Introduction
Consumers who read food labels are often surprised to see that there are added ‘flavours’ in most products. If, like many people, you think natural flavours are good and artificial flavours are bad, you need to know more about these additives.
Why flavours are added to processed foods
Flavours are used in processed food because overprocessing destroys flavour. When you drink freshly made juice, it needs no added flavours. But by the time apple juice, for example, has been centrifuged, pasteurised, filtered, clarified and cold-stabilised, much of the original flavour has been lost.
The labelling rules have changed
Until recently, Australian food labels followed the European tradition of describing flavours as natural, artificial or nature identical. For example, a strawberry-flavoured yoghurt could contain • natural flavouring substances whether derived from strawberries or not • a nature identical flavouring substance than has been synthesised, but is chemically identical to a substance found in nature, or • an artificial flavour, that has been synthesised and has not yet been identified in any natural product. While you can still find these terms on some product labels in Australian supermarkets, the labelling regulations changed in 2002, so technically, the term ‘natural flavours’ does not now comply with the code.
Flavours are secret
Under the new regulations, flavours must be declared in the ingredient list as either ‘flavour’ or ‘flavouring’, or a specific name or description of the flavouring such as ‘vanilla’. There’s no mention of natural or artificial, and although the food manufacturers know whether they are using artificial flavouring substances, the consumer does not. Should you be concerned?
The fact is that most processed foods contain flavouring additives that have been made in giant chemical factories. There are more than two thousand approved flavouring chemicals that don’t have to be described on food labels because they are considered to be closely guarded trade secrets. When the word ‘flavours’ appears on an ingredient list, it means those flavours have been man-made in a laboratory even if this could be described as natural by the definition above. Natural flavours, nature identical flavours and artificial flavours could contain exactly the same chemicals although consumers can’t tell what’s in them because of the secrecy surrounding flavour formulas. As author Eric Schlosser says in his bestselling book Fast Food Nation: ‘Natural and artificial flavours are now manufactured at the same chemical plants, places that few people would associate with Mother Nature. Calling any of these flavours “natural†requires a flexible attitude toward the English language and a fair amount of irony.’
If you studied high school chemistry, you probably made artificial banana flavour as part of the curriculum. It’s done by combining amyl alcohol and acetic acid in the laboratory using sulphuric acid as a catalyst and not a banana in sight. You will probably remember the result, a chemical called amyl acetate that smells surprisingly like ripe bananas – because it’s the dominant flavour chemical in bananas. If a solvent is used to extract this chemical from bananas, the resulting amyl acetate is then regarded as a natural flavour, despite being the same chemical as the amyl acetate made without bananas. Other flavour chemicals include ethyl propionate for a fruity flavour, cinnamic aldehyde for cinnamon, diacetyl for butter (see box) and there are several thousand more.
Why flavours can affect your health
The first step to understanding how flavour and fragrance additives can affect your health is to realise that all foods consist of natural chemicals. For example, an apple contains over 1000 natural flavouring chemicals, some of which are known to cause health problems for some people in big enough doses. Eating is a chemical balancing act. We have to balance the benefits of nutrients such as vitamins and minerals against the side effects of natural pesticides and other chemicals that may contribute to various conditions.
According to Schlosser, a typical artificial strawberry flavour – in foods such as yoghurts – will probably contain such chemicals as amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl acetate, ethyl amyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl haptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphrenyl-2-butanone, alpha-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, gamma-undecalactone, vanillin and solvent. Chemically, there isn’t actually much difference between the list of chemicals in a real strawberry or in an artificial strawberry flavour.
Effects induced by additives
Health
- headaches or migraines
- rashes (hives, eczema, dermatitis, other itchy rashes)
- stomach aches, bloating, reflux, constipation, bedwetting, sneaky poos
- asthma, frequent cough, stuffy or runny nose
- frequent colds, flu, ear infections
- joint pains, swelling of the joints
- heart palpitations, fast heart beat, pseudo heart attackBehaviour
- sleep disturbance (difficulty falling asleep, frequent night waking, night terrors, restless legs)
- restlessness (loud voice, irritable, easily distracted, demanding, easily bored)
- irritability (touchy or easily annoyed, loses temper, throws tantrums)
- oppositional defiance (temper outbursts, often says no, refuses requests, defies rules, angry)
- inattention (forgetful, disorganised, foggy brain, dreamy)
- anxiety (lethargic, depressed, panic attacks)
- unhappiness (grizzly, miserable, cries frequently)
Who should avoid flavour additives?
When processed food became a growth industry in the 1960s artificial flavours were widely used, but in the last twenty years – due to the consumer perception that natural flavours are healthier – there has been a move towards man-made natural flavours. As with many other industrial chemicals, most flavour additives have never been properly tested for their effects on humans and fall into the category of GRAS (‘generally recognised as safe’). A document from the food industry leaked to the Today Tonight TV show in Australia in May 2004 also revealed that some food manufacturers hide unlisted additives such as colours and preservatives in flavours added to foods such as children’s custards.
As we have seen, there is no significant difference between many artificial flavours and their natural counterparts: it is the size of the dose that can cause problems. Some consumers are more sensitive than others. Some will not be affected at all; some will be affected only by large doses of food chemicals such as salicylates in strawberry flavoured sweets or medication, and those who are more sensitive will be affected when, for example, strawberries are concentrated in products such as strawberry yoghurt.
It is possible to avoid added flavours and flavour enhancers by avoiding highly processed foods. To stick with the doses provided in nature, you can add fresh strawberries to plain yoghurt or choose products with low or no flavours. Organic products will be some of the safest. For example, yoghurts are more likely to contain only real fruit as flavouring or will often specify ‘vanilla’ as the only flavouring additive. Organic chocolate tastes quite different from highly flavoured supermarket lines. If ‘flavour’ is listed, you are likely to find it refers to vanilla or essential orange oil. There are some people for whom even that will be too much. Children and adults who are sensitive to the smallest amounts of food chemicals – including those in unprocessed natural foods – will feel better if they avoid the higher salicylate fruit like oranges and stick to lower salicylate fruit such as pears.
If you have ever seen an obvious reaction to any additives or foods, even once, it is worth learning more about food intolerance. Whatever you see is usually just the tip of the iceberg. The effects of natural food chemicals can creep up slowly and leave you wondering why your child isn’t doing as well as you expected, or why you rarely feel as healthy as you should. Although children are the most vulnerable, adults can be affected too.
