In this article we will decipher and translate the information presented on the official TPA website. Only translation and a minimum of our comments. If you want to read the original source in English, go to the website shop.perfumersapprentice.com and go to the FAQ section.

To read in Russian, use this article.

What are TPA (The Perfurmer's Apprentice) food flavorings made from?

Note - All concentrated flavors are made from the same types of chemical compounds and have the same molecular structure as natural flavors.

For example, the natural cinnamon that you use for baking at home contains “Cinnamaldehyde” (the same chemical compound that causes the familiar smell of cinnamon is also found in cinnamon itself).

Help from Wikipedia:
...Cinnamaldehyde was isolated from cinnamon essential oil in 1834...
Cinnamaldehyde is the main component of cinnamon (up to 90%) and cassia (up to 75%) essential oils, causing their smell; also found in patchouli oil, hyacinth oil, etc....

Or - natural TPA Vanillin 10 (PG) Flavor (Vanilla extract) - contains vanillin (a chemical compound that has a complex name for the common man - 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde “Source - Wikipedia”).

Let's consider the composition of flavors for TPA electronic cigarettes using the example of some flavors.

Composition of TPA Absinthe Flavor (Absinthe Flavor)

Absinthe flavoring contains a simple composition consisting of 2 components, since the smell of absinthe itself is due to only one smell - anise.

Composition of TPA Vanillin 10 (PG) Flavor (Vanilla extract)

Other flavorings, which in nature cannot be obtained from just one plant, which in ordinary life are obtained as a result of preparing certain dishes consisting of several ingredients and obtained as a result of heat treatment. Such flavors are obtained from a whole set of chemical compounds, natural essential oils, combined in strict sequence and proportion.

A simple smell like the smell of apple candy is created by mixing and interacting a large number of chemicals.

Almost all products contain food flavorings, which give them a characteristic aroma.

This is beneficial to manufacturers, because the consumer most often focuses not only on the appearance, but also on the smell of the purchased product.

Food essences and flavorings: harm, benefits and types ^

Food flavorings are natural or chemical compounds that give foods an attractive smell and taste. They are used in almost all industries and are produced through distillation, extraction or compression.

What are the types of food flavorings?

• According to condition: emulsion, liquid, paste, powder;
• By application: confectionery, beverage, oil and fat, gastronomic;
• By manufacturing method: smoking, technological, compositional.

What are food flavorings made from?

The production of flavors in the food industry occurs as follows: for example, to obtain strawberry flavor, strawberries have to be pressed, to produce orange flavor, essential oil is extracted from the peel of the fruit, and for garlic flavor, water is distilled from the squeezed juice.

What are food flavorings made of?

• Juices, spices, sugar, salt and other natural ingredients;
• Fortifying additives, tonics, bitters, biologically active substances and other non-natural components.

In the food industry, flavorings and food additives are divided into natural, identical to natural and artificial, but, as a rule, the former still contain chemical compounds that can negatively affect human health.

Why are food colors and flavors harmful?

Regardless of the manufacturing method and composition, the harm of food flavorings is very great:

• Synthetic vanillin, which is used in confectionery production, contains coumarin, which has a bad effect on liver function. It can be replaced with natural one, but the price will be much higher;
• Frequent use of chemical flavors can cause the growth of cancer cells and negative changes at the cellular level.

It is best to give preference to natural food flavorings, but here you need to take into account several nuances:

• They have the ability to lose their beneficial properties during heat treatment. There will be no harm from them, but no benefit either;
• Due to the high costs of producing natural supplements, manufacturers produce limited quantities, and finding them can be very problematic;
• Natural flavors may not be suitable for allergy sufferers, because... often cause exacerbation of the disease. This is especially true for vanilla powder and citrus additives.

Lists of food flavorings^

Liquid food flavorings

This group is used for making jam, cream, marshmallows, marshmallows, marmalade, juices, spreads, margarine or ice cream. They are a combination of natural and nature-similar additives derived from the following products:

• Apricot, oranges, pineapples, banana, anise, barberry, lingonberries, vanilla, grapes, cherries;
• Pears, melons, grapefruits, strawberries, coconut, raspberries, nuts, plums, cottage cheese, cream, melted butter or milk, blueberries, apples.

Food flavorings for alcohol

Both natural and synthetic flavors can be used to produce alcohol. They can also be purchased as a separate concentrate, and used depending on what kind of drink you plan to make:

• Cognac: mountain ash, prunes, cherries, coffee, almonds;
• Liqueur: herbs, anise, coffee;
• Vodka: vanilla, anise, wormwood, black currant.

