What is "Natural Flavor"?

Why do we need natural flavor if the product is already natural?

It’s at the end of many ingredient lists in processed food: “natural flavor.” But what substances fall under this benign label? What natural sources are they extracted from? If you shop in the center aisles of the grocery store, chances are those natural flavor ingredients came from an unexpected source and spent some time being swished around in a beaker.


Food science defines natural by what it is not: the FDA “has not developed a definition for use of the term natural or its derivatives. However, the agency has not objected to the use of the term if the food does not contain added color, artificial flavors, or synthetic substances.”

This non-definition gives food companies plenty of room to tout “All Natural” on their packages even with ingredients that have been hydrolised, distilled and emulsified to taste completely different. Both natural and artificial flavors are chemicals – the distinction is whether they are completely synthetic or first derived from a natural source.

Former food marketer Bruce Bradley notes some notorious sources of natural flavors in his blog series All Natural . . . Really? One of the most cringe-worthy is shellac, the resinous secretion of female lac bugs used to glaze donuts and make shiny candy shells. Another natural flavor you wouldn’t find yourself consuming in nature is cystine, a dough conditioner derived from human hair and duck feathers. Maltodextrin derived from genetically-modified corn is also considered natural.

On a recent visit to multi-national flavor company Givaudan, 60 Minutes highlighted the use of beavers’ anal gland secretions in the manufacture of vanilla and raspberry flavors.  Please watch the video 60 minutes interview

For the discerning shopper, "natural" is little more than marketing hype. Organic foods are not always an exception since flavors constitute less than 5% of the total ingredients, and organic standards follow a 95% rule. Last year, the Organic Trade Association formed an Industry Task Force to review flavor categories and see if some flavors could be organically produced, which might be a step towards clarifying the flavor classification system.

In the mean time, food companies can enjoy using the umbrella term “natural flavors” to cover a whole range of proprietary chemical translations that make their product memorable, irresistible and, some say, addictive.

For more information on Dr. Peloquin and the Hands of Gold Chiropractic, please visit our website at www.handsofgoldchiropractic.com

Trigger Points and Pain

Trigger points are persistent, localized muscle spasms that can cause a great deal of pain.  Trigger points alone may be responsible for many cases of neck pain, upper back pain, and lower back pain. This relationship is fairly common knowledge among physicians who treat pain, including chiropractors, rheumatologists, and physiatrists (doctors of physical medicine).

What is not generally known is that trigger points may also be implicated in radiating pain into the arm and hand or radiating pain into the leg and foot. In fact, radiating pain due to trigger points may be mistaken for pain caused by a herniated disc, in either the neck or lower back. Trigger point pain affecting the wrist and hand may even be misdiagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome. A patient in whom a correct diagnosis of trigger point pain is missed may lose much precious time and other resources, as she fruitlessly "tries" one doctor after another and needlessly undergoes all sorts of complex and costly testing.

The key to correctly identifying the source and cause of upper or lower extremity radiating pain is to be able to accurately characterize its nature. Radiating pain caused by trigger points is diffuse - the pain broadly covers a region. This diffuse pain is described as "scleratogenous", meaning that it is pain referred from connective tissue such as muscle and tendon. Radiating pain caused by a compressed spinal nerve (ultimately caused by a herniated disc, for example) is described as "radicular" or "dermatomal". This pain is confined to a specific area - the area that is supplied by a specific spinal nerve. For example, pain involving the thumb and index finger could be caused by compression of the C6 spinal nerve. Pain involving the outside of the foot and the little toe could be caused by compression of the S1 spinal nerve.

Scleratogenous pain is not specific. A person might complain of pain across the "shawl" portion of the upper back and traveling into the upper arm, experienced "all over" the upper arm. Another person might be experiencing pain across the gluteal region, hip, and upper thigh. Both of these patterns of radiating pain are likely due to several trigger points, localized to the respective areas.

Of course, an accurate diagnosis is necessary to be able to develop an effective treatment strategy. The good news is that although trigger points necessarily represent a chronic muscular process, they may be treated with very good to excellent outcomes using conservative protocols. Chiropractic care is the optimal method for managing trigger point pain. Chiropractic care is a drug-free approach which directly addresses the biomechanical causes of these persistent trigger points and their associated patterns of radiating pain. Chiropractic care improves mobility and restores function, helping to reduce and resolve chronic pain.

For More information on Dr. Peloquin and the Hands of Gold Chiropractic please visit our website at:
Bay Ridge Chiropractor or like us on Facebook at Hands of Gold Chiro Facebook Page.