thumb|A flavoring
A flavoring (or flavouring), also known as flavor (or flavour) or flavorant, is a food additive that is used to improve the taste or smell of food. It changes the perceptual impression of food as determined primarily by the chemoreceptors of the gustatory and olfactory systems. Along with additives, other components, like sugars, determine the taste of food.
A flavoring is defined as a substance that gives another substance taste, altering the characteristics of the solute, causing it to become sweet, sour, tangy, etc. Although the term, in common language, denotes the combined chemical sensations of taste and smell, the same term is used in the fragrance and flavors industry to refer to edible chemicals and extracts that alter the flavor of food and food products through the sense of smell.
Owing to the high cost, or unavailability, of natural flavor extracts, most commercial flavorings are "nature-identical", which means that they are the chemical equivalent of natural flavors, but chemically synthesized rather than having been extracted from source materials. Identification of components of natural foods, for example a raspberry, may be done using technology such as headspace techniques, so the flavorist can imitate the flavor by using a few of the same chemicals present. In the EU legislation, the term "natural-identical flavoring" does not exist. The legislation is specified on what is a "flavoring" and a "natural flavoring".
Definition
A flavoring is a volatile additive that improves the taste or smell of food. They work primarily via the sense of smell. In legislation, substances that exclusively have a sweet, sour or salty taste are not considered flavorings. These usually include flavor enhancers, sweeteners, acidulants and salt substitutes.
There are different ways to divide flavorings. First by the way they are produced. A vanilla flavoring can for example be obtained naturally by extraction from vanilla seeds, or one can start with cheap chemicals and try to make a similar substance artificially (in this example vanillin). A nature-identical flavoring is chemically an exact copy of the original substance and can be either natural or artificial. In the United States, they are traditionally divided into natural and artificial flavorings, where the latter includes nature-identical flavorings.
Unlike smelling, which occurs upon inhalation, the sensing of flavors in the mouth occurs in the exhalation phase of breathing and is perceived differently by an individual. In other words, the smell of food is different depending on whether one is smelling it before or after it has entered one's mouth.
Taste
The taste of a food product is determined not only by the aromas present in the original material and added flavorings, but also by accompanying substances, like flavor enhancers, sweeteners, acidulants and salt substitutes. Polyols, like sorbitol and maltitol, are carriers in flavorings, but they themselves also have a sweet taste.
Even the color of food can affect one's experience of the taste significantly.
In one study, adding more red color to a drink increased the perceived sweetness, with darker colored solutions being rated 2–10% better than lighter ones, though it had 1% less sucrose concentration. Food manufacturers exploit this phenomenon; for example, different colors of the U.S. product Froot Loops cereal and most brands of Gummy Bears often use the same flavorings.
Flavor enhancers
<!-- Flavor enhancer redirects here; this should be a separate article. -->
Flavor enhancers or taste enhancers, which are umami or "savory" compounds, are themselves not flavorings, but they intensify the taste of the food. They are largely based on amino acids and nucleotides. These are typically used as sodium or calcium salts. Umami flavorings recognized and approved by the European Union include:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Acid salts
!Description
|-
|Glutamic acid salts
|This amino acid's sodium salt, monosodium glutamate (MSG), is one of the most commonly used flavor enhancers in food processing. Mono- and diglutamate salts are also commonly used.
|-
|Glycine salts
|Simple amino acid salts typically combined with glutamic acid as flavor enhancers
|-
|Guanylic acid (GMP) salts
|Nucleotide salts typically combined with glutamic acid as flavor enhancers
|-
|Inosinic acid (IMP) salts
|Nucleotide salts created from the breakdown of AMP.<!-- AMP deaminase? Not commonly known to non-specialists? --> Due to high costs of production, typically combined with glutamic acid as flavor enhancers
|-
|5'-ribonucleotide salts
|A blend of GMP and IMP salts ("I+G"), generally in the disodium ribonucleotides form; typically combined with amino acids flavor enhancers
|}
Regulations
In Europe
Under the EU legislation, substances which have exclusively a sweet, sour or salty taste are not considered flavorings (Article 2, Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008.
Also flavor enhancers are not considered flavorings under the EU legislation but additives (Point 14 of Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008).
EU legislation defines several types of flavorings:
- flavoring substances (including "natural flavoring substances"):
- flavoring preparations (by definition always natural):
- thermal process flavorings
- smoke flavorings
- flavor precursors
- other flavorings
In the EU, Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 on flavorings and certain food ingredients with flavoring properties for use in/on foods, i.e. the EU Flavouring Regulation, was adopted on 16 December 2008 and entered into force on 20 January 2009. It applies from 20 January 2011.
Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 lays down general requirements for safe use of flavorings and provides definitions for different types of flavorings. The Regulation sets out substances for which an evaluation and approval is required. The Union list of flavoring substances, approved for use in and on foods, was adopted on 1 October 2012 and was introduced in Annex I of this Regulation
In the UK
The UK followed the above EU legislation which remained in force until 31 December 2020. The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 provided that from 1 January 2021, this directly applicable EU legislation was converted into UK law with minor corrections to enable it to operate effectively as UK law. These corrections were made by Statutory Instrument 2019 No. 860.
The UK Food industry, in collaboration with the flavoring industry, has developed guidance on what to consider when declaring a pictorial representation of a food ingredient on the label of a pre-packed product.
In the United States
In the United States, flavorings are regulated in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations. They are divided into artificial and natural flavorings.
In Australia and New Zealand
In Australia and New Zealand regulation of flavorings is covered by the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code of November 2000, entered into force in December 2002.
UK Food Law defines a natural flavor as:
The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations describes a "natural flavoring" as: