However, the natural counterparts of the banned synthetic flavors are still available in foods as long as the flavor is created from naturally occurring sources rather than synthetic sources. How are flavors created? What is the difference between natural and artificial flavors?
How are natural flavors created? How are artificial flavors created? The completed flavor is then added to our foods and beverages in approved quantities. Why use artificial flavors? Are natural and artificial flavors used together?
Are natural and artificial flavors safe? Did you find this article useful? Please tell us why Submit. Flavors — Flavor Overview. This issue is somewhat confusing to the average consumer in part because of other seeming parallels in the world. One can, for example, make a blue dye out of blueberry extract or synthetic pigments.
These dyes are very different in chemical composition yet both yield a blue color. Similarly, consider one shirt made from wool and another from nylon. Both are shirts, but they have very different chemical compositions. This diversity of building blocks is not possible in flavorings--one makes a given flavor only by using specific chemicals. Thus, if a consumer purchases an apple beverage that contains an artificial flavor, she will ingest the same primary chemicals that she would take in if she had chosen a naturally flavored apple beverage.
When making a flavor, the flavorist always begins by going to the scientific literature and researching what chemicals nature uses to make the desired flavor. He then selects from the list of flavor components found in, say, real apples, generally simplifying natures list to eliminate those chemicals that make little contribution to taste or are not permitted owing to toxicity.
Nature has no restrictions on using toxic chemicals, whereas the flavorist does. The flavorist then either chooses chemicals that are natural isolated from nature as described above or synthetic chemicals made by people to make the flavor. So is there truly a difference between natural and artificial flavorings? Artificial flavorings are simpler in composition and potentially safer because only safety-tested components are utilized.
Another difference between natural and artificial flavorings is cost. The search for "natural" sources of chemicals often requires that a manufacturer go to great lengths to obtain a given chemical. These toxic chemicals are very important from an environmental perspective leaching into soil and water, impacting animal life in the surrounding areas, etc. Organic farming can still use naturally derived pesticides - in fact, they can even use some synthetic pesticides too! Research studies have shown that both organic and conventional food have the same nutritional content, and both contain residues of synthetic pesticides albeit organic food does have less of these than conventional foods.
There is much less known about the toxicity of natural and naturally derived pesticides, but some studies show that they can be just as harmful and carcinogenic. A risk assessment review of natural and synthetic pesticides has a great summary to conclude this point:.
The biological properties, especially safety, of a chemical depend on its structure and the way in which the chemical is used i. Further reading on organic and conventional foods: Review article on organically grown food , Study of carcinogenicity of naturally derived and synthetic pesticides.
The chemical structure of a synthesized compound is exactly the same as the natural compound it is supposed to supplement, such as ascorbic acid, which is the primary form of Vitamin C. It will taste the same, smell the same, and it will function the same in your body. This is true for most cases, however sometimes there are additional and unintended products.
Inactive ingredients may differ between natural and synthetic products, such as additives, fillers, by-products, and additional naturally extracted chemicals these may be active but are not the target compound in naturally derived products.
These are important to consider in any product, whether it is naturally derived or synthetic. For example, a number of synthetic food colorings have been banned due to suspected carcinogenicity. Melatonin and butterbur extracts are interesting examples of naturally derived products that consumers must be wary of are. Synthetic melatonin is molecularly exactly the same, and is much safer to take. Butterbur are plants that contain an anti-inflammatory compound called petasin, which is a natural remedy for migraine treatment and prevention.
For further reading on synthetic versus natural chemicals, and to learn more about their syntheses, you should check out chapter 4 "Are NPs Different from Synthetic Chemicals? We all have to accept that the natural vs synthetic chemical debate is not a black vs white issue, and it is actually a complicated and massive gray matter. The views expressed are those of the author s and are not necessarily those of Scientific American. Dorea Reeser is a Ph.
Her research focuses on studying chemical reactions at water surfaces, and how the chemical and physical properties at the air-water interface influence these reactions and the release of important trace gases into the troposphere. She combines her creative and scientific sides with her passion for presenting science, whether it's at a scientific conference, in the classroom, at an outreach event, at a social outing, on paper or in a video.
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