John Myers
Natural aroma, nature-identical aroma substances, artificial aromas: there are a lot of these additives in industrially processed food. But what purpose do they actually serve and what are the differences?
Diverse flavors: flavorings
Flavorings can be found in some form in the ingredients list on many food packages. The function of food additives is to optimize processed food. The use of flavorings ensures that the natural taste lost during the manufacturing process comes to the fore again. A vegetable stock powder does not taste like a freshly cooked vegetable soup. The addition of flavor enhancers such as yeast extract and glutamate is intended to compensate for this. Small deviations in the name make a big difference.
For example, nature-identical has nothing to do with nature. The best example is vanilla. The natural food is the vanilla bean. Vanillin, which is specially produced, is used as a flavoring. To make the confusion complete: The production can be artificial or the vanillin is obtained from natural raw materials such as sugar beet pulp. The designations have the following meaning:
Natural flavorings are obtained from natural sources of animal or vegetable origin using biological or physical processes. About vanilla flavor from the vanilla bean.
Nature-identical flavorings are produced synthetically. They have the same chemical structure as the natural model and often consist of several substances. Example: Vanillin.
Artificial flavorings do not occur in nature and are the result of chemical synthesis. This category includes ethyl vanillin, which is usually only declared as a vanilla flavor.
Due to the variety of terms, it is not always easy for the consumer to recognize whether a product contains chemicals or not. The consumer centers advise paying attention to terms such as “aroma” or “vanilla”. Behind this are mostly flavors from the laboratory.
Enjoy artificial flavors in moderation
While flavorings in coffee or flavorings in wine naturally stimulate the taste buds and have floral, spicy, or nutty notes, the taste of flavored products can sometimes appear overpowering. Artificial flavorings in a tea with a raspberry-cream flavor, for example, are not a pleasure for every palate. The reason: That synthetic products taste much more intense than natural flavors. This too much can shape our perception of taste in the long run, natural foods suddenly taste bland. Critics, therefore, advise against consuming artificially flavored products on a regular basis. Better season it yourself, for example with fresh greens. Why shouldn’t you cook fresh herbs? The expert knows the answer.
