How To Taste Food Like A Flavor Chemist

And why natural flavors are shrouded in secrecy...“Natural flavors” show up on ingredient lists for all kinds of foods. But what does that mean exactly? We get a peek into the secretive science of flavoring when we talk with Marie Wright of ADM Nutrition, who’s created more than 1,000 flavors in her 30 years as a flavor chemist. She explains how natural flavors are made, why lemon flavor doesn’t contain lemon juice, and why flavoring plant-based burgers is so hard. Then she walks Dan through a series of experiments to teach him to taste food the way she does. (You can do your own versions with instructions at Sporkful.com.) Plus, Marie responds to criticism about the rise of natural and artificial flavors in processed foods, and their role in the obesity epidemic. Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.