*Natural food flavorings
*Artificial food flavorings
*Semi-artificial food flavorings
Despite the small quantity consumed individually each year food manufacturers use flavors extensively in manufactured foods because they can either replace natural favors lost in processing or they can replace expensive natural flavors with less expensive ingredients.
It is well recognized that the flavor of many natural food materials changes during maturation, ripening and subsequent processing or cooking, and that these changes derive from precursors, many of which are odorless and tasteless.
Most natural flavorings are obtained from materials of vegetable or animal origin. It is either extracted or derived from plant products, species, herbs, yeast, fruit and leaves, buds and roots of certain plants are used to provide natural flavors.
They can be used either in their natural state as raw or have been subject to a process normally used in preparing food for human consumption, but cannot contain any artificial flavoring substances.
Natural flavors and artificial flavors sometimes contain exactly the same chemicals, produced through different methods.
The number of compounds isolated and identified in natural flavors is constantly increasing and many more ‘nature identical’ aromatic chemicals are available for flavor reconstruction.
Natural food flavor
