Almost all products contain food flavorings, which give them a characteristic aroma.
This is beneficial to manufacturers, because the consumer most often focuses not only on the appearance, but also on the smell of the purchased product.
Food essences and flavorings: harm, benefits and types ^
Food flavorings are natural or chemical compounds that give foods an attractive smell and taste. They are used in almost all industries and are produced through distillation, extraction or compression.
What are the types of food flavorings?
- According to condition: emulsion, liquid, paste, powder;
- By application: confectionery, beverage, oil and fat, gastronomic;
- By manufacturing method: smoking, technological, compositional.
What are food flavorings made from?
The production of flavors in the food industry occurs as follows: for example, to obtain strawberry flavor, strawberries have to be pressed, to produce orange flavor, essential oil is extracted from the peel of the fruit, and for garlic flavor, water is distilled from the squeezed juice.
What are food flavorings made of?
- Juices, spices, sugar, salt and other natural ingredients;
- Fortifying additives, tonics, bitters, biologically active substances and other non-natural components.
In the food industry, flavorings and food additives are divided into natural, identical to natural and artificial, but, as a rule, the former still contain chemical compounds that can negatively affect human health.
Why are food colors and flavors harmful?
Regardless of the manufacturing method and composition, the harm of food flavorings is very great:
- Synthetic vanillin, which is used in confectionery production, contains coumarin, which has a bad effect on liver function. It can be replaced with natural one, but the price will be much higher;
- Frequent use of chemical flavors can cause the growth of cancer cells and negative changes at the cellular level.
It is best to give preference to natural food flavorings, but here you need to take into account several nuances:
- They have the ability to lose their beneficial properties during heat treatment. There will be no harm from them, but no benefit either;
- Due to the high costs of producing natural supplements, manufacturers produce limited quantities, and finding them can be very problematic;
- Natural flavors may not be suitable for allergy sufferers, because... often cause exacerbation of the disease. This is especially true for vanilla powder and citrus additives.
Lists of food flavorings^
Liquid food flavorings
This group is used for making jam, cream, marshmallows, marshmallows, marmalade, juices, spreads, margarine or ice cream. They are a combination of natural and nature-similar additives derived from the following products:
- Apricot, oranges, pineapples, banana, anise, barberry, lingonberries, vanilla, grapes, cherries;
- Pears, melons, grapefruits, strawberries, coconut, raspberries, nuts, plums, cottage cheese, cream, melted butter or milk, blueberries, apples.
Food flavorings for alcohol
Both natural and synthetic flavors can be used to produce alcohol. They can also be purchased as a separate concentrate, and used depending on what kind of drink you plan to make:
- Cognac: mountain ash, prunes, cherries, coffee, almonds;
- Liqueur: herbs, anise, coffee;
- Vodka: vanilla, anise, wormwood, black currant.
Artificial Flavors
Artificial flavorings mean a composition containing molecules of substances that do not exist in nature.
- These include additives that do not fit the concept of “natural” and do not contain plant extracts, but have a smell similar to natural ones.
- Most often they are used to make chips, crackers, lemonade, juices and other junk food or drinks.
Chemical flavors identical to natural ones
During the production of such flavors, chemical synthesis is performed in the laboratory, as a result of which they acquire the same composition as natural ones. They are considered the most dangerous for children, because once they enter the body they cause disruption of the nervous system.
- Of course, such a negative effect does not become noticeable immediately, because the digestive organs are the first to suffer, and people usually attribute this to chronic diseases.
- When choosing products, it is recommended to carefully study the composition - it should indicate that they contain only natural additives.
Powdered food flavorings
- Most often, such additives are found in meat, seafood, chips, sour cream, cheese, some berries and fruits, as well as chocolate and confectionery.
- Like other analogues, they are divided into natural, identical to natural and chemical.
Calorie content of food flavorings^
Those who are on a diet are advised to abandon products containing any flavorings in favor of natural vegetables, fruits and meat, because even the most non-calorie additives contain 200 Kcal or more per 100 g, which increases the calorie content of the dishes in which they are present. Examples:
- Natural lemon – 299 Kcal;
- Vanilla – 280 Kcal;
- Almond – 692 Kcal.
