Flavoring
It changes the perceptual impression of food as determined primarily by the chemoreceptors of the gustatory and olfactory systems.
Although the term, in common language, denotes the combined chemical sensations of taste and smell, the same term is used in the fragrance and flavors industry to refer to edible chemicals and extracts that alter the flavor of food and food products through the sense of smell.
Identification of components of natural foods, for example a raspberry, may be done using technology such as headspace techniques, so the flavorist can imitate the flavor by using a few of the same chemicals present.
In legislation, substances that exclusively have a sweet, sour or salty taste are not considered flavorings.
A nature-identical flavoring is chemically an exact copy of the original substance and can be either natural or artificial.
The effect can be the aroma of a specific fruit, almond, butter, smoke from wood, or some fantasy flavor.
Nature-identical flavorings are human-made aroma compounds that are chemically identical to some substance that can be found in nature.
On the other hand, they are missing the synergy of other substances present in their natural origin, so they may lack subtlety.
The trigeminal nerves, which detect chemical irritants in the mouth and throat, as well as temperature and texture, are also important to the overall perception of food.
[9] Food manufacturers exploit this phenomenon; for example, different colors of the U.S. product Froot Loops cereal and most brands of Gummy Bears often use the same flavorings.
The Union list of flavoring substances, approved for use in and on foods, was adopted on 1 October 2012 and was introduced in Annex I of this Regulation[17] The UK followed the above EU legislation which remained in force until 31 December 2020.
[3] Natural flavorings are obtained from plant or animal raw materials, by physical, microbiological, or enzymatic processes.
They can be either used in their natural state or processed for human consumption, but cannot contain any nature-identical or artificial flavoring substances.
In the EU, in order to be labeled as natural flavoring substance, many conditions have to be fulfilled: "Natural flavouring substance" shall mean a flavoring substance obtained by appropriate physical, enzymatic or microbiological processes from material of vegetable, animal or microbiological origin either in the raw state or after processing for human consumption by one or more of the traditional food preparation processes listed in Annex II.
[18] UK Food Law defines a natural flavor as: A flavouring substance (or flavouring substances) which is (or are) obtained, by physical, enzymatic, or microbiological processes, from material of vegetable or animal origin which material is either raw or has been subjected to a process normally used in preparing food for human consumption and to no process other than one normally so used[19]The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations describes a "natural flavoring" as: 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 any other edible portions of a plant, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose primary function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional.
[4]Food manufacturers are sometimes reluctant to inform consumers about the source and identity of flavor ingredients and whether they have been produced with the incorporation of substances such as animal byproducts.
Many groups such as Jews, Jains, Hindus, and Muslims, as well as vegans follow dietary restrictions which disallow the use of animal byproducts and/or alcohol in certain contexts.
In many Western countries, some consumers rely on a Jewish kosher pareve certification mark to indicate that natural flavorings used in a food product are free of meat and dairy (although they can still contain fish).
The Vegan Society's Sunflower symbol (which is currently used by over 260 companies worldwide) can also be used to see which products do not use any animal ingredients (including flavorings and colorings).
[20] Such flavors may be derived from a variety of source products that are themselves common allergens, such as dairy, soy,[21] sesame,[22] eggs, and nuts.
Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, states in article 9 that any ingredient or processing aid listed in Annex II (of the aforementioned Regulation) or derived from a substance or product listed in Annex II causing allergies or intolerances used in the manufacture or preparation of a food and still present in the finished product, even if in an altered form must be included in the labeling.
For example, the basic aroma of cooked meat is formed by a combination of Maillard reaction, lipid peroxidation, and degradation of sulfur-containing compounds such as thiamine and cysteine.
For a more realistically complex aroma, natural feedstocks such as yeast extract, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and spices can be used to expand the number of possible reactions.
