I am very excited to announce the launch of Food Babe TV. This is something I have been working on for a very long time. I want to change the way everyone thinks about their food together with you and in a very visual, fun and impactful way. I hope you enjoy the first episode below and share it with your friends and family. I’m counting on you to spread the word and tell everyone what’s really in our food – let’s change the world together!
Watch: Do You Eat Beaver Butt?
Natural Flavors 101
Castoreum (or beaver butt) is just one of the ingredients that could be called a “natural flavor.” But there are many other things called “natural flavors” that could be lurking in your food. We’ll never know what they are because the food companies won’t tell us as they consider this information proprietary.
According to the FDA, natural flavors can include:
“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” (21CFR101.22).
That means, the food industry can use virtually anything found in nature (including genetically engineered fruits, vegetables, meat and hidden forms of MSG derived from yeast) and label it as “natural flavors”. These flavors create a false sense of reality while you are eating and give off the illusion of real food. The flavors work against you, getting you addicted to processed food using the best part of a taste or even smell. (Who are these flavor chemists? You can learn more about them here.)
They don’t want you to have the full essence of the strawberry – they want you to only experience the best 1 millionth part of the taste – so you get “addicted” and keep having to go back for more and more, searching continuously for gratification – eating more of that product which in turns fills Big Food Companies pockets. The Big Food Companies are “hijacking” your taste buds one by one and the FDA couldn’t care less, because they allow these companies to get away with it.
Most of us know artificial flavors derived from petroleum and crude oil aren’t good for us, but the ingredient “natural flavor” can fool the best of us. Natural flavor can legally contain natural occurring “glutamate” bi-products like MSG – which are known excitotoxins. These excitotoxins are some of the chemicals that cause your taste buds to experience irresistibility when it comes to food. Ever wonder why you can’t just eat one chip? Or one cookie? Or why you remember a taste of a product so distinctly and crave it uncontrollably? Natural flavors can be to blame.
A lot of people think you shouldn’t blame these food companies, flavor chemists, or anyone else for people’s inability to stop eating and from getting obese – but when companies practice this type of trickery – you can’t help but realize we are all at a disadvantage. How much do you have to research and know about your food in order to trust it? Can we expect all people in all income levels to have the time to find and understand this knowledge? Shouldn’t we be able to trust the mustard or the oatmeal the grocery store down the street is selling to us? It’s amazing we can’t trust something labeled “natural flavor” – it sounds so simple, friendly and well natural… but really can be so misleading.
What Can You Do About Natural Flavors?
Humans were meant to eat real food – not fake industrial food created in a laboratory and that’s why I recommend not buying food with the ingredient “natural flavor” on the label. Who wants to be tricked or lured into thinking a food tastes better or smells better than it should or eating beaver butt for goodness sake!?
If you find a product in your pantry or fridge that has “natural flavors” in it – take it back to the store and get your money back. But before you take it back, come on over to my facebook page and post a picture of that product, so we can all learn and identify where natural flavors or beaver butt may be hiding.
Wishing you the greatest health imaginable.
Food Babe
P.S. We all need to know what’s in our food. Let’s save #beaverbutt together. Don’t forget to share this information with your friends and family, by hitting one of the social media buttons below or using “share this” to send them an email.
***No beavers were harmed in the making of this film***
Today’s video proved to be a great way to illustrate an important point. I learned something from it but have always been suspicious of “natural flavor” wording based on books and newsletters I receive from Dr. Russell Blaylock. (BTW, if I would have been you, I would have pulled the hand puppet off exposing the operator’s hand! Yes! I am ornery!!)
Seriously, appreciate what you are doing to educate the public. It is not an easy job to gather information – almost like being a detective, but so important for us to be aware of what is going on in the food industry. Thanks for what you do!!!
Vani…you did great your first episode…it was entertaining, fun to watch and your a natural…your going to go far! just remember all us little people when you do 😉
For those who still eat meat if you read the book by Ken Midkiff,THE MEAT YOU EAT’you will think twice before purchasing any meat that is not grain fed organic.
grain fed???? no meat should be grain fed,organic or not..how about grass fed!!! and free range chickens.
I had no idea. Thanks for sharing. Really beaver butt….gross!!!
