How do companies create flavours like fruits,coffee etc without using actual fruit or coffee?
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Think of a fruit like a blueberry or a strawberry. If you imagine the fruit as a recipe, the recipe is made of a bunch of different ingredients. Each ingredient may be unique to that specific fruit, or it may be used in a variety of different fruits.
The ‘ingredients’ are organic or synthetic compounds called aromachemicals. Each one contributes a specific scent/taste. Strawberry for instance is primarily composed of:
Hexenol 3-cis (leafy green)
Ethyl butyrate (sweet fruity)
Delta decalactone (creamy peach)
Ethyl furanone (cinnamon sweet fruity)
Combined, you get a strawberry. These chemicals can come from different sources other than strawberry. Similarly, you use flour in making most cakes, but only use chocolate in a chocolate cake.
Labeling is a different issue and is heavily regulated in the USA. If you look at a label and something says “natural strawberry flavor with other natural flavors”, it means that the chemicals are natural, and may or may not contain chemicals that are derived from strawberries, but also has to contain strawberry juice or essence for labeling purposes.
Natural from the named fruit: all natural all from source named
Natural WONF: natural with ingredients from other natural sources than named fruit
Natural and artificial: self explanatory
Artificial: all synthetic made versions of aromachemicals
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