5. Natural Flavor
The FDA qualifies natural flavouring as “the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional” (8).
This means that anything naturally occurring, even sugar, can be considered natural flavor.
So you may have noticed that Heinz tends to use a lot of corn in their ketchup, but there’s still more:
Citric acid, often derived from corn, is used to preserve freshness and prevent Clostridium botulinum contamination. This harmful bacteria can cause neurological damage, so processed tomatoes almost always contain extra citric acid.
In the past, naturally grown tomatoes contained enough citric acid to kill the bacteria off on their own, but genetic engineering and nutrient-deficient soil has lowered their acidity (9,10).
