Artificial flavourings

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Lady B

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Yesterday, I was making some esters in the lab. For those of you who don't know, esters are extremely fragrant chemical compounds of acids and alcohols, and whenever your soda, candy, or whatever says it's "artificially flavoured", it's most likely esters in the works.

I made esters that smelled like root beer, pear, peach, and pineapple. I also tried making jasmine, but to me it smelled like sour poop... One of my classmates said he thought it smelled like raspberry, though <_>

A couple more days ago, I finally got over my fear of artificial grape flavour, and had some grape Nerds. The fear came from me trying grape soda last year, and after having just one sip, the sickeningly sweet flavour gave me a headache which made me throw up. The Nerds weren't that bad, but I still don't think I'm much of a fan of artificial grape.

And that brings me to the topic of this thread! What is your opinion on artificial flavourings? Are there any you enjoy or dislike? Can you not stand anything but the real deal?
 
Oh wow, a chemist-in-training!

The whole 'organic' and 'natural' and 'artificial' divide is born from complete ignorance of chemistry. You weren't making an artificial flavour .. you were making the same molecule that the plant synthesizes for flavour. But somehow, doing it in a flask is not as 'natural' as getting it from a plant.
 
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Artificial anything never tastes like the stuff it's supposed to be (fruit flavours, anyways), we just associate it as such because it's colour coordinated and the package says what it's supposed to be and we see it all the time since we were kids.

That said, I enjoy artificial flavour and there's very few I don't enjoy, save for anything like the non-fruit or soda flavored Jelly Bellys. Give me a bag ofJolly Ranchers and I'll be your friend for life, particularly the blue raspberry and watermelon flavours.
 
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I can't speak in regards to if the science is accurate here or not.

But I find I tend to enjoy Orange a lot.
Grape is also pretty good, and generally any of the flavors that get coloured blue also work well.
 
unanun said:
Oh wow, a chemist-in-training!

The whole 'organic' and 'natural' and 'artificial' divide is born from complete ignorance of chemistry. You weren't making an artificial flavour .. you were making the same molecule that the plant synthesizes for flavour. But somehow, doing it in a flask is not as 'natural' as getting it from a plant.
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Many people will still see it as unnatural despite being almost entirely similar to the original. To them it's all in the process by which it becomes and not always the end result. I've heard people talk about in-vitro fertilization as unnatural because the sperm weren't doing their job properly or somesuch.

This isn't debate, soooo...

Pretty much everything on a store shelf has artificial flavors. All has to do with shelf life or something I'm sure. For me it's easy to tell what's real and not, but it's not going to make a huge difference in whether I eat it or not.

As for the sickeningly sweet soda you had. Most soda has acid in it to keep you from getting that reaction. Something about the acid tricking your body into not noticing such an ingestion of pure glucose or something.
 
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I find the whole "It's done in a lab so it's evil!" mentality to be stupid.

If the end result is the same who the hell cares if it grew in nature or was man made?
Now like I said above, I can't comment on the science's accuracy in this case. So I have no idea how accurate it is genetically.

But if in theory it is accurate? Then the complaining is pointless.
 
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unanun said:
Oh wow, a chemist-in-training!

The whole 'organic' and 'natural' and 'artificial' divide is born from complete ignorance of chemistry. You weren't making an artificial flavour .. you were making the same molecule that the plant synthesizes for flavour. But somehow, doing it in a flask is not as 'natural' as getting it from a plant.
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Feel free to nitpick all you want, but using the term "artificial flavouring" makes it easier for people to understand that the topic of this thread is about the kinds of flavours that are produced chemically by humans combining them, rather than any and all flavours at all. Speaking of the topic of this thread, I'd prefer it if we stuck to it ^^
 
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This is a topic about which flavors we like and/or hate. 8D Whether or not it's evil, is an entirely different kind of discussion. O_O


Personally, I fucking hate artificial peach flavors. HATE THEM. HAAAAAAAAATE. I have never been able to stomach them no matter what form they came in. @__@ If it's not an actual peach, don't give it to me.
 
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Gwazi Magnum said:
I find the whole "It's done in a lab so it's evil!" mentality to be stupid.

If the end result is the same who the hell cares if it grew in nature or was man made?
Now like I said above, I can't comment on the science's accuracy in this case. So I have no idea how accurate it is genetically.

But if in theory it is accurate? Then the complaining is pointless.
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The end result isn't the same, because flavour compounds in fruits and the like are much more complex than a single ester. Chemists struggle every day to simulate those complex compounds, because it would be much cheaper and efficient to produce chemicals to flavour products rather than to grow and harvest the "real deal".

Also, this thread is about your opinion on the flavours themselves, not whether you find them "evil" or not O__O
 
After a quick check in my fridge and a glance at @Diana 's post I've made a list.
  • Artificial banana is just shit.
  • Grape is edible, but nothing like real ones.
  • Raspberry is edible, but nothing like the real deal.
  • Blueberry, same as grape and raspberry.
  • Fake smoke is kinda meh, but strong seasoning helps.
 
Well, I mean, that was in your list of discussion topics ... 'can you stand anything that's not part of the real deal?'

Isn't texture a huge part of the food experience? If you eat a grape flavoured candy, you would perhaps find it strange because the texture doesn't match what you expect it to be based on prior experience. What if I could somehow wash the flavour out of a peach, then put a peach ester back into it? Would you notice or care?
 
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Honestly, I don't particularly like them. I don't hate them, either, but they just never taste like fruit.
 
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Watermelon flavored stuff is almost universally great. Orange and green apple are tied for second for me.
 
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unanun said:
Well, I mean, that was in your list of discussion topics ... 'can you stand anything that's not part of the real deal?'
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Grape ester may taste similar to, but not exactly like a "real" grape, because they're not the only thing that makes up the grapes' flavour. Hence the 'real deal' thing.
 
I tend not to notice a difference, really; though that's more so due to the incapabilities of my taste buds and not because there's no difference whatsoever. I'm sure there's at least a little bit difference between artificial and natural, it'd be hard for there not to be.
 
I love artificially flavored Bacon Soda. Watermelon is my next favorite artificial flavoring.
 
A few smart people, and a fair amount of haters. I would rate 4 stars.
 
My favorites are Watermelon and the taste of bubblegum (just plain bubblegum.)
 
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