Natural vs. artificial flavorings, what’s the deal?
Both of these are terms regulated by the FDA (the term
"all-natural" is a different story). The definition of a natural
flavoring is anything derived or extracted 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" [1]. An artificial flavor is anything that is not derived
from the items listed above, but rather synthesized in a laboratory. Don't freak out, it's not nearly as scary as it sounds! Read on to find out why.
So which one is healthier or better? Well, the answer to that
isn't so simple. The first step is to understand that both natural and
artificial flavors are just made up of various chemicals. This is not a bad
thing! Everything is made up of chemicals. That banana you had for lunch, that
avocado you ate for a snack, you, me, and Oprah are all
made of chemicals. Chemicals = not inherently evil. The second step is to
understand the basic principles of toxicology, or what the effects of chemicals are at certain doses. For example, we can all agree that ~90 milligrams of Vitamin C a
day is healthy for you [2]. However, 10,000 milligrams a day will
give you diarrhea, nausea, headaches, cramps and possibly kidney stones [3,4]. As
the saying goes, the dose makes the poison [5].
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| Toxicology of Man-Made and Natural Chemicals |