In our perception of food, not only nutritional quality and taste are important, but also smell. Can synthetic flavors replace natural flavors in food?
If you pinch your nose with your fingers and close your eyes, you will most likely not be able to distinguish the taste of applesauce from pineapple puree. This simple experiment demonstrates the role of smell in food evaluation
Sergey Belkov
In fact, when a person first added aromatic herbs, pepper, cloves or other spices to meat, he did not do it to impart a new taste or aroma. He was solving a simple dilemma: either the meat would spoil in a couple of days, or the spice would spoil the taste and smell, but the product would last longer. So the first uses of natural flavors were associated with the deterioration of natural taste for the sake of shelf life. Later, when the use of spices became firmly established in the consumer culture, we began to find the “unnatural” taste and aroma pleasant.
Allyl isothiocyanate is the active ingredient in seasonings such as mustard, horseradish and wasabi. They are designed to impart an uncharacteristic and completely unnatural taste to food products.
With the advent of cooking, we began to purposefully change the taste and aroma of our food to a new, sometimes unpredictable one. Spices, and with them anything that smells unusual, began to be used as flavoring agents. The power of entire empires was based on the trade in natural flavors - saffron, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon. And it was not in search of new lands or knowledge, but precisely for spices that Vasco da Gama, Columbus and Magellan went on their sea voyages. People added each new discovered plant with an unusual aroma to their food, not paying attention to the chemical composition (which, however, in those distant times they had rather vague ideas about).
Much later, the scientific revolution brought the understanding that smell is not some kind of magical substance, but very specific chemical substances. They do not necessarily have to be grown on plantations in India or the New World. If a plant can synthesize a substance, then what prevents a person from reproducing this process? If the smell of an apple contains a mixture of known compounds, what prevents you from mixing them artificially and getting the same result? Why sail overseas, be attacked by pirates and competitors, if any taste can be created literally in a test tube?
Aromas of living nature
The aromas of flowers, berries, fruits, and vegetables are so harmonious that sometimes it seems to us that nature created all this especially for us. It is this opinion that underlies many areas of alternative medicine (such as aromatherapy) and our everyday ideas. However, this is far from the case.
Any compounds, including those responsible for the smell, the so-called fragrant substances, are synthesized by the plant for specific purposes. The products of plant metabolism can be quite clearly divided into two types. Primary metabolites (proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins) are substances necessary for the plant to function. It is these compounds that make up the nutritional value of our food.
Flavors that are not available
Many substances that we traditionally mistake for the aroma of natural tasty and healthy products are not initially present in the plant at all.
For example, vanillin, as a separate chemical compound, is simply not present in the pods of the famous orchid. They synthesize the so-called glucovanillin, a glycoside whose main function is to protect the plant from being eaten by pests. To obtain an aromatic substance with the smell of vanilla, the glycoside must also be destroyed, for which a rather complex and lengthy fermentation process is carried out, which leads to a high price. In the food industry, vanillin (much purer and much cheaper) is obtained from guaiacol or lignin.
An even more interesting example is mustard, which has learned to defend itself with the help of a powerful chemical weapon - the tear allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), toxic to many living organisms. And since it is also dangerous for mustard itself, the plant does not synthesize it in finished form, but stores in its tissues two components that are completely harmless individually: sinigrin glycosinate and the enzyme myrosinase. An animal or insect that decides to eat the plant damages its tissue, which leads to a mixture of components, while the enzyme (the reaction takes place in an aqueous environment) “cuts off” the glucose from sinigrin, forming toxic AITC, or nitrile. Such a feast is costly for the pest. The same mechanism allows you to “cleanse” the territory of other plants and microorganisms: AITC is formed in disused and decaying stems and leaves, “sterilizing” the soil. There is simply no burning substance in dry mustard powder, so it acquires an aroma only when water is added, and not immediately (for the same reason, mustard plasters “burn” only after soaking). For the needs of the food industry (for example, for the production of mayonnaise), synthetic AITC is used, which is completely identical to the natural one.
Secondary metabolites, some of which are represented by fragrant substances, serve completely different purposes. It is traditionally believed that plants have learned to synthesize volatile substances as a result of coevolution with pollinators or seed vectors. This is only one, and rather insignificant, aspect of the issue. Natural aroma contains hundreds of volatile substances, so why would a plant complicate its biochemistry so much? After all, the plant is forced to carry out the synthesis of each compound to the detriment of its development, separating valuable resources from the production of important products, when one or two varieties of volatile molecules would be enough to attract a pollinator.
