Flavour is a core part of eating and drinking, comprising an item’s flavour and aroma, and combining them with its texture to create the complete tasting experience. There are many different ways to add flavour to food and beverage products, the most common being whole foods, extracts and flavourings. These flavouring methods vary in source product, and we don’t always know what we’re consuming and how natural it is, even if the manufacturer prints the word in large letters on the label. So, what’s the difference between flavouring foods and beverages with whole foods, extracts and flavours? Is one better or worse for you than the others? Read our blog post to learn whether natural flavourings are actually natural.
HOW ARE DIFFERENT FOODS AND BEVERAGES FLAVOURED?
Food and beverage products — anything from candy to juice — can be flavoured using a variety of extracts, artificial (chemical) or natural (derived from whole, natural sources) flavouring agents during the manufacturing process. Extracts, or spices, arearomaticfoods or plants that can be used in dried and ground, broken, or whole form to flavour food products. Extracts include ingredients such as pepper, rosemary, basil, and more. Not to be confused with extracts, natural flavours derive their taste from natural sources like fruit, meat, fish, spices, herbs, roots, leaves, buds or bark. When processing natural products, it is common for flavours to be lost; for example, caramel flavouring may need to be added back after processing. Natural flavours can also be used to offset a product with a difficult aftertaste. All flavours, whether naturally present in food, derived from natural sources or artificially created, are made of chemical compounds. Therefore, when re-creating flavours artificially, flavour chemists work to achieve the same chemical composition as that of an existing product. Many of the dominant chemical compounds are called esters; for example, the ester called Octyl Acetate (CH3COOC8H17) is a fundamental component in the flavour of an orange. The flavour molecules re-created by flavour chemists are indeed chemically identical, even if they come from different sources.
IS ONE FLAVOURING METHOD BETTER THAN THE OTHER?
When it comes to choosing the most natural or purest flavouring on the market, there are numerous factors to be considered. Because extracts, such as dried or variously broken down plants and whole foods, are otherwise untouched, they provide foods and beverages with the most natural flavouring method. While government regulations typically define natural flavours as those that derive their taste from natural sources, other ingredients like preservatives, solvents, emulsifiers, carriers and other additives that can be added to natural flavours aren’t addressed in these regulations. While food processors—those responsible for combining a series of ingredients to make a food product—must list all of the ingredients on a food label, flavor manufacturers—those responsible for formulating and producing the flavour added to the product—do not have to disclose their ingredients. The gap between natural and artificial flavours is thus narrowed. For the most part, natural flavours have been determined to be unharmful to human health when consumed in moderation through processed products. However, those with allergies or specific dietary restrictions would do well to further investigate the ingredients used to flavour their foods. It’s also important to note that natural flavours used in organic foods may be subject to different, far stricter regulations.
In conclusion, the flavour we taste when eating or drinking different products comes from a distinct set of chemical compounds that can be identically replicated to reproduce or enhance flavour. Extracts are the purest flavouring agent, consisting of a dried or deconstructed form of a spice, herb or whole food. Natural flavouring agents get their flavouring from natural sources, but can include additives to prolong shelf life. And artificial flavouring is naturally the least natural flavouring agent, re-created by flavour chemists in a lab to achieve the same chemical flavour composition as that of the desired ingredient. Despite all flavouring agents in commercial use following government regulation, it can be difficult to know exactly what the items we’re consuming contain.
Cheers!