Artificial Flavors

Artificial flavorings mean a composition containing molecules of substances that do not exist in nature.

• These include additives that do not fit the concept of “natural” and do not contain plant extracts, but have a smell similar to natural ones.
• Most often they are used to make chips, crackers, lemonade, juices and other junk food or drinks.

Chemical flavors identical to natural ones

During the production of such flavors, chemical synthesis is performed in the laboratory, as a result of which they acquire the same composition as natural ones. They are considered the most dangerous for children, because once they enter the body they cause disruption of the nervous system.

• Of course, such a negative effect does not become noticeable immediately, because the digestive organs are the first to suffer, and people usually attribute this to chronic diseases.
• When choosing products, it is recommended to carefully study the composition - it should indicate that they contain only natural additives.

Powdered food flavorings

• Most often, such additives are found in meat, seafood, chips, sour cream, cheese, some berries and fruits, as well as chocolate and confectionery.
• Like other analogues, they are divided into natural, identical to natural and chemical.

Calorie content of food flavorings^

Those who are on a diet are advised to abandon products containing any flavorings in favor of natural vegetables, fruits and meat, because even the most non-calorie additives contain 200 Kcal or more per 100 g, which increases the calorie content of the dishes in which they are present. Examples:

• Natural lemon – 299 Kcal;
• Vanilla – 280 Kcal;
• Almond – 692 Kcal.

Ancient people did not use any flavorings. They used herbs, roots and spices not to improve the taste and aroma of natural products, but to ensure that the latter were better preserved, since spices and oils have a preservative effect. Over time, people got used to the taste of herbs and spices, fell in love with them and learned to create pleasant compositions. It is difficult now to find a person who would be able to enjoy the taste of the product without adding salt or seasonings.

Many food products contain flavorings - natural, identical to natural and artificial. They are needed so that food that has lost its taste during factory production is attractive and excites the receptors. It seems logical to avoid artificial flavors and buy products with natural ones. After all, the word “natural” in our minds is associated with “healthy”. But with flavors, everything is not as simple and transparent as it seems at first glance.

"Natural" flavors

The word “natural” simply means that the aromatic component is taken from a product that occurs in nature. But in what way is another question. This is where the problem lies. The category of natural flavors includes essential oils, distillates, extracts, protein hydrolysates, as well as products of roasting and fermentation of plant and animal products. Many aromatic components are indeed completely natural and come from herbs and spices, but legislation allows the label “natural flavor” to hide a substance that also contains a flavoring preparation obtained in a laboratory.

Another issue that arises when using natural flavoring is the purity of the raw materials. Most plants used for aromatic purposes are grown using pesticides and other chemicals, which do not disappear, but remain with the aroma. Proponents of nature-identical flavors emphasize that laboratory production allows for control of the process at every stage, so that the product is cleaner and safer.

Artificial Flavors

Flavors identical to natural ones are created from scratch in the laboratory and repeat the chemical composition of natural ones. Probably the most famous such flavoring is vanillin, which copies the smell of vanilla. It is produced from petroleum products. There are also aromas of cheese, berries, citrus, etc.

This designation exists only in Russia. In the USA and the European Union, all flavors that do not fall into the category of natural are called artificial.

There is also a type of artificial flavoring that gives foods a flavor not found in nature. These are, for example, burnt caramel, butter orange, gingerbread, etc. Most often, such flavors are used in syrups that are added to coffee, cocktails and desserts. If you want a nice flavor, add organic cinnamon, vanilla and ginger powder.

Harm from flavorings

The effect of flavorings on the human body has not yet been fully studied. That is, no one talks with 100% accuracy about which flavorings are harmful to health and which are completely safe. Animal studies have shown that, for example, artificial vanillin negatively affects liver function, while natural vanilla, in addition to its aroma, also has beneficial anti-inflammatory properties.

With daily consumption of products with artificial or identical natural flavors, various types of allergies, headaches, dizziness, nausea, increased blood pressure and panic attacks are possible.

Products with a smoke aroma that imitates smoking contain toxins and carcinogens, so you should not overuse smoked cheese, beer fish, sausages and other smoky products.

Since food labeling laws have loopholes, try to avoid products with any flavorings, as it is impossible to say with certainty whether the label is beaver anal gland secretion or lab-created methyl salicytate.