Grass fed beef is always best.
A typo slipped in perhaps?…..it’s Castoreum.
Like your work!
Love, love, love the first video. Short, sweet, to the point, not too “scientific” and even my kids could watch! This kind is visual is what will make the information stick! Can’t wait to see more. Thank you for all you do!
Loved it!
This is really sloppy investigating. It’s an OpEd as opposed to being well-researched findings, which is too bad since I’m sure those findings would be valuable. Seriously, saying that “the FDA could care less”? Surely there are other factors that drive FDA reviews and decisions. Saying that the reason we become addicted to these foods is because we only experience “the best 1 millionth part of the taste”? Yes, there are chemical reasons that we crave foods, but this isn’t one of them.
Part of what’s maddening about big food companies’ marketing is that they use vague, unsupported claims to lead us to conclusions. You’re doing the same thing here. I actually agree with you on these issues, but you’re doing a disservice by adding more data-less chatter to the conversation.
Right on, Lee. I’m finding this on a lot of these “food education” sites. I want to get real information to present to my husband who is a Ph.D. biochemist. All I’m finding are emotionally charged and vague arguments. I need information with citations!
I am a new follower and enjoy your research. I agree with Tara and Lee. If you could cite your sources in your videos and your online articles, or post links, your investigation/reporting would be complete. It’s better for us as your audience to have solid evidence and something to reference when we pass on our new knowledge to family and friends.
Lee and Tara, I am with you. I want facts, nothing but the facts.
I do think our national laws are far too lenient to protect us from legally allowed additives which are harmful to humans, animals, and the environment. Those who seek to educate the masses regarding same should not resort to over stating and over simplifying the facts. When profit is put before truth, everyone eventually loses.
I agree. it would be helpful if you could include the sources and links to the sources so we can further educate ourselves and others. I think the work you do is awesome.
Are you guys for real? The research is all there, and not too hard to find. Why not spend some time educating yourselves instead of hating on someone who is doing a genuine service to humanity? And yes, indeed, the FDA could care less. That’s why they allow proven carcinogens, GMOs and all the rest into your food supply. If they cared about your health, they would not. Then again, the pharmaceutical corporations that they are in collusion with would never allow a ban on these things since cancer, ADHD, depression and chronic disease provide such a good source of revenue.
I have to agree with Marise here, I’ve been educating myself for years. The info is right there in front of your eyes people, if you just open them. Look at all of the toxins that the FDA allows in our food, and in our personal care products (which our body absorbs..btw…anyone read their shampoo label lately? Wow).
The FDA is supposed to PROTECT US, but it is obvious they are not doing that, and one look at an ingredient label is all the proof you need. For those of you who claim you have to have the “science” to back that up, stay with that thought, and when your toxic food and toxic products destroy your health, the rest of us don’t want to hear you whining.
What they are doing to us is intentional and by design. There is no other conclusion when you pay close attention to what the FDA allows for, and also when you consider the criminal activities of Monsanto and how I have been fed GMO products for quite a long time without my knowledge…and the gov’t doesn’t allow Monsanto to be sued for any of this according to the latest I heard. Really?
The evidence is very clear to see…just OPEN YOUR EYES and look.
Well said Marise!
I totally agree with you Marise. I think Foodbabe’s blog is meant to bring awareness. It is up to individuals to do the research, and regarding the naysayers who keep posting research/scientific/manufacture links, they don’t prove anything. I much rather trust common sense. I don’t believe Vani ever pretended to be an authority on anything, just a citizen who happens to care about herself and others who has the ability and guts to stand up to those who threaten our quality of life.
FYI Medline is free to use and accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. The scientific evidence of the slow poisoning of humanity is right there under our noses (even despite the corporate ownership of most academic and medical research these days), just look it up.
Be sure and watch the CBS News video! https://foodbabe.com/2011/12/01/chemical-warfare-with-natural-flavor/
Hi. What about USDA certified organic??? Please tell me these nasty ingredients cannot be found in something trusted to be organic?
Yes, natural flavors can be found in organic foods. It’s sad, but true!
OMG I feel so nauseous. I had literally just got done eating an organic strawberry yogurt Popsicle with ‘natural flavor’! I always assumed organic meant ok. Thanks so much for that. And I know it’s not the season anymore but my husband loves Popsicles and my homemade attempts have been failures. If you have any good recipes, please share!
