The FDA does not publish a single consolidated natural flavors list. The approved substances are spread across several sections of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and together those sections identify hundreds of plants, extracts, essential oils, and other materials that qualify as natural flavoring. The most useful entry points are 21 CFR 172.510 and the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) lists in Part 182.
Where the Approved Natural Flavors Are Listed
Four places in the regulations do most of the work.
21 CFR 172.510 is the section titled “Natural flavoring substances and natural substances used in conjunction with flavors.” It contains roughly 130 named plant-derived substances approved for use as flavorings, each with a common name, a scientific name, and any use limitations. Entries range from familiar ingredients like cassia bark and ginger to more specialized ones like angostura bark, which is limited to beverages, and artemisia, which must be thujone-free in the finished food. Some carry specific safety caps: cherry pits, for example, cannot exceed 25 parts per million of prussic acid.1eCFR. 21 CFR 172.510 – Natural Flavoring Substances and Natural Substances Used in Conjunction With Flavors
21 CFR 182.20 catalogs essential oils, solvent-free oleoresins, and natural extractives that are GRAS for flavoring use. It covers vanilla, peppermint, rosemary, saffron, ginger, basil, coriander, and dozens of others, each tied to a specific botanical name.2eCFR. 21 CFR 182.20 – Essential Oils, Oleoresins (Solvent-Free), and Natural Extractives (Including Distillates)
Other GRAS sections fill in what the two lists above don’t cover. Section 182.10 lists spices and other natural seasonings. Section 182.40 covers natural extractives used in conjunction with spices. Section 182.50 catches certain other GRAS substances. Part 184 contains direct food substances that have been formally affirmed as GRAS.3eCFR. 21 CFR 101.22 – Foods; Labeling of Spices, Flavorings, Colorings and Chemical Preservatives
All of these lists are publicly available on the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations at ecfr.gov. There is no single page that pulls them together, so a full lookup means checking each section separately.
The Definition That Decides What Belongs on the List
Whether an ingredient can be called a natural flavor at all is governed by 21 CFR 101.22. That regulation defines a natural flavor by its source: it must come from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf, meat, seafood, poultry, egg, dairy product, or the product of fermenting any of those materials.3eCFR. 21 CFR 101.22 – Foods; Labeling of Spices, Flavorings, Colorings and Chemical Preservatives
The regulation also specifies the form the flavoring must take. It has to be an essential oil, oleoresin, essence, extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or a product of roasting, heating, or enzyme breakdown of one of the source materials above.
One requirement trips people up: purpose. A substance only qualifies as a natural flavor if its primary role in the food is flavoring, not nutrition. A fruit puree added mainly for sweetness or fiber does not count. The same fruit processed into a concentrated aromatic extract used to give a product its taste does.
The regulatory phrase “natural flavor” is much narrower than the marketing word “natural.” The FDA has a longstanding informal policy treating “natural” on a label to mean nothing artificial or synthetic was added, but it never completed formal rulemaking to define the term, and that policy was never meant to address production methods like genetic engineering or irradiation.4Food and Drug Administration. Use of the Term Natural on Food Labeling 101.22 is the precise definition; the general “natural” claim is not.
The FEMA GRAS List Flavor Manufacturers Actually Use
The FDA lists in Parts 172, 182, and 184 are the formal legal baseline, but the working reference most flavor manufacturers use is a separate roster maintained by the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA). Established in 1959, the FEMA Expert Panel independently reviews flavor ingredients and assigns them GRAS status using the same “reasonable certainty of no harm” safety standard the FDA applies. The panel consists of outside scientists in toxicology, biochemistry, and related fields who operate independently of the trade association’s membership.
The FEMA GRAS list is substantially larger than the FDA’s own regulatory lists, covering thousands of evaluated flavoring substances. The scientific basis for each determination is shared with the FDA, and the agency has acknowledged in Federal Register notices that FEMA GRAS substances are eligible for inclusion in the FDA’s own GRAS review framework.
