Presenters at Prepared Foods' R&D Applications Seminars discussed sources of flavor—from proteins, natural sources, heat—and even how to bridge the "flavor gap."
Although the FDA is looking to define “natural” as it pertains to food products in general, the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) does define “natural flavor” in current regulations. According to the CFR, the term “natural flavor” or “natural flavoring” means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate; or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis that contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional.
“As early as 4500 BC,” explained Dolf DeRovira, president, Flavor Dynamics Inc., “essential oils have been used for medicinal purposes, as fragrances and as religious offerings. Essential oils, by definition, contain volatiles vs. fixed oils, which contain non-volatiles.” DeRovira’s R&D Seminar was titled “Natural Flavors—A Code of Federal Regulations Perspective.”