Like I Said ,, A Million Times Before .. There Are Trying To Kill Us ,, Before We Are 65 !!!!
What do you mean ‘sad but true’ ? What could be more natural than Beaver gland oil. It has been used for generations. Organic can also include bugs as dye and coloring agents. Hormones also occur in food “naturally”. People need to wake up and realize that producing healthy food is messy, smelly and disgusting that is nature.
I have learned so much from you the past few months but as I was watching this video I kept wondering if your boots are made from leather?!
good message as always, but loved that is was also a funny video!!
I am perplexed, you cite “you can’t eat just one” about potato chips, like they are containing some chemical. How come when I fry potatoes or make my own potato chips, I can eat the whole panfull, I love them!
Maybe you are off about some of your notions.
There is a difference between wanting to eat them all vs. your brain being tricked into it by chemical additives.
Explain the difference.
Excellent! I also avoid foods, organic or not, that have “natural flavours” added. Without even knowing what they were, I always wondered why seemingly “natural” foods had to have “natural flavouring” added. Shouldn’t their flavours already be natural without having to add more?
Looking forward to more of your shows.
So thankful to all that you do, FB! The more we all stay away from man-made products , I believe the better we all will be. All fresh/ raw products from the earth of organic are more wholesome/ real to our daily intake of food/ really. And when of purchasing package products of organic , need to read the label very carefully. If labels confuse us/ complicated to read that is a danger signal.. the more simple the ingredients the better. As mention of “natural flavor’ , you are so right FB, ‘natural flavorings’ could mean anything. Yikes!! Please keep helping all of us to know how to avoid complications in our body health, and mental health. So appreciate. Seriously, the more we know the better we will be able to keep our bodies and minds healthier inside and outside. 🙂 osita (thank you).
Loved the first video! This is extremely nasty, and I am always on the lookout for foods with natural flavors so that I can stay away from them, but really? Who figured out if you use that part of a beaver, that’s the taste you’ll get? Ew! I was just curious how you were able to find out that tons of products have castoreum in them, if they always say the information is proprietary. How can we find out this information too?
So there’s an extract from a part of an organic beaver in there, so what? Unless you’re vegan you shouldn’t care.
I’m with you on the ‘natural’ scam-term, though. Mercury is natural. So is Uranium. And Plutonium. And Arsenic. Need I go on??
BTW, bad info. on beavers being ‘good’ for rivers and water quality: They dam up a healthy flowing river, making instead a stagnant cesspool of rotting logs that they pee and crap in, and killing huge forest areas that go underwater upstream of their dams or experience drought downstream. I say gimme the pelts and eat whatever you can!
Why can’t I post this to my Facebook wall and share with my friends on Facebook?
I’m trying to live by-if there are more than three ingredients or if I can’t pronounce one ingredient, don’t eat it! It can be tough but that’s real food.
Natural flavors could be anything derived from something that once had a life. My solution to knowing what I am eating is I make everything from scratch. My grocery bill is much less, but more of my time is taken up – which is time well spent as I am eating well and I am getting healthier.
Thanks for your investigative work, Vani.
FoodBabe,
You are the best thing that has happened to health care . Your natural charisma, humor and good heart shines through and will engage others to pay attention and learn!
I had no clue about beaver butt but I do know when you call companies about their “Natural Flavors” you get no response. Thanks for the education Food Babe!
So my husband has been buying SIlk “FRuit & Protein” Non organic but it does have a NON GMO verified sign but when I look at the ingredients it lists :natural Flavor, pectin, citric acid. etc… even though its non gmo can there still be disguised msg? o beavers but lurking in :)?
Hi Ana – yes, organic or non GMO foods can still have msg and beaver butt in them!
Thank you, thank you for educating me about the trickery Food Industry used to make Natural Flavors. From today onwards I will be try to avoid natural flavors esp strawberry flavour.
Love the video! You must be ruffling some food company feathers as some of the comments here seem to be from their reps. 🙂 Just looked at my Nature’s Path Organic Apples & Cinnamon Oatmeal ingredients and last but certainly not least is “natural flavor”. Back to Whole Foods it goes! Keep up the great work!
