‘”Natural” flavors are often anything but.

The term “natural flavors” sounds innocuous. Spot the phrase on the ingredients list on a box of raspberry fruit bars and you might imagine something along the lines of raspberry concentrate, or perhaps a puree. Unfortunately, that’s not likely to be correct. “Natural flavors” is simply a catch-all term that can hide dozens of ingredients, and they aren’t necessarily different from artificial additives.

What’s the difference between natural and artificial flavors?

The term “natural” implies that a substance is close to the state in which it’s found in nature – an oil, juice, puree or other type of extract from a whole food source like fruit. But, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the kinds of substances suggested by the term “natural flavors” can’t be listed as flavorings at all. If a flavorful ingredient included in a food product has any nutritional value, it’s going to be listed by name on the label.

To create natural flavors, food scientists, called flavorists, distill flavors from whole foods and then combine them with chemical compounds which act as a carrier and make them more potent and shelf-stable. Artificial flavors, on the other hand, are entirely chemically-derived. Both types of flavoring are manufactured in a laboratory.

What exactly is in natural flavors?

According to the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, a natural flavoring is defined 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.

Any substance that’s approved for use in food and originally came from a natural source can be listed under natural flavors. The term is opaque, and doesn’t give consumers much of a clue in knowing where the natural flavors may have come from. Sometimes, the flavors that are actually present can be far from what you’d expect. One common ingredient, known as castoreum, is often used to enhance raspberry and vanilla flavors. Castoreum is made from the anal secretions of beavers. There’s no telling how food scientists came upon that discovery; flavor chemistry is apparently a complicated science.

Why are food companies not forced to disclose the contents of their natural flavors?

Call up a food company and ask them what’s actually in their natural flavors, and chances are, they won’t be willing to tell you.

Food manufacturers have to disclose potential allergens in their products on the labels, including the ingredients in “natural flavors.” They are also required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to identify flavorings that are technically meat or dairy products, like “dried broth” or “meat extracts” (though this does not apply to all animal-sourced flavorings, like castoreum.)

Flavor chemistry is “a pretty secretive industry,” according to a recent article in the New Jersey Monthly. Flavorists are often contractually bound to not speak about their work. The term “natural flavors” disguises the trade secrets of food companies. Given this cloak of secrecy, they can ostensibly maintain secret recipes to protect themselves against copycat competitors, would-be Doritos Ranch knock-offs and Coca-Cola wannabes.

Are natural flavors safe?

Some food experts claim that natural flavors are actually less safe than artificial flavors.

“Artificial flavorings are simpler in composition and potentially safer because only safety-tested components are utilized,” says Gary Reineccius, a professor in the department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota.

Besides, a chemical is a chemical.

“Another difference between natural and artificial flavorings is cost. The search for ‘natural’ sources of chemicals often requires that a manufacturer go to great lengths to obtain a given chemical. …Furthermore, the process is costly,” explains Reineccius. “This pure, natural chemical is identical to the version made in an organic chemist’s laboratory, yet it is much more expensive than the synthetic alternative. Consumers pay a lot for natural flavorings. But these are in fact no better in quality, nor are they safer, than their cost-effective artificial counterparts.”

Debates about artificial versus natural flavorings aside, the most troubling issue for many is the lack of transparency about what’s in our food. Catch-all terms like natural flavors put consumers at the mercy of manufacturers, reducing the buyer’s ability to make informed purchases.

There’s one very effective way to avoid questionable flavorings: cut back on processed foods. Natural flavors are added to foods because processing wrings out the real, original flavors and leaves the final product bland, though shelf-stable.

Image: pink sherbet photography

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Allergy sufferers often wish they could live in a bubble because watery, itchy eyes and a red nose aren’t the best look for most of us. A hermetically-sealed life would be rather complicated, however, so we just have to do the best we can. Vacuum cleaners are often our first line of defense against sneeze-inducing pet hair and other buggers, so it’s important to choose one that will get the job done.

The first thing you want to look for is a vacuum with a HEPA filter system that traps mites, dust, spores, and other ickies in between layers of microfiber. Buyer beware, not all HEPA systems are created equal. Some low-end vacuums slap a single HEPA filter near the vacuum bag and call it good enough. You want a full-blown HEPA system that seals to the vacuum cleaner with rubber gaskets at every point where dust and can escape and redistribute itself back into the air. You don’t need to spend megabucks to get a good vacuum, just look for one that’s solid and well-constructed, with a nod to keeping allergens in the vacuum and out of your lungs.

Next up, you want a vacuum that can handle bare floors. Sure, you could just sweep tile or wood flooring with a broom, but that will kick up loads of pet dander, hair, and dust in the process. In a pinch, you can use a damp mop to corral the mess, but the key to staying sneeze-free is sucking all the nastiness into a vacuum for permanent disposal. Not all vacuum cleaners are created equal, so don’t just assume you can use yours on a bare floor. Unless it has settings to accommodate flooring, you could end up breaking the carpet-beater roller or scratching the bare surface.

Some allergy experts recommend checking the air flow rating of a vacuum cleaner before you buy to make sure it will effectively suck up all those tiny particulates you want to avoid. The higher the air flow rating, the more efficiently the unit will move dirt and dust into the disposable vacuum bag or removable dust bin.

Speaking of bags versus bins, a vacuum with sealable HEPA filter bags may have a slight edge over bagless varieties since emptying a dusty vacuum bin into a trash can is likely to release allergens into the air. By contrast, a vacuum cleaner bag can be removed and disposed of with a lesser chance of re-contaminating the air around you. Of course, those bags ultimately end up in landfills so you’ll need to weigh your health needs against your environmental concerns and do what works best for you.

Vacuum cleaner shopping isn’t glamorous or exciting, but if you’re an allergy sufferer, it’s one of the most important household appliance purchases you can make. We’d love to hear from readers about what vacuum features and techniques help keep your sneezes and watery eyes in check. Let us know in the comments.

Image: garethjmsaunders

The post Vacuum Cleaners: How to Make Your Allergies Suck Less appeared first on EcoSalon.