Little bit of suspicion
Posted by Anonymous on Dec 16, 2009 · Member since Dec 1969 · 11789 posts
Is anybody else out there really suspicious of the phrase "natural flavorings" on the packaging of food? Because they don't tell you exactly what these "natural flavorings" are, and that's a little creepy. One of my friends said something about there being beef stock in some brands of ketchup (she didn't tell me which and I forgot to ask... it was early and I was running on coffee) and it falls under "natural flavorings."
So, does anybody else find that phrase a little scary?
Yeah, I just don't eat it... I mean, I don't eat anything packaged anymore (lol), but before I just avoided anything with natural flavorings in it.
Some tell you were it is devrived or even what it is. It depends on the company. Small companies orientated towards vegetarian or nautral foods are more upfront about what they put in their products. I think some of the secrecy for them is to keep their ingredients proprietary. They don't want you to make it at home. A few spices or herbs are listed as 'natural flavorings'. Still, these are small companies that make purer packaged foods. If it is from a big company, say Lays, then I wouldn't trust their product.
I agree.
I thought they were required to list everything that was in a product? I'm confused... :(
I tried to find out what the requirements are for listing ingredients on product labels but I can't seem to find it on Google.
What is the difference between USDA and FDA?
Maybe that is what I was doing wrong, I need to look up FDA requirements?
USDA, is primarily meat quality/safety.... You would do better looking up FDA
After the MSG scare in the early 90's, you started seeing 'natural flavoring' appearing on labels quite a bit more and MSG appearing less often.... since it is soy derived, it is considered 'natural'
I tried to find out what the requirements are for listing ingredients on product labels but I can't seem to find it on Google.
What is the difference between USDA and FDA?
Maybe that is what I was doing wrong, I need to look up FDA requirements?
The USDA is the dept. of agriculture and it was developed to help farmers, mainly meat & dairy as hanashi mentioned.
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome
The FDA is the Food & Drug agency which is designed to regulate what goes into food, drugs, etc...
http://www.fda.gov/
Hope it's helpful!