While out of town I was able to check Jackie’s blog. Yes, I am also curious to see if she has posted anything new. She had.
Jackie had made a post and added a bit about “Natural Flavors”, so I followed the link, read the information, thought it was interesting but couldn’t imagine Jackie posting an “alert” based on just one site. So when I got home I asked her if she was sure she wanted to add the “Natural Flavors” alert until she had time to do a more in depth research and she said “I have, and I find it disturbing.” So, I thought I would make a small post and suggest you look into it and as always read the label and know what you are actually eating. You can begin your research at tangergreen.com.
Jackie says I am somewhat . . . Oh never mind what Jackie says. But if you are interested, visit the FDA’s website at www.fda.gov/fdac/special/foodlabel/ingred.html or go directly to CF101-22.HTM and pay special attention to sections (3) which states:
The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate,or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional. Natural flavors include the natural essence or extractives obtained from plants listed in Secs. 182.10, 182.20, 182.40, and 182.50 and part 184 of this chapter, and thesubstances listed in Sec. 172.510 of this chapter.
Have a great day
Ken Vetter
Dear Ken & Jackie,
Thank you for linking to my site, Tangergreen. My husband and I are longtime vegans (me for some 17 years) and one of the reasons we are blogging about worries like natural flavors is that we have watched unscrupulous companies attempt to sneak in on the ‘natural’ ticket, all the while creating products which contain completely unnatural ingredients - like natural flavors.
When I went vegan as a kid, there were very few packaged vegan products to choose from. Now, markets like Whole Foods are stocked to the ceiling with so called natural foods, many of them geared toward vegan and vegetarian customers. Corporations have discovered that we are a demographic which will spend lots for good food. But, if we trust these companies any more than we would Coca-Cola, we are doing ourselves a disservice. Label reading is the first and best thing I know of that you can do to avoid being tricked. If you don’t know what an ingredient is, chances are, it’s not good for you and isn’t coming from a whole food source.
I hope you found our article on natural flavors to be of interest, and I’m enjoying looking at your blog here. Always great to find folks who love their veggies!
Cheers,
Miriam
Miriam:
Thank you for your response. I was so glad to find your article and get the info out there. We do trust places like Whole Foods to have only “whole” foods. You would not think that they would have products in their store that contain animal products, like Rice Milk, when they know that vegetarians/vegans are using those products. I am going to have to write to Whole Foods.
I am loving this journey to veganism. It has not been easy, but I didn’t expect it to be. I have found the steps I have taken so far to be well worth it.
Thanks for writing. I do hope you enjoy the blog.