A Natural And Artificial Flavoring Factory: Behind The Scenes Of Givaudan (VIDEO)

Natural and artificial flavoring are known components of many foods, but the process on how they come to be is something of a closely guarded secret. The 60 Minutes team was given access to Givaudan, one of the biggest flavoring companies, and aired a fascinating -- and startling -- segment on the company last night.

Givaudan may be the biggest multinational company you've never heard of, explains correspondent Morley Safer. It employees 9,000 people in 45 countries. Givaudan employees admit that they aim to mimic Mother Nature with chemicals. They create flavors that don't linger too long -- that way, you'll want to go back for more. "There's a lot of secrecy," confesses one employee. The company won't reveal which brands contain Givaudan flavors.

Another employee explains that although both artificial and natural flavors are both chemical combinations, artificial flavors are largely man-made. Natural flavors come from nature, but that doesn't mean they come from what the label says. In other words, a strawberry flavor doesn't have to come from a strawberry (ditto on french fries).

Safer speaks with Dr. David Kessler, former FDA Commissioner. Kessler questions whether all these flavorings are really food. "We're living in a food carnival, these flavors are so stimulating they hijack our brain," he asserts.

Now, Givaudan is working hard to figure out how to make health and wellness taste good -- how do you reduce salt and sugar and still make a tasty product? It may be a challenge, but it sounds like the company is up to the task, for better or worse.

Watch the 60 Minutes segment below:

Comments

[nuthinukndo]

08:10 PM on 12/02/2011

It is unfortunate that Givaudan, the biggest and supposedly brightest of the flavor companies could be so ignorant as to be duped by 60 minutes in the name of their own ego to try to explain an industry that has its roots back to the ancient Egyptians and expect the general public to understand the contributions that flavors have made to the world's food supply or the science that goes behind the creation and quality of what the flavor industry produces. Shame on them. As for the rest of the general public, when your food starts costing you thousands of dollars per meal to feed your family, you will have wished you understood more of what the flavor industry really does.

[3kidsmama]

08:23 PM on 03/06/2012

our food ALREADY costs thousands of dollars (guess someone else in your household is taking care of groceries!), and luckily for the 'general public' there are still journalists willing to expose the truth about the food we consume every day.
You can eat as much junk/processed/artificially flavored/genetically modified/pumped in chemicals/and covered in pesticides food as you wish. It's your choice!
But, please, save us the wannabe-expert if the field.
(BTW, the kind of flavorings ancient Egyptians used in their food had nothing to do with the artificial, chemically derived flavors that are added to approx 90% of what we consume today)
Happy Eating!

[Food Babe]

10:38 PM on 12/01/2011

I wrote about this on my blog Food Babe - Check it out here - Is the Food Industry Conducting Chemical Warfare on us? You decide. http://foodbabe.com/2011/12/01/chemical-warfare-with-natural-flavor/

[dynasty8907]

11:17 AM on 11/30/2011

How do they get cotton candy out of smelling a mandarin orange?

[Kellybelle22]

01:28 AM on 11/29/2011

How fascinating and at the same time terrifying. I had no idea our taste buds were being manipulated with such precision. Now I also wonder wonder whether the "chicken base" sludge-in-a-jar flavor stuff that I add to soups, sauces and gravies is mostly lab-created artifice. I'm guessing it is. No wonder obesity is such a huge problem.

[Food Babe]

11:41 PM on 12/01/2011

That sludge definitely has some form of glutamate in it - which is MSG. check out my blog post about it here - Is the Food Industry Conducting Chemical Warfare on us? You decide. http://foodbabe.com/2011/12/01/chemical-warfare-with-natural-flavor/

[Marsha Hallet]

08:27 PM on 11/28/2011

I like using spices when I want to spike the flavor of food. If I am going to eat salt, then I want to see the crystals!

[SunnyBlueSkyDay]

07:09 PM on 11/28/2011

Thats why my mother always said growing up..."if it doesn't come from the earth or breath before you cook it - don't eat it."

[Maater]

06:35 PM on 11/28/2011

I've got a startling new idea. How about just eating food! I might even tast like ...food.

[lionstar]

06:29 PM on 11/28/2011

Explains why chewing gum flavors dissipate so quickly--so that commercial about forcing the gum chewer to spit out long-lasting flavored chewing gum is closer to the truth than you might think!

[-swift]

06:01 PM on 11/28/2011

Make a salad taste like a pizza, and our children will be thin again.

Ok. Not thin. Less hefty, though.

