If you’ve studied ingredient labels and been mystified by “natural flavor” and “artificial flavor,” you’re not alone. These vague terms suggest a big gap in quality, but the reality is more complex. Both can contain dozens of undisclosed chemicals, and they’re often nearly identical.
Why flavor food?
Fresh, whole food has flavor of its own. Think of the smell and taste of a freshly peeled orange.
There are a few reasons flavor may be added to food, in addition to consumer products such as mouthwash, liquid medication and lip balm.
Mango peach lip conditioner, anyone?
Food in its unprocessed – and minimally processed – form has flavor of its own. Think of the smell and taste of a freshly peeled orange.
But food processing destroys the compounds that give fresh food its flavor. For example, pasteurization is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other health organizations because it kills harmful bacteria. But in the process, it also degrades the flavor compounds that give OJ its fresh taste.
Once processing has taken the orange out of the orange juice, manufacturers add flavor back in so it resembles the beverage we expect.
The problem? The newly added flavor tricks the brain – the taste buds and smell receptors – into tasting something fresh, even when it’s not.
What is flavor?
Undisclosed flavor is a mystery cocktail that can comprise more than 100 chemicals. In addition to the flavors themselves, these mixtures include solvents, emulsifiers, flavor modifiers and preservatives – often making up 80% to 90% of the mixture.
Federal law doesn’t require companies to disclose what is actually in “flavor.” The formula is protected as a trade secret. So when you see “flavor” on an ingredients label, you have no way to know what chemicals you’re consuming.
Natural versus artificial – what’s the difference?
The only difference between a natural and artificial flavor is where the ingredient originally came from. The actual chemical makeup of a natural and artificial flavor may be exactly the same.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, “natural flavors” must derive from animals or plants. But they can be highly processed and include synthetic substances.
Take limonene, a common flavoring chemical that tastes like citrus. Limonene can be extracted from citrus peel using a variety of methods, including the use of solvents, or it can be synthesized in a lab to make artificial limonene.
If it’s extracted from plants, even using chemical solvents and extensive processing, it’s considered a “natural” flavor, even though by the end of the process, it is mostly made up of artificial chemicals.
Artificial flavors need not derive from animals or plants – and that’s the sole difference.
Both types of flavor are likely processed and purified in laboratories. Both can contain dozens of undisclosed chemicals. And a single product, like orange soda, may list both on its ingredient label.
How are flavors regulated?
The FDA’s Substances Added to Food list included more than 3,000 flavoring agents or related chemicals, as of March 1, 2026. Of those, only about half are listed in the Code of Federal Regulations – meaning they did not go through the FDA formal approval process.
An artificial flavor must include a chemical or chemicals from one of two categories.
The first category comprises nearly 700 FDA-allowed flavoring chemicals. The second is made up of additives considered “GRAS” or “generally recognized as safe.”
The GRAS designation was originally intended for common cooking ingredients like vinegar or spices. But it has become an exemption allowing manufacturers to decide whether new chemicals are safe.
This GRAS loophole for additives allows manufacturers to decide for themselves what’s safe without any review by the FDA. It applies to both natural and artificial flavors.
This second category includes about 2,000 chemicals that are not directly regulated by the FDA but were approved for use by an industry group, the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association of the United States.
In other words, the flavor industry largely regulates itself.
Industry motivation: Flavor is profitable
There’s good reason the food and beverage industry wants to enhance flavor: It sells.
Flavor boosts the marketability of food and drinks by giving them a taste that’s bolder, sometimes much bolder, than whole foods.
With flavor, formulators can manipulate their product to appeal to specific audiences in specific ways. Example: Products like “birthday cake”–flavored yogurt and blue raspberry gelatin are largely marketed to children. Bold, artificial flavors hook young taste buds early.
The strategy is to add flavor as a way to sell more products and create “craveability.” Some flavors are even designed to be short-lived, encouraging greater consumption. That’s the origin of slogans that capture the sensory overload and compulsion to want more. Remember that old Pringles ad? “Once you pop, you can’t stop.”
Are flavors safe?