When you can't run away
If the primary metabolites of a plant are the very reason why we eat fruits and vegetables, then the secondary ones usually serve the completely opposite purpose - to prevent the plant from being eaten.
Having studied the composition of the aroma-forming substances of any flower or fruit, we will find a huge number of compounds that have antibacterial and antifungal properties, substances that repel or kill pests (and not just insects). The composition of these aromas is not constant. In response to external influences, plants adjust their metabolism, resulting in changes in odor composition. Many experiments have shown that following damage to a leaf or flower, plant resources are redirected to the synthesis of secondary metabolites. Why? Because if threatened, the plant cannot escape - it switches from growth to defense.
The smell of cut grass (different from the smell of an untouched lawn) is one example of such a reaction. The substances included in this aroma are secondary metabolites of the plant and are intended to protect against pests that encroach on the juicy pulp, as well as against bacteria and fungi that greedy for damaged tissue. These same substances are the most important components of the aroma of strawberries or apples.
Another area of application of fragrant substances is communication. Plants can “communicate” with each other and with other organisms. Not like us, not with sounds or signs, the only way available to them is the exchange of molecules. Volatile substances released, for example, during infection by a fungus, signal danger to nearby relatives, warning of the proximity of an enemy and causing metabolism to switch to the synthesis of “antifungal” reagents. And even plants regulate their own vital activity with the help of fragrant substances: plant hormones - volatile molecules - are one of the important components of familiar aromas. Jasmonic acid and its derivatives, which determine the smell of many flowers, are plant hormones.
Non-poisonous aroma
In 1830, the substance amygdalin (from the Greek ἀμυγδάλη, almond) was isolated from the seeds of bitter almonds (Prunus amygdalus var. amara). Later, this compound was discovered in the seeds of plants of the plum genus (Prunus) - apricot, peach, cherry, plum, apple.
Like most other cyanogenic glycosides (glucose compounds), amygdalin is synthesized by the plant as a chemical weapon against enemies. Amygdalin itself is quite harmless, which allows the plant to accumulate it in tissues in significant quantities. However, as soon as the pest tastes the plant’s seeds, the enzyme glucosidase contained in the plant begins to break down amygdalin, resulting in the formation of extremely toxic hydrocyanic acid (glucosidase is found not only in the plant, but also in the digestive system of people, birds and insects, so swallowing almonds is “not Chewing" does not help). Once in the body, hydrocyanic acid irreversibly blocks the action of a number of enzymes, which leads to oxygen starvation of tissues; the lethal dose of this substance is 3.7 mg/kg (about 0.3 g for an adult). This amount is contained in less than 100 g of bitter almonds, and for a child, just 10 nuts can be fatal.
Amygdalin plays an important role in the formation of almond aroma. The fact is that hydrocyanic acid... does not smell like almonds! This is where detective writers often make mistakes when they determine the cause of poisoning by smell. Benzaldehyde, a substance formed during the conversion of amygdalin into hydrocyanic acid, is responsible for the characteristic aroma (however, if you poison a person not with hydrocyanic acid, but with amygdalin, the smell will actually be present). It is benzaldehyde and some other aromatic aldehydes that are used as flavorings with the smell of almonds, apricots, cherries, apples - all those products that contain amygdalin. At the same time, flavored cookies contain much less benzaldehyde (completely synthetic) than natural almonds, and they do not contain toxic hydrocyanic acid at all.
However, defense mechanisms are not ideal; evolution always finds a weak spot in them. Worms eat apples, but not thanks to, but in spite of the presence of substances in them that are toxic to them, since they have learned to deal with the protection of the fruit. Against the vast majority of other people who want to eat the sweet fruit, this defense remains effective. People eat apples not at all because of the aromatic substances, but because they contain sugar and vitamins. Fragrance components cause problems for our body. The apple tree's body spends valuable resources on the synthesis of substances designed to prevent it from being eaten, and our body spends its resources on neutralizing this defense.
