Nature Identical Flavouring Substances

About

What it is and where it shows up.

Nature identical flavouring substances are chemically synthesised compounds whose molecular structure is identical to flavouring substances found in nature (e.g., synthetic vanillin identical to the vanillin in vanilla beans); they are added to food to impart or modify taste and aroma at lower cost and with greater batch consistency than natural extracts. The EU formally abolished this as a distinct regulatory category in 2008, merging it with all other chemically defined flavouring substances, while India (FSSAI) retains it as an explicit, separate class.

Safety summary

The regulatory and scientific consensus.

Safety is assessed substance-by-substance: EFSA has evaluated approximately 2,000 individual flavouring substances via Flavouring Group Evaluations (FGEs), and FEMA has declared over 2,600 GRAS through its expert-panel process, with most considered safe at GMP-consistent levels. However, some specific synthetic flavouring substances within this broad category have been identified as genotoxic or carcinogenic and removed from approved lists (e.g., benzophenone, styrene, ethyl acrylate in the US). No single category-wide ADI exists; acceptable intake limits are substance-specific and set individually by regulatory bodies.

Regulatory landscape

What food-safety regulators have decided.

Jurisdiction	Status	Note
EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) (European Union)	Approved	The distinct 'nature identical' category was abolished by Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 (in force 2011) because both nature-identical and artificial substances are produced by chemical synthesis and are subject to the same safety evaluation; consumers also found the term 'Natural Identical' confusing. These substances are now regulated as 'flavouring substances' under the Union list (Annex I of Regulation EC 872/2012, adopted 1 October 2012). Individual substances are evaluated by EFSA through Flavouring Group Evaluations (FGEs); ADIs are substance-specific.source
FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) (India)	Approved	Permitted at GMP levels under Regulation 3.3.1(1) of FSS (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, alongside natural and artificial flavouring substances. Labelling rules (FSS Labelling & Display Regulations) require only the class name 'flavours' to be declared on the label — the specific chemical name is not required for nature identical substances, only for artificial ones.source
FDA (Food and Drug Administration) (United States)	Approved	The US does not formally use the 'nature identical' designation. Synthetic (including nature-identical) flavouring substances are regulated under 21 CFR 172.515. FEMA's independent expert panel has declared over 2,600 flavouring substances GRAS; companies may also self-determine GRAS status. Several specific substances (benzophenone, styrene, ethyl acrylate) were removed from the approved additives list following evidence of carcinogenicity in animal studies.source

Who should approach with care

Whose guidance would steer them away.

Children — EFSA explicitly identifies children as a sensitive target population in flavouring substance dietary exposure assessments, and some synthetic flavouring chemicals have shown cytotoxic or genotoxic potential at higher doses in in vitro studies.

Pregnancy — EFSA recognises pregnant women as a specific sensitive population in flavouring risk assessments due to particular physiological status, and some individual nature-identical substances exhibit developmental toxicity in experimental animals at elevated doses.

Infants — FSSAI advisory guidance for nutraceuticals and sports foods cautions that products containing nature-identical or artificial flavours are not suitable for infants, owing to immature metabolic detoxification capacity.

Other — Individuals with known hypersensitivities to specific flavouring chemicals (e.g., cinnamaldehyde, benzaldehyde, menthol derivatives) should exercise caution as product labels in India and the EU are required to declare only the class name 'flavours', not the individual chemical identity of nature-identical substances.

Research citations

The sources behind this verdict.

1FDA. Substances Added to Food (formerly EAFUS) — Synthetic Flavoring Substances, 21 CFR 172.515. fda.gov
2EFSA. Flavourings topic page — EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings (FAF). efsa.europa.eu
3PubMed. Natural food flavours: a healthier alternative for bakery industry — a review, 2024. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
4EFSA. Scientific Guidance on the data required for the risk assessment of flavourings to be used in or on foods, 2022. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
5FSSAI. Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations — Compendium (Version 23.09.2021), 2021. fssai.gov.in
6FSSAI. Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations — Labelling of Flavouring Agents, 2021. fssai.gov.in

Independently researched8 citations