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Most of us are confident that natural flavors are better. than artificial, as the latter contains a lot chemicals. Is it really?
In fact, everything that we eat, that we feel, everything that we surrounds – it all consists of chemicals. Natural they or created in the laboratory – does not play a role.
For example, we smell the cloves thanks to a chemical under the name “eugenol.” And cinnamon, which is ordinary dried bark of cinnamon trees, gets its flavor from cinnamon compounds.
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All flavors contain chemicals – and artificial, and natural. The difference between them is only a source these chemicals. Natural flavors are created on based on animal or vegetable products. Even laboratory processing does not detract from the fact that they are natural. Artificial flavors create from something inedible, not living. For example, from oil, which by treatments are converted to chemicals.
Here’s how Food and Drug Administration describes natural flavoring:
“Natural flavoring is: essential oil, essence, extract, or product obtained by distillation, burning, heating or decomposition into enzymes. Flavoring has the taste obtained from spices, fruits, vegetables or their juice, herbs, roots or leaves and other products plant origin. The taste of the flavor is also can be obtained from meat, seafood, eggs, dairy products, as well as from their enzymes. ”
Definition of artificial flavor in short – artificial flavoring agent is any substance that does not meet the description natural flavoring.
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Sometimes the same flavor can be obtained using or natural or artificial components. The result will be one only the creation process is different.
So why use artificial flavors? A business that it’s much cheaper to use synthetic chemicals than get the same natural ones. Artificial components used, also safer than natural – they are tested and tested. In addition, their production is cleaner than for example, growing a lot of violets to get natural flavoring.
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For example, vanillin extract is responsible for the taste and smell of vanilla. IN nature, vanillin is obtained from orchids. This process is very long and expensive. Therefore, scientists created in the laboratory an artificial vanillin.
In 2006, Japanese scientist Mayu Yamamoto came up with a way extract vanillin extract from cow feed. For this, she received Ig Nobel Prize at Harvard University.
Many people do not realize that in natural flavors can be as many chemicals as artificial ones. For instance, the amount of chemicals used to create artificial strawberry flavor equal to the amount of chemicals in fresh strawberries.
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Artificial grape flavor derived from chemical components of purple grapes – not red or green, which we buy in stores. That is why, products containing this flavor have a rich purple color (e.g. sweets or sodas). For the same reason grapes purchased at the store do not have the same characteristic taste.
Some natural flavors are far more dangerous than them. artificial doubles. For example, in an almond flavor obtained naturally, traces of cyanide can be found. A raw soybeans from which soy sauce is made, can also be toxic.
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Many people are worried about adding chemicals to food. like sodium glutamate. Some attribute the appearance of headaches. pain with excessive consumption of products containing glutamate sodium (Chinese restaurant syndrome). But, in reality, such a connection is nothing more than a myth. Researchers believe that similar symptoms are more likely to be caused by excess salt in Chinese food.
Artificially created flavors go much more a thorough check than natural. But this fact can be considered only an argument in their favor. After all, creating a flavor from scratch ensures that each component passes the safety test and has been approved for use.