Nutritionists say natural flavors are better than artificial flavors because their effects on the body are better understood, but they aren't necessarily healthy ingredients.

Alternative to flavorings

If you are concerned about the quality of the foods you eat, avoid any foods with flavors or keep them in your diet to a minimum. The use of spices is also a controversial issue, because what is on the shelves of regular stores can most often be called spices with a stretch. These are powders that have a vaguely reminiscent aroma of herbs and spices, created from the lowest quality raw materials. For example, cinnamon, which costs a penny in the nearest supermarket, if consumed frequently can cause headaches, high blood pressure and even vascular crisis, because it is the “sister” of cinnamon - low-grade cassia.

Spices should only be purchased organic. It is better to have fewer of them in your kitchen arsenal, but be confident in the quality of the product. Not only do they have a pleasant aroma, but they also have beneficial health properties.

Among the various flavoring additives that confuse many consumers and force them to return the product to the shelf are components such as flavorings. They are artificial, natural and identical to natural. If everything is more or less clear with the first two, then the latter, as a rule, cause confusion: the word “natural” by default inspires confidence, and the word “identical” makes this trust shake.

In recent years, a flavor identical to natural one has begun to be referred to in the composition as simply a “flavor,” however, the method of obtaining it has remained the same. In order to understand what is behind these definitions, we turned to Olga Bagryantseva, Doctor of Biological Sciences, leading researcher at the Federal Research Center for Nutrition and Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Olga Bagryantseva

Doctor of Biological Sciences, leading researcher at the Federal Research Center for Nutrition and Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Are there many flavors in our products?

Of the approximately thousand kilograms of food that a person eats per year, flavoring substances account for approximately 500 grams. Of these, only 25 grams enter food as part of flavorings that are purposefully added to foods. We eat the remaining 475 grams with vegetables, fruits, herbs, and so on.

Therefore, the first thing you should pay attention to is that even if flavorings were at least somehow dangerous, the amount we eat would still not be enough to cause harm to our health.

But there is no need to talk about harmfulness and danger, since all flavors - both natural, identical to natural, and artificial - undergo numerous tests.

Currently, there is a list of flavoring substances approved for food production, the safety of which for consumers has, of course, been confirmed.

What does “natural identical flavoring” mean?

The chemical formula of a flavor identical to natural completely corresponds to the formula of a flavor obtained from plant or animal raw materials.

There are no technologies or methods in the world that would help distinguish a natural flavor obtained from natural raw materials from an identical natural one obtained through the process of chemical synthesis. Thus, a flavor produced using chemical synthesis is much cheaper than a natural one, but at the same time does not differ at all from it in chemical composition and properties.

The established opinion that everything natural is necessarily healthy is not always correct

Many plants contain biologically active substances that can have a negative impact on human health. For example, mint. It would seem like a harmless herb, but in fact it contains small amounts of pulegone (a component of essential oils). Pulegone can have a toxic effect on the liver. Therefore, for example, if concentrated mint extracts are not purified, then if they enter the body in large quantities, there may be negative consequences. But you shouldn’t be afraid of natural flavorings either, since during the production of flavoring additives from food raw materials and/or from products of plant, animal or microbial origin, the flavoring is purified from all impurities that may be toxic.

Today, the division of flavors into natural, identical to natural and artificial is already outdated, although it is still popular. Now a more laconic classification has been adopted: either natural flavors or simply flavors are distinguished.

The first group includes flavors obtained from natural raw materials. The second is substances created in the process of chemical synthesis: either artificial or completely repeating the formula of natural flavoring substances, that is, identical to them.

As for artificial flavors, yes, they no longer repeat the formula of natural ones and are synthesized in laboratories from scratch. But again: in food products only those are used that are included in the list of permitted substances that have passed a toxicological assessment and will not cause harm to health.

What if the manufacturer adds a “killer dose” of flavoring to the product?

It is unlikely. After all, to achieve the desired taste/aroma, additives are needed in minimal quantities. The flavoring content in products, as a rule, ranges from 0.01 to 2%, which is not much at all. If you overdo it, it will not improve the taste, but it will greatly increase the cost of the product, and the manufacturer is not interested in this.

Food flavorings- these are additives added to a food product to improve its aroma and taste and are flavoring substances or a mixture of flavoring substances with or without a solvent or dry carrier (filler).

The composition of food flavoring may include traditional food raw materials and food additives permitted by the Department of State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance of the Russian Ministry of Health.