Added flavors may be tested for ingredient safety by the manufacturer or supplier, a process that doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in transparency.
But flavors also aren’t tested for health outcomes, such as their impact on food intake or body weight. Research suggests flavors may override the body’s ability to regulate hunger and contribute to overeating.
The presence of added flavors – whether natural or artificial – on a label tells you almost nothing about whether the food is healthy.
So how different are they, really?
Not very.
When it comes to flavor, the terms “natural” and “artificial” are not reliable shortcuts for determining a food’s healthfulness. Generally, added natural and artificial flavors are nearly identical. And “natural flavors” can also contain synthetic chemicals.
In some cases, natural flavors are even labeled “artificial.” If an added flavor imparts a new taste rather than enhancing an existing one – for example, blueberry flavor in a plain muffin – the FDA requires it to be labeled artificial.
“Natural flavor” is among the most widely used ingredients in processed food in the US. It’s the fourth most common in EWG’s Food Scores, which rates more than 150,000 foods on their degree of nutrition, ingredient concerns and processing concerns and flags harmful ultra-processed foods, or UPF.
In other words, “natural flavor” is added to nearly one in every three foods in the database, with only salt, water and sugar mentioned more frequently on food labels. And over 15,000 products in Food Scores contain both natural and artificial flavors.
From a food manufacturer’s perspective, the difference between a natural and artificial flavor often comes down to cost and consumer preference.
A natural flavor almost always costs more than an artificial flavor. But food makers often pay extra for the word “natural,” because they know some consumers prefer it. Shoppers tend to avoid “artificial,” although the definition of “natural” may differ from person to person.
Consumers’ best bet is to focus on the overall food nutrition and additives rather than assume the words “natural flavor” on the ingredient list refer to food that is safer, healthier or fully disclosed.
Shoppers deserve to know exactly what they’re eating. Companies should be required to fully disclose the chemicals in both artificial and natural flavors, instead of being allowed to keep them secret.
State actions
Flavor has been in the spotlight of late.
In 2025, California enacted a groundbreaking law that bans unhealthy UPFs from school lunches and ensures kids have access to healthy food. It specifically excludes “spices and other natural seasonings and flavorings.”
Under the law, foods are considered ultra-processed if they contain “functional” ingredients, such as artificial flavoring agents, color additives, emulsifiers and stabilizers, in addition to high levels of salt, fat, sugar or artificial sweeteners.
The law establishes the first policy definition for ultraprocessed food in the U.S. It tasks public health experts with researching UPF links to disease and health harms. It also creates a process for identifying “particularly harmful” ultraprocessed foods that should be phased out of Golden State schools.
As a bellwether state for public health protections, California has inspired action nationwide. This groundbreaking law shines a light on the state of the U.S. food system and how product marketability has come at the expense of public health.
In early 2026, at least 10 states have enacted laws regulating the use of food chemicals – or banning them outright. Over 125 bills have been introduced.
To see the latest, take a look at EWG’s interactive state tracker.
What you can do
You don’t have to give up every food with natural or artificial flavor. It isn’t automatically unhealthy. Instead focus on the overall nutrition and ingredient quality of your food.
With that in mind, here are some tips for cutting back on ultra-processed foods:
- Eat more whole foods. Whenever possible, consume a variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains.
- Choose minimally processed foods. Look for canned or frozen vegetables, or other processed foods with less than 10% of your daily value for added sugar, sodium and saturated fat. A shorter ingredients list is sometimes, though not always, a good indicator of less processing.
- Use EWG’s Food Scores. Find out more about processed foods and their ingredients. Food Scores flags “unhealthy ultra-processed foods” and rates food products based on nutrition, ingredient concerns and processing.
- Check ingredient lists. Look for additives such as natural or artificial flavor, especially alongside other chemicals like artificial colors, emulsifiers or non-sugar sweeteners.
- Don’t strive for perfection. Your overall intake over time matters more than a food choice on one day. Recognize the nuances of flavor rather than striving for a “pure” diet free from artificial and natural flavor, which is not realistic for most people.
