The popularity of “natural” foods with consumers has increased exponentially over the past decade or two. While the term “natural” on a food label is not formally regulated by the FDA, “natural flavors” have been defined in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 as flavoring constituents derived from a naturally occurring source, such as spice, fruit, vegetable, herb, leaf and more. “Natural” flavors/aromas have specific spectroscopic fingerprints versus synthetically produced volatile organic compounds.

This method combines gas chromatography and isotope ratio mass spectroscopy (GC-C-IRMS) to determine whether a fruit aroma is naturally or synthetically-derived, and can be used to build a database of natural flavors.

Find this and more analytical methods for fraud detection in our Food Fraud Database.

Picture Credit Susanne Kuehne

Posted on 11 October 2021