NATURAL FLAVORING AGENTS

Turkchem 18 Jul 2019 41 4 dk okuma

TURKCHEM

Flavorings have held their place in the ingredients list of industrial food products for many years. We see the term flavoring on yogurts, biscuits, candies, sauced dishes, beverages and other products. But what exactly is flavoring? We can define flavoring as a mixture of substances that impart aroma and therefore taste. In fact, the act of tasting is directly related to our sense of smell. This is called "retronasal olfaction." This is why we enjoy food less when we have a cold: something is missing. How is flavoring used? Flavorings cannot be consumed directly. They are a concentrated component used in very small quantities to give an industrial food product a "standardized" taste. This standardized taste can compensate for flavor losses during thermal processing of fruit or taste variations between harvests. For example, the use of flavoring in the fruit yogurt industry is indispensable; because when fruit preparations are used alone, they do not provide the characteristic taste to which we are all accustomed. Flavoring designated as "synthetic" (the term "flavoring" written on food product packaging) is generally the opposite of "natural" flavoring, whose component contents are not always understood. Today we will discuss two types of natural flavoring that may have different raw materials. First, we will define the most basic raw materials that can be found in natural flavorings, and then we will examine the legal framework that all food producers follow for labeling.

I- Raw Materials

Regulation 1334/2008 of the European Parliament and Council, freely accessible on the "Eurlex" website, is not sufficiently well known in journalistic circles and among the general public. Currently, the 1334/2008 directive has been applied in the food flavorings industry for 11 years. The raw materials for natural flavorings explained in this directive are as follows: Natural flavoring substance: While the synthetic substance is obtained through chemical processes, the natural version is obtained through physical processes or microbial fermentation methods.

Physical process:

Natural flavoring substance is created by extracting it from the concentrates in which it is found. For example, we can easily extract the molecule called "citral," which provides a characteristic sweet note, from lemon essential oil. Or we can extract menthol, well known to gum lovers, from peppermint essential oil. Flavoring substances are chemically pure products. Some have been banned or their use restricted by legislators because they are toxic.

Flavoring preparations:

(E.g.: essential oils, fruit extracts or plants, ...) are natural extracts obtained by various processes termed "suitable" by definition. The processes used to obtain flavoring preparations and natural flavoring substances are defined as "physical, enzymatic or microbiological." A physical process example is distillation for essential oil production.

Microbiological/enzymatic process:

Biology science is employed to create natural flavoring raw materials. Therefore, certain bacteria maintained under special conditions and culture media compliant with regulations can be used in natural flavoring substance synthesis.

II- Labeling

Flavorings formulated in the laboratory mostly consist of a combination of flavoring substances and flavoring preparations, all of which are diluted in a solvent permitted by law. The solvent may or may not be natural; the regulation is concerned only with the taste-giving portion of the flavoring. The solvent does not impart taste; it standardizes the amount of active ingredient (dosage in the finished end product) and aids in its solubility. "Flavoring" (synthetic) is the most frequently used because it is not very expensive. It mostly consists of synthetic flavoring substances. "Natural flavoring" consists of a combination of flavoring substances and flavoring preparations defined in nature and naturally occurring. However, for this designation, the selected raw materials do not need to be derived from the source in question. For example, "orange-flavored natural flavoring" may contain citral extracted from lemon and mandarin essential oil; just as "strawberry-flavored natural flavoring" may contain raw materials from surprising sources such as yeast or wood shavings. A "natural x flavoring" must contain raw materials obtained from the source in question. They see less demand on the market because their prices are high and for some flavors it is entirely impossible to obtain natural extract (E.g.: Biscuit flavoring). 95 percent of the flavoring portion must be obtained from the source in question. (E.g.: The flavoring portion of natural strawberry flavoring must contain at least 95 percent strawberry extract.)

III- Example: Natural Apricot Flavoring Composition

To create a natural apricot flavoring containing fruity, creamy, and rose-type floral notes, the following must be combined: - Gamma undecalactone (natural flavoring substance). - Isoamyl acetate (natural flavoring substance). - Myrtle essential oil (flavoring preparation). - Solvent: mono propylene glycol. When any flavoring is delivered to a food producer, technical documents are also supplied, which serve as a kind of identity card for the flavoring. This contains a great deal of different information: Storage and use conditions, product batch number, the ranking of flavoring raw materials used from highest to lowest (mass basis), and food additives permitted according to formulations. The European Regulation fundamentally defines other flavoring raw materials and flavoring categories, such as "smoke flavorings" or "heat process flavorings" used in flavorings for savory preparations (sauces, ready meals). We hope all readers will be pleased to learn that the raw materials comprising natural flavorings are legally defined. We must also understand that, as sometimes encountered, we cannot associate a flavoring with a single source. A flavoring is a complex mixture of raw materials from a wide variety of sources and flavor characteristics. Often, we tend to unjustly believe that regulations do not sufficiently protect consumer interests. However, regulations provide a fairly strict framework that protects the consumer from possible adulteration. Just as the management of allergen products, food adulteration is a matter taken seriously by the competent authorities. Written by: Marvin Wortman / Flavorist / R&D Manager Aromatech Türkiye Translated by: Güliz Ünal / Marketing and Communications Specialist / Aromatech Türkiye