Are Your Taste Buds Being Hijacked? 3 Reasons Why You Should Watch Out for “Natural Flavors”


drewssexybody (3)Written By: Jeff Taraday

Of all the underhanded and insidious things food manufacturers do to increase profits and get consumers hooked on their food products, there is probably nothing so mind-bendingly dishonest and dangerous as the concept of “natural flavors.”

The term may sound harmless, but the problem is that there’s nothing natural about these flavors whatsoever.

Natural flavors, organic flavoring and the likes contain some of the most harmful (and sometimes the grossest) ingredients most of us have unknowingly consumed in our lifetimes. Even worse, they’ve even infiltrated a multitude of so-called “health foods.”

How and why is this the case and how does the food industry get away with it? Let’s take a look.

What are natural flavors exactly? Let’s look at what the FDA says in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 21:


So basically, “natural flavors” is an umbrella term for more or less anything that could be traced back to some sort of organic matter at some point.

What about how natural flavors are used? In the book Pandora’s Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal, Melanie Warner writes;

“They lend cravability to foods that would otherwise be inedible slurries of corn, wheat, or soy-products like Doritos, some breakfast cereals, and energy bars. And they allow manufacturers to put less fruit into cereal bars and pie fillings…to make juices from raw materials that aren’t very fresh; and to deliver the impression that processed meats have been cooked the way you would cook them at home.”

In other words, they can turn a bland, low-quality food or combination of foods and turn it into something that tastes irresistibly good – The food industry alchemists are converting garbage into delicacies. But while manufacturers are cutting costs and increasing their margins, the ingredients they’re sneaking into their food products under the term “natural flavors” have a fair amount of drawbacks and we, the consumers, are unknowingly subject to the collateral damage.

Here are the three most infuriating and repulsive reasons why you should be on the look out for “natural” flavors and avoid them at all costs:

1. They can make you overeat

over-eat-600x420Why do we tend to overeat or crave certain foods? One of the main reasons is what David Kessler, former head of the FDA and author of The End of Overeating, says is a “food carnival” in your mouth; flavors so perfectly designed that they trick your mind and body into wanting more and more. And it’s not out of sheer luck that these flavors are so perfectly craveable. Food scientists spend countless hours in laboratories trying to figure out the “bliss point” of certain foods – the perfect combinations of salt, sugar, fat and natural flavors to make food products as irresistible and addictive as possible.

But did you know these same flavors have infiltrated so-called “health foods” and “natural foods”? No aisle (save for the produce section) of any grocery store is safe. Natural flavors are used in plant-based protein powders and bars, non-dairy yogurts and milks, condiments, drinks and many more products advertised as healthy or 100% natural.

2. They can trick your taste buds with MSG

MSG – and its many other analogues – are also often hidden under the umbrella of “natural flavors”. Monosodium Glutamate, otherwise known as MSG, is a flavor enhancer and can trick your taste buds into thinking that food is far more delicious than it actually is. MSG has been linked to headaches, nausea, weight gain, higher blood pressure, liver damage and even brain damage.

3. They likely contain repulsive ingredients

Reading-a-nutrition-labelYou might remember the uproar a couple of years ago when it was discovered that Starbucks was using crushed beetles for food coloring in some of its Frappuccino products. Well, that might not be the only gross (and infuriating for vegans) hidden product in our food system. Castoreum, otherwise known as secretions from beaver anal glands, might be in some vanilla and strawberry ice cream flavorings and in certain perfumes (to be fair though, the usage of castoreum is now somewhat rare). L-Cysteine, a common flavoring in many bread products, is commonly extracted from duck feathers or, even more sickening, human hair.

Now that you know that “natural flavors” are often Trojan Horses of dangerous and gross ingredients, check the food products in your kitchen. If they contain natural flavors and you aren’t inspired to throw them out immediately, call the food manufacturers and ask them exactly what’s hiding within the natural flavors umbrella term. If they don’t give you a straight answer, you’ll know they’ve got something to hide.

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Jeff Taraday

Jeff Taraday

Certified Health Coach and Nutritional Education Trainer at The Plant Eater
Jeff Taraday is a reformed junk food addict, barbecue junkie, and beer-swilling frat guy who discovered the power of a whole foods, plant-based diet in in 2010. Switching to a plant-based diet has helped him lose over 40 pounds, clear up his mind, and transform him into a fitness and exercise junkie and a plant-based nutrition advocate.

Jeff is a certified Health Coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and a Nutritional Education Trainer through the Nutritional Education Institute. He has also completed a certification in plant-based nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Foundation. He is the author of the blog The Plant Eater, and coaches individuals and families how to easily and deliciously incorporate nutrient-dense, plant-centric meals into their daily lives. He currently works as a wellness coach for a corporate wellness consulting firm to improve the lives of the employee populations of companies around the country.

He is also a member of the board of Groceryships, a non-profit that provides grocery scholarships, nutritional education, and emotional support to low-income families in South Los Angeles, California.

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Jeff Taraday


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