LOL I too was thinking that some of these comments are from “the enemy.”
I started a website a couple of years back exposing some of the things I had learned, and THEY kept hacking into it, changing my password, and deleting my material. I didn’t know a lot about websites back then and didn’t have it backed up properly. Hopefully, this site is prepared for what lies ahead.
Good on ya Food Babe. You do have broad market appeal.
The people who want more science can find that themselves if they want.
As an Aussie who is suffering the same type of crap television in Australia as you have had in the US for years, you have found a sweet point with humour, your good looks and a MESSAGE!
Keep up the good work.
The lesson here is puppets could Kill Monsanto , You should do several ytube shots against Monsanto with a Bee , a cow , even a ear of corn , you get the Idea. The children are your weapon against these corporations . ( The GMO FREE Muppets) Mary the Milk Maid . buz the bee , harry the sheep , Darla the deer , Farmer Jo , Just A Idea ….
Vani – Um… That was freaking hilarious. AND INFORMATIVE. Wow… I am shocked and a little nauseaus at hearing this information… but somehow hearing you utter the words “beaver’s butt hole” just made it so much more easy to hear. HA! HA! Still laughing. Awesome Vani! So proud of you!
Katie (McLeod) Cohn
OMG! Now that was funny AND scary all at the same time!
Keep up the great investigations! Very informative!
Great video, love the FoodBabeTV , keep up the good work and thank you so much for everything you do to keep us educated and informed !!
i think you mean GRASS fed
I loved the video! The presence of Natural Flavors in Organic Foods make me think of something. Do stores add preservatives to Organic Nuts and Seed they sell in bulk? I have been buying my seeds and nuts from Whole Foods for years and recently a friend gave me professionally oven dried walnuts from her trees. I shelled the nuts and stored them in an airtight container, the same way I store the walnuts from Whole Foods. I noticed that the nuts my friend gave me went bad after 3 weeks of storage while the walnuts (and other nuts and seeds) from Whole foods are still good after 3 months of storage. In some countries an insecticide powder is added to grains and nuts to make them last longer and I wonder if something similar is used here in the US. Perhaps, whatever is used to preserve the nuts is what is causing so many nut allergies. I called Whole Foods, they said some Organic nuts are steamed pasteurized, but were not sure which or what else is used. They will call back and I will post what they say.
Thanks Vani and keep up the good work.
My local health food store did tell me that all almonds grown and sold in the US had to be pasteurized. I can’t help but wonder why.
Now that you have brought up this question, I am also beginning to wonder what they might be doing to nuts, I love and eat a lot of nuts.
Old news. Jaime Oliver shocked Letterman with beaver anal gland a few years ago.
Great stuff! The effort to know what is in our food is not only essential, but imperative. Waiting for schlock companies and under the table political bribery to solve the problem is a complete waste of our time. What these entities fear is the populace being well informed and updated regularly, Keep up the good work!
This is hilarious and fantastic, you’re doing great things and giving me great content to share with my small circle of followers. Good job with this one! Very bold!
Love the info but would love it even more if you told us how you got it. If you could site your information i’m sure we would all greatly appreciate it. Please and thank you 🙂
After reading about natural flavor and how castoreum can be used sometimes, it made me laugh. I thought it was gross, but I started making jokes about ingesting beaver butt. Seeing this article made me laugh even more since my boyfriend and I always joke about it with each other.
In reality it does gross me out. I don’t believe products need to use or add chemicals to something that already tastes good. Plus I don’t want to put what I don’t know into my body. I believe I should have that choice. It is hard to escape the natural flavor option when you start reading ingredients on products. It amazes me. I always avoid MSG too, but it’s labeling is getting trickier.
Thank you for the laugh.
Was just eating a Cliff Bar, after reading the ingredients just found out they use Natural Flavors ( Beaver Butt) Nasty!! I don’t understand why they put nasty things in their products.
How sad that they will not tell us what “Natural” really means. If we knew, we could then decide to eat it or not. At least, we make the choice.
I am so upset I hate beaverbutts I want to puke and cry. I am going to read every label on every box from now on. Thank you for the lesson
Every chance I get, I tell my friends about natural flavors and beaver butt. Does beaver butt disqualify any ‘vegetarian’ label applied to the food in question?
