Artificial Flavors

Whats actually in the food you eat

Birth of Artificial Flavors

It is speculated that artificial flavors were first created by complete accident when a German chemist mixed chemicals and was presented with the sweet aroma of grapes That day, they created methyl anthranilate, the chief compound of grape Kool-Aid

The Flavor Industry

The flavor industry is one of the most secretive corporations in the world. Its safety precautions and technology are like those of government agencies. The companies will not let anyone know who uses their products or what formulas they use to make specific flavors or aromas

IFF
The worlds largest flavor company, International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF), is located in Dayton, New Jersey Before entering, one must sign a form stating he or she will not reveal any trade secrets, i.e. the products that use that company for flavors.

IFF creates the flavors of chips, bread, crackers, cereal, and pet food, as well as ice cream, biscuits, toothpaste, antacids

 The flavor industry emerged in the mid1800s as processed foods began to be manufactured on a large scale The American flavor industry now has annual revenues of about $1.4 billion. Approximately 10,000 new processed food products are introduced every year in the U.S. Almost all of them require flavor additives.

 Flavor additives are extremely cheap, cheaper than using the real thing:
The flavor in a 12oz. Can of Coke costs about .005 cents

 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require flavor companies to disclose the ingredients of their additives, so long as all the chemicals are considered by the agency to be GRAS (generally regarded as safe)
This gives the companies the ability to be secretive with their formulas

 A typical artificial strawberry flavor, such as that found in a Burger King strawberry milk shake, contains the following ingredients: 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 heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenyl-2-butonone (10% solution in alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylactophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, qundecalactone, vanillin, and solvent.

Natural vs. Artificial

Natural flavors are derived from natural sources.
The distinguishing line between natural and artificial flavors can be very thin
'A natural flavor,' says Terry Acree, a professor of food science technology at Cornell University, 'is a flavor that's been derived with an out-of-date technology' natural and artificial flavors sometimes contain exactly the same chemicals, they are just produced by different methods

Bibliography
Fast Food Nation http://www.spiritouch.com/en/pdfs/FastFoo dNation.pdf