The self-affirmation model built into GRAS law is what makes this parallel list possible. A flavor manufacturer or an expert panel can review the available science, conclude that a substance qualifies as GRAS, and put it into use without waiting for FDA sign-off. The FDA runs a voluntary notification program where companies can submit their GRAS conclusions for review, but notification is not required.5eCFR. 21 CFR Part 170 Subpart E – Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) Notice As of early 2026, the FDA’s GRAS notice inventory contained over 1,290 submissions filed since the program launched in 1998.6U.S. Food and Drug Administration. GRAS Notices
The legal safety threshold, “reasonable certainty of no harm,” is not optional, and the scientific basis for any GRAS determination must be generally available. The FDA retains enforcement authority and can challenge a GRAS conclusion if the underlying evidence doesn’t hold up.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 321 – Definitions; Generally
Natural vs. Artificial Is About Origin, Not Chemistry
The line between natural and artificial flavor sits on one question: where did the flavoring molecule come from. If it was derived from a plant, animal, or microbial source that fits the 101.22 definition, it is natural. If it was synthesized from any other source, it is artificial. The regulation defines artificial flavor as any substance that imparts flavor but does not come from the specified biological sources.3eCFR. 21 CFR 101.22 – Foods; Labeling of Spices, Flavorings, Colorings and Chemical Preservatives
This is strictly about origin, not chemistry. A vanillin molecule extracted from vanilla beans is a natural flavor. The same vanillin molecule synthesized in a lab is artificial, even though the two are chemically identical and indistinguishable in a blind taste test. Extraction and processing can be quite complex and still produce a “natural” flavor, so long as the starting material qualifies. The regulation does not equate “natural” with simpler or less processed.
What Actually Goes Into a “Natural Flavor” on a Label
A natural flavor on a food label is almost never a single compound from the lists. It is typically a proprietary blend that pairs concentrated flavoring constituents with supporting substances that make the blend stable and functional. Those supporting substances, called incidental additives, do not themselves need to be derived from natural sources.
Incidental additives dissolve the flavor concentrate (solvents), keep the mixture uniform (emulsifiers), carry it into the food (carriers), or prevent it from breaking down on the shelf (preservatives). Common examples include propylene glycol and food-grade alcohol. These additives must either be GRAS, approved as food additives, or qualify as processing aids under 21 CFR 101.100.3eCFR. 21 CFR 101.22 – Foods; Labeling of Spices, Flavorings, Colorings and Chemical Preservatives If they are present at insignificant levels in the finished food and have no technical effect, they do not need to be separately listed on the food label.8eCFR. 21 CFR 101.100 – Food; Exemptions From Labeling
For solvents used during extraction, the FDA sets specific residue limits in 21 CFR Part 173. Acetone residues in spice oleoresins are capped at 30 parts per million. Methylene chloride has the same 30 ppm cap in spice oleoresins, with combined residues from all chlorinated solvents also limited to 30 ppm total. Isopropyl alcohol is allowed at up to 50 ppm in spice oleoresins and 6 ppm in lemon oil.9eCFR. 21 CFR Part 173 – Secondary Direct Food Additives Permitted in Food for Human Consumption These limits keep the processing chemistry out of what you eat, even when the flavor itself starts from a naturally sourced material.
What “Natural Flavor” Can’t Hide
The generic “natural flavor” declaration on an ingredient list is allowed only when every flavoring component actually meets the 101.22 definition and every non-flavoring component qualifies as an incidental additive. Two categories of ingredient have to be named regardless.
The first is major food allergens. If any component of the flavor is or contains a major food allergen, that allergen has to be disclosed on the label even if it would otherwise ride along as an incidental additive. Federal law identifies nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame.10U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Food Allergies The allergen’s food source must appear either in parentheses after the ingredient name or in a separate “Contains” statement near the ingredient list.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 343 – Misbranded Food
The second is monosodium glutamate and protein hydrolysates. MSG must be declared by name whenever it is used as a food ingredient. Protein hydrolysates, which contain naturally occurring glutamates and function as both flavorings and flavor enhancers, must also be listed by their specific common name and can never be declared simply as “flavor” or “natural flavor.”3eCFR. 21 CFR 101.22 – Foods; Labeling of Spices, Flavorings, Colorings and Chemical Preservatives Those are the ingredients the FDA specifically forces out from under the “natural flavor” umbrella.