Sharing the Story of the Science and Safety of Flavor Ingredients

In October 2017, at a gathering of Flavor Industry professionals, I, along with a number of colleagues, expressed concern that the general public seems unaware that natural and artificial flavors, formulated with approved ingredients under conditions of intended use, are safe. Although the safety of flavors is assured by a large and effective safety program called the FEMA GRAS Program,1 administered by an independent panel of globally recognized experts, it is very likely that the general public is not aware of its existence. We speculated that this lack of awareness is due to several reasons. For one, the Flavor Industry does not sell its products directly to consumers. In addition, most people take for granted that flavors are safe. However, there certainly is a highly vocal but small percentage of the population that is circumspect about all food additives, including flavors.

Because flavors are used in processed foods in the same minute quantities as found in nature, they have never been at the forefront of safety concerns. For example, a single strawberry contains naturally-occurring flavor chemicals at parts per million levels and so does strawberry-flavored ice cream, often with the same flavor chemicals found in nature, thus replicating what consumers recognize as the flavor of a perfect strawberry picked at the peak of its maturity.

Due to the low use levels of flavor chemicals added to food, and their natural occurrence in food, in general, flavors are not considered a safety concern by authoritative regulatory bodies, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, consumers are often confronted with all kinds of inaccurate information about flavors that can be alarming and confusing.

Since most people are not chemists and were probably happy to end their formal chemistry education in high school, it is difficult to frame the complex topic of flavor safety in layman's terms. Merely saying that flavors are safe does not provide sufficient counterbalance to the information found on the Internet or espoused by vocal bloggers.

Shortly after the conversation with my colleagues, I decided to create a presentation on the History of the Safety of Flavor Ingredients and present it to students studying Food Science. This decision led to a three-month project for which I prepared by reading every reference I could find on this topic, some dating back to the 1950s. I composed a lengthy paper, but soon realized that it was too long to present in a 50-min class. There is no doubt in my mind that it is harder to write a short presentation than a long one! After many edits, I have honed it down to a 45-min interactive presentation that includes a helpful glossary of nomenclature used in the Flavor Industry. We also evaluate the aroma of samples of lemon oil, spearmint oil, citral and laevo carvone, as well as two identical raspberry flavors, one formulated with all-natural ingredients the other all-synthetic. The students really enjoy and appreciate the opportunity to experience these samples. This presentation has been given at no cost at three of the top Food Science departments in the United States, including at the Senior Product Development Course at the Univ. of Illinois, the Food Chemistry Course at Univ. of Massachusetts in Amherst, and at the Food Science Club of Rutgers Univ. at one of their monthly meetings.

As you might expect, both students and faculty members have provided helpful feedback, which has been gratefully incorporated into the presentation. My thanks go to those students and their professors. As word of this project spread, I received support from the Society of Flavor Chemists and the two primary U.S.-based flavor associations in the Flavor Industry, The Flavor and Extract Manufacturer's Association (FEMA; https://www.femaflavor.org) and the National Association of Flavors and Food-Ingredient Systems (NAFFS; https://www.naffs.org). From those groups, individuals have enthusiastically volunteered to make this presentation to their alma maters and local colleges and universities throughout the United States. A former President of the IFT has suggested that this talk be presented at the meetings of local IFT sections. I am happy to report that I will be doing just that, beginning with the New York Long Island IFT section.

I am hopeful that this presentation will achieve two goals. The first is to inform, thereby creating opportunities for leadership. Science students are intelligent and motivated, and their peers know this and respect them. If all the Food Science students in the United States had a meaningful understanding of the science and safety of flavors, they would be in a position to assure family members and friends that flavors are safe. My second goal is to provide students with exposure to the Flavor Industry and prompt them to consider a career in our industry.

While mostly invisible to consumers, the Flavor Industry is not small or insignificant. Tens of thousands of individuals work for companies whose global revenues total over 15 billion dollars. The industry is highly innovative, coupling science and creativity, and working in the flavor industry can be a lot of fun.

For readers who are interested in learning more, the 45-min PowerPoint presentation as well as the long version of the presentation document (90 min), are available through the Supplementary Material links below. If you are a Professor of Food Science or a student in charge of your university Food Science Club or a representative of a local IFT chapter and think your students or peers would enjoy a presentation on this topic, please contact me directly at [email protected].

Sincerely,