"Natural flavors" OK or pass?

ketomonster · Tuesday at 06:44 PM

have some seltzer water with natural flavors, wondering if i should quit the stuff?

Idunno · Tuesday at 09:04 PM

I am thinking why not. Consider a seltzer a treat. We are already removing everything else

ketomonster · Tuesday at 09:14 PM

I do not know what is actually in "natural flavors".

Geezy · Wednesday at 05:41 AM

Seltzer water or carbonated water is fine on carnivore but “natural flavors” are not. The reason being is that there is no regulation on what “natural flavors” can consist of and the ingredients don’t have to be listed so they can be just about anything. Often those “natural flavors” are sugar.

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Orweller · Wednesday at 12:43 PM

"Natural flavors" indicate that the source of the flavor is entirely natural, as defined by the FDA. It is what is legally accepted as natural by the FDA. It doesn't mean that they are factually natural. First and foremost, "natural flavors" is a marketing term, no more no less.

Natural flavors is also a loophole. Often these are extracts, oils, and yes, chemicals. It means that to derive a certain flavor, they take short cuts to obtain a certain flavor, which could be entirely different from the product it means to taste like. Natural flavors could cover a list of 100s of chemicals -yes, found in fruits and plants, etc. The term natural flavors thus covers a long list of ingredients. Often this helps to hide a trade secret, or recipe.

The term natural flavors covers:

The recipe/trade secret
It's the cheapest way to achieve a flavor
It's what is deemed natural BY THE FDA, in their OPINION
To avoid having a long list of ingredients on the label

The term Natural Flavors is also sexier sounding as cyanide, ethyl acetate, propenyl guaethol, etc.

At the end of the day, natural flavors really mean that it is not derived from petroleum products. I think this stems from the 1970s when people were put off when they found out where their flavors truly came from.

Should you quit the stuff? I think that is entirely your decision. Gather information and make that decision accordingly.