Are ‘Natural Flavors’ Really Natural? - The New York Times

Food manufacturers add flavorings to a surprising number of basic products, like Breyers Natural Vanilla ice cream. By Roni Caryn Rabin Q. I heard that “natural flavors” added to flavored seltzer water are not natural, because of a loophole in the regulations covering additives. Is that true? A. Government regulations define natural flavors as those that derive their aroma or flavor chemicals from plant or animal sources, including fruit, meat, fish, spices, herbs, roots, leaves, buds or bark that are distilled, fermented or otherwise manipulated in a lab. This distinguishes them from artificial flavors, which use man-made chemicals to give a product its particular flavor or aroma. 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

Food manufacturers add flavorings to a surprising number of basic products, like Breyers Natural Vanilla ice cream. By Roni Caryn Rabin Q. I heard that “natural flavors” added to flavored seltzer water are not natural, because of a loophole in the regulations covering additives. Is that true? A. Government regulations define natural flavors as those that derive their aroma or flavor chemicals from plant or animal sources, including fruit, meat, fish, spices, herbs, roots, leaves, buds or bark that are distilled, fermented or otherwise manipulated in a lab. This distinguishes them from artifici