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Why natural flavors are everywhere in your food
In the Environmental Working Group’s Food Scores database of over 80,000 foods, “natural flavor” is the fourth most common ingredient listed on labels. The only ingredients that outrank it: salt, water and sugar. Yet, natural flavoring isn’t nearly as simple as these three pantry staples.
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“Natural and artificial flavors play an interesting role in food. They’re essentially providing the taste and often they’re added to make the food more appealing, or to potentially replace something that’s lost through processing, storage or in some cases even from pasteurizing,” says David Andrews, senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group.
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“As a consumer, it is important to be savvy about ingredients. Recognize that any food consumed in excess of your needs is going to affect your weight loss journey,” Sheth notes.
Numerous studies also have linked artificial sweeteners, which have the same supersized effect on flavor, to weight gain and unhealthy dietary habits.
“One concern we have is the ability to make things more appealing than they may necessarily be,” Andrews says. “You can make [foods that aren’t as healthy] more appealing or even taste as if they’re extremely fresh when they may not be.”
While you don’t need to swear off natural or artificial flavors for life, Andrews advises sticking to a diet of whole foods when you can. Because you can be sure the flavors in an actual apple didn’t originate in a lab.
