It’s all just chemicals
by MedPage Today Staff November 06, 2017
Consumers beware — that “natural flavor” you see on your food label may not be what you think it is, scientists say.
For one thing, even though natural flavor must come from natural sources, it need not all come from the plant or meat whose flavor is being mimicked, according to Bruce Mattel of the Culinary Institute of America. For instance, orange flavor might contain not only orange extract, but also bark extract and grass extract.
In the end, natural and artificial flavors are not that different, say the experts. Natural flavors are created by extracting chemicals from natural ingredients, and artificial flavors are made by creating the same chemicals synthetically.