Benzaldehyde, which is formed during the conversion of amygdalin into hydrocyanic acid, is responsible for the characteristic aroma of almonds. Hydrocyanic acid itself has a completely different smell.
Teach to smell
So why do we enjoy the aromas of “chemical weapons” from plants? The fact is that our sense of smell is a cultural sense rather than an innate one. A newborn baby does not distinguish between good or bad odors; for him they are all quite neutral. Later, under the influence of training, he begins to associate the smell with other qualities of food products: the smell of an orange becomes pleasant because the orange is sweet and tasty, and the smell of rotten fish becomes unpleasant because it can be poisonous.
Learning to smell is a very flexible and fast process. Many traditional dishes of a foreign culture, and simply unexpected combinations of tastes, are perceived as strange and sometimes unpleasant, but just a fleeting acquaintance is enough for this strangeness to go away, and after some time the product is perceived as normal. Our brain quickly builds and breaks associations between aroma and product. In fact, there is no direct relationship between the smell of a product and its nutritional value. The same fragrant substances can be contained in different products, and the same product can differ greatly in the qualitative and quantitative composition of aroma-forming compounds.
Fickle nature
Any fragrance, natural or synthetic, is a mixture of fragrant substances. These are the same substances. The difference is that plants synthesize them for their own purposes, and we synthesize them for ours. For those with which we add bay leaves to the soup, and coriander seeds to Borodino bread. Only when using a natural plant, the composition of the mixture is poorly predictable, but in the case of a synthetic aroma, we know exactly how many components are in it, what they are, what they will turn into during storage and how they will affect the body.
The qualitative and quantitative composition of a synthetic flavor, of course, differs from the composition of a natural product. When creating apple flavoring, all the hundreds of substances found in the apple are not used, and often substances are used that are not present in the original fruit at all. But it does not change anything. In addition, the composition of the natural aroma is also not constant; it can change depending on the degree of ripeness of the apple, the environment, the presence or absence of pests on or nearby the plant, and other factors. Even on one apple tree you cannot find two apples that smell identical, not to mention different varieties and the fact that the aroma quickly (within minutes) changes after cutting the fruit.
About the benefits...
A product made with synthetic fragrance is not considered to provide any benefit. There is one serious logical error in this statement. Flavoring is not a product for human consumption. It serves to add flavor, but not nutritional value. Substances in fragrances can only irritate the receptors in the nose. Various biologically active substances such as thujone, or coumarin, or safrole (which are found in natural foods consumed daily) are generally not used in the production of synthetic flavors due to their potential harm.
Caramel made with natural colors and flavors will bring no more benefits than one made with synthetic ones. Compote made from natural fruits and sugar is no healthier than sweet soda with synthetic flavoring (after all, vitamins are not preserved during cooking). The issue of healthy eating is not related to the use of synthetic fragrances; obesity and cardiovascular diseases are not caused by fragrances.
...and harm
Can synthetic fragrances be harmful? There are a huge number of myths around this issue. The most typical argument for such “horror stories” is that obtaining ultrapure substances is a very expensive process, so flavorings can contain many impurities. In fact, it doesn't matter at all whether there are impurities in the final product. It is important to know whether they can harm human health. It’s not just opponents of “chemistry” who are thinking about this, trying to convey the terrible truth to the public.
Flavorists and perfumers
Today, more than 4,000 individual substances are approved for use in the world to create food flavors. However, unlike perfumers, flavorists (specialists in food flavors) are much more limited in their creativity. Unlike the perfume industry, the principle of top, middle and bottom notes does not work in the food industry. Instead, a complex aroma is broken down into a set of simple ones, called descriptors, from which, like a construction set, the desired product is assembled by trial and error. However, this is only the beginning: after all, the flavoring needs to retain its properties, say, when baking cookies (however, the temperature in this process may exceed the boiling point of the flavoring components). And after this, the flavoring must retain its properties throughout the entire shelf life of the food product. There are also a number of problems associated with the fact that food products are often emulsions (mayonnaise, milk), and flavorings consist of fat- and water-soluble components, which leads to uneven distribution of aroma.
For example, isoamyl acetate, used as a pear flavoring and produced by esterification of isoamyl alcohol and acetic acid, may contain minor impurities of both reagents. However, in fruits containing completely natural isoamyl acetate, these two reagents are also present. Synthetic vanillin made from guaiacol will contain an admixture of it. But this same substance is also present in natural vanilla extract, many berries, and serves as the main component of natural smoking.
