"Natural flavors" in ingredients labels are sometimes questionable. Are these flavors vegan? To answer this question about Good Earth Tea, which has a popular blend that has been sold in many markets for a long time, I asked the company. Today I received this response:
"Thank you for reaching out to us at Good Earth Tea. The natural flavors in our teas are a blend of compounds that are naturally derived from plants or fruits. They are commonly added to foods/beverages to enhance or complement their flavor. Natural flavors are generally a mixture of flavoring ingredients that are blended together to give the desired flavor profile. The precise composition of a natural flavor(s) are proprietary to the flavor house.
The flavoring constituents are derived from a spice, fruit, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or other natural source. The flavoring constituents are extracted and purified from the natural source and blended together to produce the natural flavor for a given product. So a natural flavor with a lemon citrus profile may contain natural constituents derived from lemon, but also from e.g. orange, lime, lemongrass etc.
In our Sweet & Spicy tea, the “natural flavor” consists of 100% natural extracts from cinnamon cassia, from Indonesia/Vietnam/China, and oil extracted from oranges in USA. The specific combination of these two ingredients, along with the mix of botanicals, account for the sweetness you taste in the tea. We hope this information has been helpful. Sincerely, Idalia Davila Good Earth Tea Consumer Services Department"
