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Some of this is dumb (not all, just some). We should be going after the FDA for their contrived distinction on "natural/artificial" and shoddy labeling requirements. The companies are always going to do whatever nets the most profit within the rules, which often means using the cheapest or most minimal ingredients.
Let's take candy as an example. I mean, I don't expect lemon Starbursts to contain actual lemon. I think everyone is mostly fine with that being 'artificial' flavor.
But what is artificial, exactly? Chemists don't really make that distinction; just like the FDA, if a molecule is extracted from a living thing it's called a "natural product". But that doesn't actually tell you anything about the molecule itself or mean it's different than it would be if synthesized from components chemicals in any way whatsoever.
Pineapple and pear flavors are just one simple ester each, I've easily made them in a lab. Any lack of "real" taste is probably just a matter of sugar or acidity balance or missing texture. If a commercial product is made well, you'll never know the difference because it's the exact same compound whether it comes from a farm or an industrial vat. That one ester molecule is literally indistinguishable from either source (assuming it's been isolated / 'purified' sufficiently).
But strawberry and apple are much more complex fruits, with dozens or maybe hundreds of esters and other flavor compounds. Fake strawberry and apple might never be convincing. You can easily tell if those tastes are 'artificial' when they lack the nuance of having the right mix of many flavor chemicals.
Now, that claim about the 100% tuna sandwich... that's totally misleading and a good basis for a lawsuit IMO. Nobody is synthesizing a convincing fish protein at scale.
EDIT: Lots of clarifications. EDIT2: Can folks please explain when they downvote? I'm on topic and discussing nuances of the issue here.
Did you read Starbucks as starburst?
No that was just an example of a food item with certain expectations on artificial flavor.
It literally says on the package that Starburst has artificial flavoring. Show me the same on the Starbucks cup.
Here's the one advertised as Pineapple Passionfruit where the ingredients don't list actual passionfruit. It has "natural flavors". Maybe that includes extract from passionfruit, maybe it's entirely from other fruits, but they're not required to say.
https://www.starbucks.com/menu/product/2123675/iced/nutrition
The FDA makes a distinction between "natural" and "artificial" flavor based on source, but my point is that distinction itself is sometimes completely pointless and misleading. For some flavors there is truly zero difference. I suspect that's the case for passionfruit, so it's possible customers are worked up over nothing.
(I would highlight pineapple but Starbucks actually claims there is real freeze-dried pineapple chunks in their drinks, and that seems easy to verify)
Have you ever been to Starbucks?
A few times but not often, their items are overpriced and not particularly good.
I agree, but I go often enough to know that I do actually expect the real fruit to be in the drink, and now wonder what I've been chewing on that tastes like mango. It's definitely advertised that way, and starbursts are not
The answer is almost certainly dragonfruit pieces with mango flavoring.
https://www.starbucks.com/menu/product/2122725/iced/nutrition
That still includes real fruit, but Starbucks has the liberty to name the drink based on its flavors and not solely on the ingredients. I'm not claiming that's entirely ethical, but it definitely seems allowed per the FDA rules.
Turns out, freeze dried pineapples (in the paradise drinks). I thought it was mango. Honestly now that I realize they weren't saying what I thought they were, this does seem somewhat frivolous
Right? it's easy to have a knee-jerk reaction. But compared to all the terrible things companies do, flavoring is super minor. The FDA doesn't really restrict them much here as long as the ingredients are generally safe to consume.
I'd like to see more people angry about sugar & corn syrup content, that's actually bad for our bodies and there was half a century of bribes and disinformation behind it.