“What exactly is ‘Natural Flavorings’?” from Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know by iHeartRadio & HowStuffWorks

The modern trend of wanting to eat as closest to the natural food chain as possible, this podcast highlights that the food we buy is not as regulated as we thought it was. Near the beginning of packaged foods, the FDA defined what ‘low-sodium’ or ‘fat-free’ was. The current issue that is being falsely advertised is wording such as ‘all natural’ or ‘natural flavors’ or ‘organic’ or other wording without FDA regulations. But within the last few decades of agriculture, genetically modified foods are already a great number of foods. Carrots, bananas, honey crisp apples, what about high fructose corn syrup? I believe that whether or not high fructose corn syrup is more or less natural, it is seemingly not good for you. Or at least definitely not in the amount that nearly all packaged food company add to their food.

The speakers in the episode go over the pros and cons of natural versus artificial flavorings within food products. They say that natural flavorings are inarguably more expensive and not necessarily better for you other than not being artificial. One pro for artificial flavorings was that it was safety tested, this does make sense. But I do find myself asking, what about micronutrients? Flavorings don’t have actual nutrients at all, according to the FDA as stated in the podcast. As someone who doesn’t purchase packaged food products, I ask why they add ingredients that don’t add to the meal in its entirety. I wonder about the ethicality of individuals consuming products that they either don’t know what it has inside of it, or is being lied to about what it has inside of it.