOne always contains excitotoxins,another usually does, and the third category sometimes does. I think 'natural flavor' is in the middle category.So I guess you have to investigate each individual product if you want to continue using it .That is what I did. I e-mailed the company and got no response.Not a good sign. Just Google 'excitotoxins' or 'Dr.Russell Blaylock' and you'll get a lot of useful information for free.
Thanks for the info, Tom. I'm googling it right now to read a bit more about it.
Reply