Microblog: Natural and Artificial Flavors Contain Chemicals

Adapted from @CarnivoreCure:
I’ve talked about natural flavors before but both natural and artificial flavors contain chemicals. Natural flavors are derived from edible sources like animals and plants and then oftentimes processed in a lab to create an addictive flavoring.⠀

😫Artificial flavoring only differs in that it’s derived from inedible sources, like petroleum. Yes, artificial flavoring can use petroleum.⠀

⚠️The problem with natural and artificial flavors on a nutritional label is that you have no idea what you’re getting. The vague guidelines allows for companies to list natural and artificial flavors as a catch-all loophole.⠀

❗️In order for foods to be convenient, processed foods need to have a long shelf life. The preservation methods tend to reduce flavor and food companies turn to natural and artificial flavors to enhance flavors after being processed.⠀

🥛It’s similar to how milk and foods are fortified with vitamins after the vitamins are stripped during food processing. Basically, the vitamin D and calcium from your milk are not nature’s vitamins—they’re man-made synthetic vitamins added back to your milk.⠀

📚According to the FDA: “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.”⠀

❓Got that? I didn’t.⠀

⁉️But what it does tell me is that the ingredient, “natural flavor,” doesn’t tell me much about what is really added. The guiding principle from the FDA is cryptic and I can assume that almost anything can fall under the category of “natural flavoring.”⠀

⚖️It’s nearly impossible to find processed foods without natural flavoring. Just try to do your best. It’s better to eat occasional foods with natural flavoring if it allows you to stick with Carnivore.