Juices (including concentrated), jams, syrups, wines, cognacs, liqueurs and other similar products, as well as spices (fresh, dry, mechanically processed) are not classified as flavorings, since these raw materials can be used as a food product or a typical ingredient food and therefore cannot be considered a supplement.

Food flavorings are not assigned E codes (the presence of a flavoring in the product is simply indicated on the packaging), since food flavorings are complex multicomponent mixtures, and the number of food flavorings produced in the world is tens of thousands, while the number of food additives actually used, not counting mixed and flavors, about 500 in total.

Food flavorings are divided into:
- natural food flavors
- identical to natural food flavors
- artificial food flavors.

Natural food flavorings include only natural aromatic components. Natural flavor components are chemical compounds or mixtures thereof isolated from natural raw materials using physical methods or obtained using biotechnology (essential oil, oil resin, essence, extract, protein hydrolysate, any product of roasting, heating or fermentation that contains flavoring components, derived from spices, fruits or fruit juices, vegetables or vegetable juices, nutritional yeast, herbs, barks, buds, roots, leaves or similar plant materials, meats, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products or products obtained from them by fermentation , the essential function of which in the composition of a food product is more flavoring than nutritional.

Essence- aqueous-alcoholic extract or distillate of volatile substances from plant materials.

Essential oil- volatile, with a characteristic strong odor and taste, oil-like (oily), insoluble in water, mostly colorless or slightly colored liquid.

Oil resin- is a complex multicomponent mixture of natural organic substances and is a biologically active food component. It completely preserves the aroma and taste of natural spices. It is obtained from spice extracts after removing the alcohol.

Protein hydrolyzate - Protein hydrolyzate is a protein partially destroyed with the help of acid or enzymes, which is fragments of 2-3 amino acids linked together.

Extract- concentrated extract from medicinal plant raw materials or raw materials of animal origin, representing mobile (liquid extracts), viscous liquids (thick extracts with a moisture content of no more than 25%) or dry masses (loose extracts with a moisture content of no more than 5%). Extractants can be water, alcohol, ether, carbon dioxide, respectively, extracts are divided into aqueous, alcohol, ether, oil, CO2 extracts, etc.

Identical Natural flavorings contain at least one component identical to natural, and may also contain natural components. Naturally identical aromatic components are chemical compounds identified in raw materials of plant or animal origin, but obtained by chemical synthesis or isolated from natural raw materials using chemical methods.

Artificial food flavorings contain at least one artificial component and may also contain natural and natural-identical components. Artificial aromatic components are chemical compounds that have not yet been identified in raw materials of plant or animal origin and are obtained by chemical synthesis. Artificial flavors are highly stable, intense and inexpensive. For example, arovanilon (ethylvanillin) is an artificial flavor used by the food industry around the world. A single artificial flavor can be synthesized from hundreds of chemical compounds that mimic natural flavors.

SOME SYNTHETIC FRAGRANCES AND THEIR SMELLS

Food flavorings are divided into:

-

by physical state- liquid, powder, paste, emulsion: liquid food flavorings, as a rule, are cheaper than similar dry ones and are intended for most food products (confectionery and baked goods, drinks, fat and oil and dairy products, ice cream, etc.). Liquid flavorings in the form of solutions are produced by dissolving prescription quantities of aromatic components in 1,2-propylene glycol, ethyl alcohol, triacetin, etc., followed by filtration. emulsion food flavorings are used for cloudy drinks, sausages, semi-finished meat and fish products, sauces, ketchups, mayonnaise, seasonings and other products. Liquid emulsion flavors are produced by emulsifying aromatic components in water using special types of equipment and additives. dry food flavorings are intended for the production of food concentrates, meat and sausage products, extruded products. Dry food flavorings are produced by applying aromatic components to a suitable carrier in powder form (salt, sugar, starches and their derivatives, etc.) with thorough mixing. The most expensive, but giving the best results, method is to obtain an emulsion of an aromatic composition in a solution of an encapsulating agent (acacia resin, maltodextrin, etc.) followed by drying in a spray dryer.

The use of flavors allows you to:

Flavorings are being used more and more widely in the food industry. The growth in demand for flavorings is caused by the development of modern technologies for producing food products based on deep processing of raw materials. After such processing, the purpose of which is to obtain standardized concentrates of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, food products are almost completely freed from “ballast” substances, including volatile aromatic substances that determine their aroma (soybean oil, other refined oils, soy protein, flour, starch, sugar, protein-vitamin concentrate, etc.).
From such refined products, various food products are “synthesized” (various cheeses with any flavor, yoghurts, pates, sausages made from structured soy protein - “smoked”, “chicken”, etc.), crab sticks, artificial red or black caviar.
The existence of a number of products is due to the presence of flavorings, including soft drinks, confectionery, and food concentrates.

