It should be same because of same composition molecules.

While chemists make natural flavors by extracting chemicals from natural ingredients, artificial flavors are made by creating the same chemicals synthetically. ... Nor are ingredients extracted from nature necessarily safer than something artificially made. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/11/03/560048780/is-natural-flavor-healthier-than-artificial-flavor

Overall, natural flavors don't appear to be any far healthier than artificial flavors. Bottom Line: Despite their “natural” origins, natural flavors are very similar to artificial flavors. Artificial flavors may even have some advantages https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/natural-flavors

The main difference between a natural and artificial flavor is the origin of the flavor chemicals. Natural flavors must be derived from plant or animal material. Artificial flavors are synthesized in the lab. The actual chemicals in these two kinds of flavors may be exactly the same: the chemical structures of the individual molecules may be indistinguishable.

The Food and Drug Administration defines natural flavors as substances derived from animals or plants and artificial flavors are those that are not. An artificial flavor must be comprised of one of the nearly 700 FDA-allowed flavoring chemicals or food additives categorized as “generally recognized as safe,” or any of 2000 other chemicals not directly regulated by FDA but sanctioned for use by an industry group, the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association of the United States. Most of these chemicals exist as natural flavors or can be extracted from them. https://www.ewg.org/foodscores/content/natural-vs-artificial-flavors/

Natural for sure

Natural flavor is the Best in human health, but artificial or chemical flavor is low cost and more stable within process

Thanks to RG colleagues who contributed to this discussion: Professors:@Abdul Hei , @Chinaza Godswill Awuchi, @Abdullah Sikar Al-Issawi, and @ Eshak Mourad El-Hadidy.

As you know, soft drinks of fruits could be natural juices or artificial concentrates that are diluted with suitable amounts of water before drinking. In a chemical processes laboratory, I observed that not all the artificial soft drinks have the same tastes as their natural counterparts. Artificial drinks of lemon & tamarind were very close to natural but berries, in general, did not match well with the naturals. I guess one or more components might have been missed in the latter case. Please correct me if my guess is wrong.

The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means 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, etc. Artificial flavors, on the other hand, are made from anything else that doesn't fall under the "natural" umbrella. Interestingly, both types of flavors are made in the lab by scientists called "flavorists," who blend various chemicals together. The flavorist creating an artificial flavoring must use the same chemicals in his formulation as would be used to make a natural flavoring, however. Otherwise, the flavoring will not have the desired flavor. Although "natural" sure sounds better than "artificial," ingredients that come from nature aren't always safer than those that are artificially made. There are many deadly toxins that are produced in nature. In addition, artificial flavorings are simpler in composition and potentially safer because only safety-tested components are utilized. Besides health effects, natural flavors also may have more negative environmental impacts than artificial flavors. An example of massoia lactone, which is used for a creamy, coconut, spicy flavor. Harvesting it from the massoia tree in Malaysia kills the tree because harvesters have to remove the bark. In other cases collecting natural flavors involves clear-cutting and carbon emissions, which doesn't happen when flavors are created in the lab.

https://www.treehugger.com/what-are-natural-flavors-and-artificial-flavors-4862735

Thanks a lot Dr. Manal Hadi Kanaan for your informative contribution. I shall read the article, you sent, thoroughly.

• In one of the articles, attached by Prof. Chinaza Godswill Awuchi, Linden ether was considered as Honey flavor. I saw artificial honey in the market & bought one jar few years ago. It was not a good product since it did not have similarity to any natural honey neither in health value nor in taste so I just used it as sweetener for Nescafe & tea.
• Flavors may be made from plants or animals or in the lab. The famous MSG -monosodium glutamate- is a food additive made from plants and is used to enhance flavor in processed meats (such as Mortadella & sausages, salami, corned beef, hot dogs, luncheon meat, canned meat). It was amazing that MSG has tricked the younger generation to favor these cheaper processed meats over natural meats which resulted in closure of many meat shops in my town !

You may want find these links meaningful:

Is 'Natural Flavor' Healthier Than 'Artificial Flavor'?

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/11/03/560048780/is-natural-flavor-healthier-than-artificial-flavor

What is the difference between artificial and natural flavors

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-the-difference-be-2002-07-29/

The Real Meaning Of Natural Vs. Artificial Flavors

https://www.mashed.com/168846/the-real-meaning-of-natural-vs-artificial-flavors/

Artificial vs. Natural in the Secretive World of Flavor

https://impakter.com/artificial-vs-natural-in-the-secretive-world-of-flavor/

NATURAL & ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS: HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT?

https://flavorman.com/natural-and-artificial-flavors-how-are-they-different

Many thanks to Dr. Zane Asher Green for the 5 contributions which enriched the discussion by attaching valuable articles.

