The Secret Behind Natural Flavors

The Secret Behind Natural Flavors

Two words; loooooong story.

Food labels say a lot of things these days. From long lists of unknown words to an abundance of additives, taking the time to read the labels on your foods can be seriously perplexing.

"Natural flavors" are a common ingredient found on all types of food labels, and is actually the 4th most common ingredient behind salt, water, and sugar. Despite their name sounding safe and nice, natural flavors hold a mysterious world of mystery.

Rather than really being "natural", natural flavors are man-made chemicals that are added to food in order to enhance their taste. Natural flavors can be derived from just about anything (animals, plants, minerals...bugs). The FDA has no regulation of this term, which leads it to be a very open-ended concept, and even dangerous to those with specific dietary needs. Natural flavors are so common because they are an inexpensive way to add flavor notes to any food, and a nasty way to substitute for something real. Next time you're at the grocery store, double-check for those elusive words on the label.  

Consuming high amounts of processed, chemically enhanced food is not good for the human body. We are our happiest, most functional, and healthy when we consume raw, whole foods, without additives and chemicals that cause an imbalance within. Many (too many) of the other alt-mylks on the market feature natural flavors on their ingredient list.  You'll never find natural flavors on our labels at Goodmylk; just whole, real, pure foods that taste good, and feel good.