[Food Babe]

11:42 PM on 12/01/2011

And then the chemicals they used to do this would just kill us anyways. - Check out my blog about Givaudan here - New Post Up - Is the Food Industry Conducting Chemical Warfare on us? You decide. http://foodbabe.com/2011/12/01/chemical-warfare-with-natural-flavor/

[Food Reviewer]

06:00 PM on 11/28/2011

I know it's kind of weird but I would love to add some of these flavorings to my waffles and ice cream or something.
http://www.foodreview101.com/

[Food Babe]

10:39 PM on 12/01/2011

No you don't. Is the Food Industry Conducting Chemical Warfare on us? You decide. http://foodbabe.com/2011/12/01/chemical-warfare-with-natural-flavor/

[DixieMelody]

05:28 PM on 11/28/2011

Another reason we overeat:

It was also reported that the flavors must NOT linger but rather dissipate quickly so we will keep shoveling it in for the taste sensation. . . .

Guaranteeing more profit for the producer.

[SunnyBlueSkyDay]

07:07 PM on 11/28/2011

But that doesn't apply to eating Doritos....As we shovel the crunchy morsels in. Not to mention your breath/mouth the next morning - feel like a hundred camels came traipsing thru over night?!

[Food Babe]

10:40 PM on 12/01/2011

Doritos have "natural flavor" added them that is an excitotoxin - Is the Food Industry Conducting Chemical Warfare on us? You decide. http://foodbabe.com/2011/12/01/chemical-warfare-with-natural-flavor/

[Food Babe]

11:43 PM on 12/01/2011

Couldn't agree more - check out my blog post about it here -
Is the Food Industry Conducting Chemical Warfare on us? You decide. http://foodbabe.com/2011/12/01/chemical-warfare-with-natural-flavor/

[DixieMelody]

01:49 PM on 12/02/2011

Chemical Warfare? No doubt about it.

Thank you for the link.

[Anita Benson]

05:26 PM on 11/28/2011

This has inspired me to be that much MORE conscious about what I eat -- anyone laying the smack down to these lobbies yet?!

[zenman2]

05:05 PM on 11/28/2011

It is amazing, every single product we ingest or put on us, has chemicals in it. We are living in a cesspool created by the big pharmas and their buddies. Even the water is treated.

[Robert Huber]

05:47 PM on 11/28/2011

FYI ... Water is a chemical.

[Maater]

06:36 PM on 11/28/2011

That's why it's so important to eat and buy organic.

[LeftRightCenter]

12:08 AM on 11/29/2011

da truth

[Nutcase]

04:41 PM on 11/28/2011

Looking at the pictures accompnying this article, do you see anything that is food?

[Nutcase]

04:39 PM on 11/28/2011

One little tidbit that they don't advertise is that natural flavors are likely not what you would call natural. Most people realize that MSG is not good for you. Many Chinese joints and food laels advertise no MSG. However, a food label can claim no MSG but putting the words artificial flavors or natural flavors allows them to include MSG as a part of that flavoring without mentioning it. The FDA and USDA, despite the laws creating them, are servants of the food and drug indusrtries, They have no interest in protecting our food supplies or medications.

[BluebirdofUnhappiness]

10:41 PM on 11/28/2011

Not legally. Perhaps you might check before posting stuff that isn't true.
(5) Any monosodium glutamate used as an ingredient in food shall be declared by its common or usual name "monosodium glutamate."

TITLE 21--FOOD AND DRUGS
CHAPTER I--FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
SUBCHAPTER B--FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION
PART 101 -- FOOD LABELING

Subpart B--Specific Food Labeling Requirements
Sec. 101.22 Foods; labeling of spices, flavorings, colorings and chemical preservatives.
Also "most people" don't believe it isn't good for you; Google snopes and msg

[Nutcase]

12:12 AM on 11/29/2011

Sorry, but they have established a loophole, written or not.

The listing of natural and/or artificial flavors has been deemed to satisfy the rule without listing any component ingredients.

As for most people, I haven't counted but enough people consider it harmful that many companies went out of their way to reformulate their products, change their labels and even advertise the absence of MSG.

Perhaps you might check before posting stuff that isn't true.

[Food Babe]

10:43 PM on 12/01/2011

They still hide MSG using the words "natural flavor" check out my article about it here - I have even more resources at the bottom of the article that explain how MSG is a 'natural' occurring substance in several different products they can deem as natural flavor. Is the Food Industry Conducting Chemical Warfare on us? You decide. http://foodbabe.com/2011/12/01/chemical-warfare-with-natural-flavor/

[Food Babe]

10:41 PM on 12/01/2011

Ah ha - I wrote about this on my blog post about Givaudan.. You are awesome for talking about MSG. Check this out - Is the Food Industry Conducting Chemical Warfare on us? You decide. http://foodbabe.com/2011/12/01/chemical-warfare-with-natural-flavor/