Artificial Flavor
Flavors + Colors
Potentially Harmful
Details
Definition
Chemical mixtures created to mimic naturally occurring flavors
AKAs
Artificial Flavors,Flavorings,Natural and Artificial Flavors,Artificially Colored Red With Carmine ,Natural and Artificial Flavor,Natural and Artificial Flavours,Natural and Artificial Flavour
Health Impact
Artificial flavors can be made with over hundreds of chemicals, none of which are required to be disclosed on the product label, so it can be very hard to determine what harmful ingredients lie within them. Artificial flavors have been shown to reduce red blood cell production in animal testing, and certain flavors were shown to have a toxic effect on bone marrow cells.
These flavors are also created to be addictive, leading consumers to eat more without feeling full.
Sources
Toxicity of synthetic flavorings, nature identical and artificial, to hematopoietic tissue cells of rodents
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28832835/Assessment of Grape, Plum and Orange Synthetic Food Flavourings Using in vivo Acute Toxicity Tests
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28559742/The GRAS provision - The FEMA GRAS program and the safety and regulation of flavors in the United States
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32135216/We are what we eat: Regulatory gaps in the United States that put our health at risk
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5737876/Food-Induced Anaphylaxis: Role of Hidden Allergens and Cofactors
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6457317/The Flavor Rundown: Natural vs. Artificial Flavors
http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/the-flavor-rundown-natural-vs-artificial-flavors/