Natural Flavour | whatsinit

About

What it is and where it shows up.

Natural flavours are a broad, legally defined class of flavouring substances derived from plant, animal, or microbial sources via physical, microbiological, or enzymatic processes, used to impart, modify, or enhance the taste and/or aroma of food. They are the fourth most common ingredient listed on food labels in the United States and are regulated as a functional category—not a single substance—by all major food safety authorities.

Safety summary

The regulatory and scientific consensus.

Natural flavours are broadly approved and considered safe by the FDA (GRAS), EFSA, and FSSAI; however, the umbrella term legally encompasses hundreds of individual compounds, and these preparations may contain synthetic processing aids not individually disclosed on labels. No single Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) is established for the category as a whole; individual constituent substances are assessed separately by JECFA, EFSA's Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings (FAF), and FEMA. Individuals with food allergies face particular risk because the allergenic source of a natural flavour (e.g., milk, tree nuts, shellfish) is not always named on the ingredient list.

Regulatory landscape

What food-safety regulators have decided.

Jurisdiction	Status	Note
EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) (European Union)	Restricted	Governed by Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 on flavourings and certain food ingredients with flavouring properties. Authorised natural flavourings are listed in the Union list (Annex I). The Regulation explicitly prohibits the addition of certain naturally undesirable substances above set maximum levels. EFSA's FAF Panel conducts ongoing safety assessments; some listed substances are marked with a footnote indicating additional safety data are still required and are under active review. Common authorisation procedure established under Regulation (EC) No 1331/2008.source
FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand) (Australia)	Approved	Natural flavours are permitted under FSANZ Food Standards Code Standard 1.3.1 (Food Additives) and Standard 1.2.4 (Labelling of Ingredients). They must be declared as 'flavour' or 'flavouring' on labels; the specific source need not be named unless it is a known allergen.source
FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) (India)	Approved	Permitted under the Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, Regulation 3.3.1. Labelling and Display Regulations require that the term 'flavour' or 'flavouring' be qualified with the word 'natural' on the label; for natural flavouring substances, only the class name (not the specific compound name) need be declared. Flavours for nutraceuticals and health supplements must also comply with Regulation 3.3.1.source

Who should approach with care

Whose guidance would steer them away.

Other — Individuals with food allergies (e.g., to milk, tree nuts, wheat, shellfish, eggs) should exercise caution because natural flavours may legally be derived from allergenic sources without the specific source being named on the ingredient list in most jurisdictions.

Infants — Some individual flavouring compounds permitted under the natural flavour umbrella may not be appropriate for very young infants; EFSA explicitly identifies infants below 16 weeks as a sensitive target population requiring specific consideration in dietary exposure assessments for flavourings.

Phenylketonuria — Certain natural flavour preparations may contain or be co-processed with phenylalanine-bearing ingredients; individuals with PKU should confirm the specific compound source with the manufacturer before consumption.

Pregnancy — Because individual constituents within the natural flavour category vary widely and their combined dietary exposure in pregnancy is not systematically assessed as a class, EFSA guidance specifically flags pregnant and lactating women as a specific target population in flavouring safety evaluations.

Research citations

The sources behind this verdict.

1FDA. 21 CFR 101.22 – Foods; Labeling of Spices, Flavorings, Colorings, and Chemical Preservatives. accessdata.fda.gov
2other. EU Rules on Flavourings – European Commission Food Safety. food.ec.europa.eu
3EFSA. Flavourings – EFSA Topic Overview and Risk Assessment Programme, 2022. efsa.europa.eu
4FSSAI. Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations – Compendium 2022, 2022. fssai.gov.in
5PubMed. The "Natural" vs. "Natural Flavors" Conflict in Food Labeling: A Regulatory Viewpoint, 2017. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Independently researched5 citations