Seeking Truth In Ingredient Labels

February 12, 2025

In a recent video, Jim and Angela toured a local grocery store and inspected the ingredient list on various food products. Many products were blatantly misleading consumers by using “Maple” in their title, and there was NO real maple listed in the ingredients.

This article provides just a few important points to remember when reading an ingredient label. We will provide photos of the Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal packaging which was referenced in the video.

NOTE: The front of this package sites “**Maple & Brown Sugar Flavor** with Other Natural Flavors”

NOTE: Nothing in the ingredient list says “Maple”. The term “Natural Flavor” does not guarantee that pure maple is included.

Premium Ingredients Add Value

If a premium ingredient such as “Pure Maple Syrup” or “Pure Maple Sugar” is being used in a food product, then you should expect that premium ingredient to be very proudly listed on the ingredient label. Why would a food manufacturer invest in using premium ingredients, but then hide that fact in their ingredient list? They wouldn’t. Rather, they will be proud to take credit for that ingredient because it adds immense value. If you do not see “maple” in the ingredient list, then it’s safe to assume there is no real maple.

“Natural Flavors”

Manufacturers are not required to disclose the exact ingredients used under “natural flavors” on their labels. Although the term sounds nice and wholesome, its purpose is to obscure ingredients from the consumer. In the best of cases, a company may want to protect their unique and proprietary blend of truly pure and natural ingredients. However, in the worst of cases, the company is intentionally deceiving the consumer.

Here is the FDA definition of “Natural Flavors”:

The essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which 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.

But Wait. Would the FDA really allow a food manufacturer to imply a food contains maple when it is doesn’t?

Current regulations allow use of terms like “maple,” “maple-flavored,” or “artificially maple-flavored” on the food label without having any maple syrup in the product, as long as it contains maple flavoring. This flavoring could come from a number of sources, including sap or bark from the maple tree. Or it could come from the herb fenugreek, which can impart a maple-like flavor. (excerpt from FDA.gov)

And here is an explanation of the word “Natural”

...the term “natural” on a food product label doesn’t have a legal definition and the FDA has not established a regulatory definition for it. So, a food labeled as “natural” may not necessarily be free from artificial ingredients and may have undergone processing. (Excerpt from MosaicFlavors.com)

Last but not least, how does the Quaker Oatmeal website explain the “Natural Flavors” in their ingredients?:

Natural flavors are obtained from essences or extracts of substances found in nature such as spices, fruits, fruit juices, vegetables, or herbs. The exact composition of flavoring components that are in our beverages are proprietary PepsiCo information and cannot be disclosed without violating the confidentiality of our formula.