In fact, there are much more impurities in any natural product than in synthetic ones. One can, of course, think that an enzymatic reaction taking place in a living cell selectively leads to the synthesis of a pure substance. However, it is worth considering that many reactions occur simultaneously in the cell, and aromas are composed of a huge number of compounds (for example, there are more than 900 of them in the aroma of pineapple). So we can only talk about selectivity in natural processes rather conditionally. Chemical synthesis in this regard is much more promising: modern synthesis methods make it possible not only to selectively obtain the desired fragrant substances (as a rule, these are simple molecules), but also to control the composition of impurities. Complex molecules that are difficult to synthesize directly are usually produced using biotechnological methods and are therefore considered completely natural under food regulations.
The work of synthesizing food flavors is nothing new; it is essentially no different from the work of a chef cutting an apple into a fish salad. Ultimately, every taste and aroma is due to specific chemicals, and it does not matter to our body whether they came from a fruit grown on a branch or from a flask in a laboratory.
In this article we will decipher and translate the information presented on the official TPA website. Only translation and a minimum of our comments. If you want to read the original source in English, go to the website shop.perfumersapprentice.com and go to the FAQ section.
To read in Russian, use this article.
What are TPA (The Perfurmer's Apprentice) food flavorings made from?
Note - All concentrated flavors are made from the same types of chemical compounds and have the same molecular structure as natural flavors.
For example, the natural cinnamon that you use for baking at home contains “Cinnamaldehyde” (the same chemical compound that causes the familiar smell of cinnamon is also found in cinnamon itself).
Help from Wikipedia:
...Cinnamaldehyde was isolated from cinnamon essential oil in 1834...
Cinnamaldehyde is the main component of cinnamon (up to 90%) and cassia (up to 75%) essential oils, causing their smell; also found in patchouli oil, hyacinth oil, etc....
Or - natural TPA Vanillin 10 (PG) Flavor (Vanilla extract) - contains vanillin (a chemical compound that has a complex name for the common man - 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde “Source - Wikipedia”).
Let's consider the composition of flavors for TPA electronic cigarettes using the example of some flavors.
Composition of TPA Absinthe Flavor (Absinthe Flavor)
Absinthe flavoring contains a simple composition consisting of 2 components, since the smell of absinthe itself is due to only one smell - anise.
Composition of TPA Vanillin 10 (PG) Flavor (Vanilla extract)
Other flavorings, which in nature cannot be obtained from just one plant, which in ordinary life are obtained as a result of preparing certain dishes consisting of several ingredients and obtained as a result of heat treatment. Such flavors are obtained from a whole set of chemical compounds, natural essential oils, combined in strict sequence and proportion.
| Component | Content | Description of taste (pure) |
|---|---|---|
| Propylene Glycol | >= 86% and< 92% | has no taste |
| 1-Butanol, 3-methyl-, acetate | <4% | sweet fruity, banana |
| Isoamyl Isovalerate | >= 1% and< 10% | green apple |
| Butyrate | >= 1% and< 10% | ripe green apple, fruity, sweet forest, melon with berry notes |
| Hexyl acetate | >= 1% and< 10% | fruity, green, fresh, sweet, banana, apple and pear peel |
| Butanoic acid, 2-methyl-, ethyl ester | >= 1% and< 10% | fruity, fresh, berry, grape, pineapple, mango and cherry notes |
| Ethyl Acetate | <2% | Airy, fruity, sweet, with grape and cherry nuances |
| Geranyl acetate | >= 1% and< 10% | green, floral, bold and soapy with citrus, winey notes of alcoholic drink - Rum (Rum) |
| 2-Hexenal, (E)- | < 1% | fresh green, fruity, with rich vegetal nuances |
| Citronellyl acetate | <0.5% | floral with green fruity nuances. Fruity like pear and apple |
| Neryl acetate | <0.5% | floral, rose petals, fruity, pear and tropical |
| Acetaldehyde (Acetaldehyde) | <0.5% | |
| Acetoacetate | <3% | forest, rich, fruity aroma of tutti-frutti sweets |
A simple smell like the smell of apple candy is created by mixing and interacting a large number of chemicals.