I have read recently that the progress of science & technology has reached a stage where in few years time, one will enter a meat shop or (a butcher shop as called in some countries) and find 2 types looking & tasting very similar: natural meat & synthetic "artificial" meat containing flavors ! To get an advantage edge, I think the producers of artificial meat will add supplements. We have seen this done to milk powders (they have written on the labels e.g. Calcium, Vitamins A & D added) to attract customers.

Flavorists, who are formerly chemists, are less than 500 in the U.S.A and their research is surrounded by secrecy as one of the articles (sent by Dr. Green) stated. My explanation for secrecy, which invites correction if there are faults in it, is as follows: It is not just because the flavorists target big companies, such as the one mentioned in the article, but also this applies to small-scale batch industries.

You know that one can buy fruit drinks of some fruits (e.g. apricots, peaches, plums, cherries) in cans or bottles produced batch-wise , and these may contain few pieces of fruits to win the trust of the customers. Many of us came to know that a one- liter bottle of such drinks will never contain one liter of fruit juice but far less volume than that. Therefore, there will be a mixture of the natural juice plus an added aqueous volume which contains the artificial flavor "which has to mimic the natural flavor" and this addition has to be at a low cost. At the end of the day, the 3- dollars bottle, bought by the consumer, may have required half a dollar expending by the company while the "happy" buyer is paying much for the water content !

To explain more on what was written above "...there will be a mixture of the natural juice plus an added aqueous volume which contains the artificial flavor..." :

The first smaller part has to mix well with the second larger part to get homogeneous solution which persists until the product is sold (i.e. for say 3 months). If the mixed parts were incompatible, precipitation may occur. Customers may refuse to buy this product. This happened to an industrial plant, owned by a friend of mine, which stopped the production line. I saw him last year & encouraged him to resume production after changing the added part.

According to https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/carrot-juice-benefits

The delicious natural carrot juice may:

improve eye health. ... boost immunity. ... provide anticancer effects. ... improve blood sugar control. ... improve skin health. ... boost heart health. ... protect your liver… and other benefits.

Trouble is that one has to drink the fresh juice immediately. I once bought a liter of this juice in Summer time and drank it after 4-5 hours for obligatory reasons. I found that the taste has changed for worse. We, chemists, assume that there must have been reaction(s) in the course of these hours.

While one can see several drinks of fruits in the market (examples mentioned in one of my contributions above) , I have not seen a complete carrot drink. I shall assume that science has not progressed into preserving the natural flavor(s) of carrot and into producing adequate artificial flavor(s) of carrots.

What do you think? I shall be grateful if a scholar adds a contribution concerning this problem: manufacture of carrot drink with reasonable lifetime.

Natural flavors used in food products and cosmetics are better and safer for health compared to artificial ones. However, due to the shelf life issue, the issues of the possibility of a shorter lifetime in natural flavors and often higher costs of obtaining them, producers of various food, cosmetic, etc. products often use artificial, chemically produced substitutes for natural flavors. while on the packaging of products it is often written that the chemical composition of the products contains an artificial flavor identical to natural or an flavor identical to natural (and therefore not natural). This is a deliberate informational maneuver that may mislead consumers, who tend to prefer natural flavors over artificially produced substitutes.

Best regards,

Dariusz Prokopowicz

Natural Flavors

Thank you Dr. Dariusz Prokopowicz for your valuable contribution. I think that it is the duty of the government to have a bureau which carries out tests on products to see if the product contains what is stated on the label. If not, the product must be rejected before it reaches the consumers. However, the best judge for any product is the market. Few years ago, I tasted Guava drink produced by a new company and its taste was weird. Of course, I never repeated this and the product disappeared from the market in short time. Mind you, there is tasty Guava drink, which survived for years, indicating that the company has combined natural & artificial flavors in proper manner.

Thank you Zeinab Ali Dashoor for your contribution. I know that many people prefer natural flavors. However , if an artificial flavor exactly matches the natural counterpart then one cannot distinguish which is which !

I gave in a contribution, above, that MSG has enhanced the flavor of processed meats tricking the young generation to favor them over natural meats.

Dear Scientists

Thank you to all for your nice discussion. I think natural flavor is better than artificial flavour. Natural flavor is always costly than artificial flavour. for example vinilla.

Thank you

I'd rather have natural flavors in my foods.

Most of the colleagues here & other people, in general, prefer natural flavors. But as Md. Atikul Islam reminded us these flavors are more costly than their artificial counterparts.

There are sweets, in the market, which have banana flavor. If natural flavor is to be extracted from the fruit, the process is cost-intensive. However, the ester (isoamyl acetate) can be prepared easily at much lower cost (my students prepared it in many organic chemistry labs) . This compound is safe to use & confers banana flavor "or better !" on the sweets.

It should be Natural flavour, as artificial might be having its shortcomings.

Interesting Question, from my Childhood I heard about adding Artificial Flavours in many beverages. It causes health issues.

In my perspective, Natural flavours are much better and appreciated.

Thanks.