Not that I’d like to see it in strawberry icecream, but to fair, castoreum has a very long history of use going back hundreds of years and was part of the trapping trade here in the americas for a very long time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castoreum
better that than something involving a chemist.
I can’t stop thinking about where the heck does anyone locate and harvest that many beaver anal glands??? does it kill the beaver?? or do they grow new glands?
Butt now I have a new kitchen/food joke to amuse and perhaps influence my friends that don’t believe in GMO free or organic foods..haha!
OMGoodness Vani, this was HILARIOUS!!!!! Absolutely LOVED it!!! You got the message across in a very cute, funny way. Will definitely share with my family and friends! This is SO disgusting because I’m a vet tech and I know what anal glands are and what they have inside….GROSS. I cannot BELIEVE the FDA allows this!!! No more “natural” flavoring for me!!! THANKS VANI!!!! YOU ROCKED!!!!!
I loved it! Thanks for what you’re doing. 🙂
Totally utterly in love with the delivery of your information!! Hooked on FoodBabe TV… sharing sharing sharing. Thank you so much and probably the most amusing part of this post are the comments trying to ruffle your feathers. Keep lighting it up girl. You ROCK.
So I shared this on facebook, and one of my friends retorted asking how could it be more feasible for companies to harvest beaver butts than strawberries? Shouldn’t it be easier to grow strawberries than hunt beavers? Do you have an answer to this or some evidence I can cite to combat his argument? Thanks… keep up the good work.
Beaver’s butt is cheaper and it is all about the money, no matter what 🙂
Where are the sources to back up this claim? Not saying I disagree, but siting sources for the claims made on this site could make it seem more less of an “opinion” than the actual truth. Thanks!
https://foodbabe.com/2011/12/01/chemical-warfare-with-natural-flavor/
Make sure you watch the 60 Minutes Video
Vani, loved your video with the Disney-like version with you and a beaver puppet conveying a serious message in a funny and clever format! My husband & I are now visiting the Dutch and French island of St. Maarten in the Caribbean where roosters and chickens roam freely eating bugs and whatever else they can find. I don’t eat meat, but my husband said that the chicken cooked here on the island are better for him since they have none of the junk forced fed them in the USA!
The FDA has opened the floodgates to GMOs, unpronounceable additives in the food, obscure/disguised ingredients and other disturbing messages that make it very difficult for the consumer to understand and make informed decisions on choosing healthy food and beverages. Thank you for helping us understand all of this!
I think a lot of the posters saying ” state the resources” were trolls and quite possibly the same individual posting under different names and fake photos. Dont believe everything someone comments about. Trying to irritate. Maybe they’re even jealous. Ignore the nasty fools. They’re digging their own holes without knowing it, which is the beauty of karma. Focus on your good work and on good people.
THANK YOU!!! This is perfect. Several people in my household (including me) have Celiac disease and EARLY ON I realized that Natural Flavor means that I can’t chance it. It often hurts me.
UNRELATED- Today I had a very alarming experience with a baby food and wrote the company only to get an ignorant, dismissive response so this is very timely for me today!
KEEP UP THE AWESOME WORK! We need people willing to pursue the cause of maintaining a healthy food supply for our kids (and us too)!
Will the new Kraft/Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor be “Leave It To Beaver Butt”?
All kidding aside, this is incredibly nasty, and sad. I had no idea humans were harvesting beaver parts for food (ice cream, pudding, etc.) and perfumes. I’m going to be certain NOTHING I buy from this point forward contains generic “natural flavor”.
BTW, just found your site very recently and I’d like to thank you for fighting the good fight – thank you for helping us become more informed and therefore wiser consumers.
Can you do a write up on Natures Path Organics please? Also, for those people who have children, do you know anything about http://happyfamilybrands.com/product_lines/happy-creamies/
I asked them about their natural flavors in their products and they said it was natural fruit juice. I am contemplating if it is true…
Do they kill the beavers to take the gland, or express the gland?
Kill the beavers, they
can’t get it any other way.
then why don’t they just say, “natural fruit juice?” If they can’t answer that, I’d say you don’t need an investigation. they are hiding something.