What delicious food there is!
Sometimes it seems like strawberry shortcake better the berry itself.
But that's just flavoring.
In their molecular structure they are similar to natural products, but obtained chemically.
Identical natural ones, although they smell seductive, but when consumed in excess will seriously harm your health.
They especially suffer kids. A child's body reacts more sensitively to chemicals. suffer allergy sufferers. They are unable to smell artificial aroma. The result is frequent attacks.
Where beware of congestion flavorings:
- fast food;
- confectionery, desserts;
- fast food - soups, semi-finished products;
- vanillin and strawberry.
Both of the latter flavors are used in the production of confectionery products.
Natural vanillin very expensive product. Therefore, flavors have become a profitable production solution. Natural is harmless, in some cases even useful(for heart disease, combating fatigue).
But in artificial vanillin there are harmful elements. They destroy the liver. Moreover, when copying the formula of real vanilla, beneficial properties don't go over. The cost for 10 mg is about 60 rubles.
1 kg costs about 50 rubles.
This is the same allergen, like vanilla.
If you stop watching your diet, then it’s the kids who can get poisoned.
The growing generation really likes strawberries. That's why manufacturers put it in the product whenever possible. The result is a rash, digestive system upset and allergies.
How to protect yourself?
The only sure way is exclude flavorings from the diet. It's practically impossible. You always want to snack on “junk” food. That's why follow the advice:
- Eating food from your garden, grown in a proven place.
- Cook your own food. Exclude fast food and quick snack.
- Buy products marked "natural flavors".
Food with artificial elements changes the body at the cellular level, provokes the development of diseases. The liver, heart, and stomach suffer. U pregnant women the fetus develops with pathologies. remember, that children The use of artificial flavors is strictly prohibited.
Manufacturers hide with small print, incomplete information about the product. Be more carefully. Don't be fooled.
Are they harmful? flavors identical to natural ones, you can find out by watching the video:
Flavorings are widely present in food products nowadays. They are added everywhere, as can be read on the product packaging. Their purpose is also known to everyone. They are needed to improve the taste and aroma of food. But there are some facts that many consumers are unaware of. For example, food flavorings must not be used to change the taste of a spoiled product.
If you receive a product with dubious external characteristics, you should be wary. Everyone is accustomed to the fact that rotten fish, meat and other products have a characteristic odor, but sometimes manufacturers resort to deception for the sake of material gain. Naturally identical flavors are those obtained chemically. Thanks to them, it became possible to produce an analogue of red caviar, which is several times cheaper than the real thing. It smells exactly the same as the original and tastes the same. Only such a product is zero. It does not contain vitamins and microelements. Everything would be fine, but there are side effects that are caused by identical natural flavors.
Harm to health
Most of all, flavors identical to natural ones are dangerous for children. When they enter a child’s body, they cause disturbances in the functioning of the nervous system, which sometimes become irreversible. An adult suffers no less from their use. People pay for the taste and smell of the product with increased heart rate and weakening of the entire body. When a person abuses modified food, he or she does not immediately see the negative effect. Only gradually do the affected people begin to make themselves felt
Identical to natural flavors. Why are people afraid of them?
When going to the store, few people pay attention to the packaging of the product. More precisely, what is written on it in small letters. For many, this makes it difficult to see the names of all the ingredients. Manufacturers do No one will take a magnifying glass with them to the store. The results of public surveys on the harm caused to health by identical natural flavors vary. Most often, people believe that they can harm the body and influence the occurrence of genetic deformities in newborns. However, this fact has not been confirmed by scientists, but has not yet been refuted by anyone.
There is an easy way to avoid eating unhealthy foods. Look for the label “natural flavors” on the packaging. This will guarantee that the product is of the highest quality and safest. In addition, it is better to eat home-cooked food rather than going to fast food restaurants. You'll have to remember all your grandmother's recipes and learn how to cook deliciously. Seasonings should be purchased only of plant origin in crushed form. If you see the inscription “monosodium glutamate” on the packaging, then you should refuse to purchase such a product. These rules are extremely simple. Remember: a couple of minutes spent studying the ingredients of a product can keep you healthy for many years.
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