Did you know THIS about Natural Flavors in your foods and TEAS?

Recently I’ve noticed in a lot of the tea products a new ingredient: “Natural Flavors”.  This new ingredient comes near the end of a list of actual ingredients that will include flavors as well so I am curious about what actually is a “natural flavor”.   

The FDA describes a “natural flavor” 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. Natural flavors include the natural essence or extractives obtained from plants listed in 182.10, 182.20, 182.40, and 182.50 and part 184 of this chapter and the substances listed in 172.510 of this chapter.”

Make sure to check out the link and read the entire description, it’s interesting at the depth of two simple words “natural flavors”.

As you can see it’s just not as simple as the first page of their description as they go on to explain, add and describe a natural flavor that can actually have a ton of ingredients included.  

So, the FDA has described and allowed “natural flavors” as “an” ingredient listing however the only people who know exactly what that ingredient is are the people who created the product.  

So, I thought I would ask a few of them:

• “What’s your natural flavor ingredient”? 

Do you know what response I received, not very favorable?  Only one company could tell me that their natural flavor was natural raspberry flavor.  So, why not just put the ingredient and why the charade?  Well, here’s the sneaky part I learned from the Environmental Working Group: 

The whole natural and artificial ingredient listing is a mess with both being able to contain natural and synthetic ingredients.

In reality, both listings are pretty much the same if they both contain both natural and synthetic ingredients.  So if I say I have raspberry in my natural flavor does it also include a handful of solvents to preserve that natural flavor and at that point, my natural flavor is now no longer natural but synthetic?  

Dr. Axe  sells a nutritional product that I purchase and has included this response on his website to someone asking about the natural flavor  listed:

“The Natural Flavor listed on the Healing Protein ingredient label is intended to naturally boost flavor without compromising the purity of the product.  For the Vanilla protein, the Natural Flavor ingredients are vanilla extract and stevia.  For Chocolate protein, the Natural Flavor is comprised of additional cocoa and stevia.”

But again, why not list the ingredients for the natural flavor?

I personally don’t understand, as a label reader I am often amazed at the ingredients listed on healthy food products at Whole Foods including “natural flavors”.  

I can only assume that because the FDA has permitted it, Whole Foods and other health food chains allow it. Companies allow it for the same reasons.

My only thought on this whole subject is: 

“But, when has the FDA ever been our friend concerning foods and food ingredients?”

And have you seen this lately on the ingredient list:  and/or coconut oil, and/or palm oil, and/or ….  And the list goes on, I absolutely refuse to buy these products that cannot tell me exactly what is in their products. If they don’t want to be upfront then I don’t want to buy them.  

End of Story!