To get a preliminary impression of the flavor odor is usually assessed by sniffing, and taste and aroma by tasting a flavored sugar syrup or saline solution. However, it is impossible to take into account changes in flavoring during the production process associated with temperature treatment, the influence of pH, etc.

For the final evaluation of the flavoring, it is necessary to manufacture the corresponding food products in model laboratory or, better, in production conditions, taking into account the action of all technological factors. Good results are achieved by using several flavoring additives in one product. This can be the combined use of different flavors to obtain a bouquet of aromas or to complement the aroma with corresponding taste sensations. When choosing a flavoring agent, you should not draw a conclusion based on the initial “sharp” or “weak” impression - these are the “top notes” of the aroma, which may not appear at all in the finished product. The choice of flavoring for a particular food product is determined by its physicochemical properties and product production technology. If a flavor with clean, strong “top notes” is most suitable for a soft drink, then, for example, for gingerbread it is better to choose a more persistent one, with strong “base notes”. In any case, it is important to remember that the impact of a flavoring on the organoleptic properties of a product can only be fully assessed by tasting the finished product.

Dosages of food flavorings in food products are usually in the range from 0.1 to 2.0 kg per 1 ton. When selecting dosages, one should be guided by the recommendations of the manufacturer, at the same time, optimal dosages can only be selected by the consumer experimentally, taking into account the specifics of the technology and specific products .

Exceeding recommended dosages, as a rule, does not pose a danger from a toxicological and hygienic point of view (the safety factor is at least 10-100), however, with an overdose, the harmony of the aroma is often disturbed and extraneous “synthetic” shades appear.

Flavoring practically does not complicate the production process. The flavoring can be added to the product undiluted (for example, spice flavoring in the production of sausages) or in the form of a concentrated solution in a suitable solvent. The solvent can be water, oil, alcohol, a small part of the flavored product itself or its component. Some foods (eg corn sticks) can be directly sprayed with a diluted flavoring solution. The time for adding flavoring to a specific product is determined based on production technology. For example, flavoring is added to cheeses, sausages, and sauces along with salt, and to butter cream or soft drinks - along with sugar syrup. In the production of products subjected to heat treatment, in order to reduce the loss of flavoring during heating, it is recommended to flavor them as late as possible. It is extremely important that the product is thoroughly mixed after adding the flavoring additive.

A number of essential oils and fragrances have bactericidal effect : garlic, citrus oils, horseradish essential oil, etc. Recently, rosemary and sage essential oils have been successfully used as antioxidants.
It should be noted that essential oils, as an integral part of herbal medicine, are used in medicine. They are used for massage, for aromatic baths, compresses, creams, etc. Essential oils have the same effect as the plants from which they are obtained, with the only difference being that the effect of essential oils is stronger.

Expiration date of flavors, for essential oils and extracts, usually ranges from several months to several years. The shelf life of a flavor is largely determined by the solvent (carrier); The shelf life of an essential oil is greatly influenced by the amount of terpenes, the most easily oxidized compounds in the oil. Experience shows that vanillin, stored in tightly closed packaging, does not change for 10 years. Studies have been conducted on the storage of essential oils for 25 years. When storage conditions were observed, no changes in organoleptic and physicochemical characteristics were observed. All types of fragrances and essential oils should be stored in the dark in opaque containers, in a dry, well-ventilated area at a temperature of 5 to 15 ° C, separately from other raw materials. The container in which the additive is stored must be tightly closed after taking each portion.

For more than 10 years, Baltic Food Company has been a major supplier of ingredients for various sectors of the food industry and has been steadily working with leading European and global manufacturers. One of these large manufacturers is the KERRY company, which also specializes in the production of flavors. Working in tandem, technologists from BPK LLC and KERRY will help develop the product and select the necessary flavors for production, taking into account the wishes of the manufacturer, provide qualified technological support with on-site visits to the enterprise, provide recommendations on the use of ingredients and documentation. Clients of the Baltic Food Company have the opportunity to purchase flavors in large and small wholesale. You can find the necessary ingredients and get acquainted with our assortment in the section " Product Catalog "→ « »