When you read a pet food or treat label, terms like chicken, beef, and salmon may catch your eye. But tucked further down the ingredient list, you may notice a vague term such as natural flavor or artificial flavor. While these ingredients may sound harmless, they often provide very little useful information to pet owners.
Understanding what flavorings are—and why they are added—can help you make more informed choices about what you feed your pets.
What Is “Natural Flavor”?
The term natural flavor sounds reassuring, but it is surprisingly nonspecific. Like other broad ingredient terms, such as meat by-products, it tells consumers almost nothing about the source of the ingredient.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), natural flavors must be derived from an organic source such as:
- Fruits and vegetables
- Herbs and spices
- Meat, poultry, and seafood
- Eggs and dairy products
- Fermentation products
The FDA defines natural flavor as substances such as essential oils, extracts, protein hydrolysates, and distillates whose primary purpose is to add flavor rather than nutritional value.
However, while the original source must be natural, the processing methods used to extract and concentrate these flavorings may involve heat, enzymes, acids, and other chemical treatments.
Why Add Flavorings at All?
Flavorings are added to make food and treats more appealing to pets and horses. This raises an important question:
If the ingredients are high quality and naturally palatable, why is additional flavoring needed?
In some cases, manufacturers use flavorings to enhance the taste of products made with lower-quality ingredients or ingredients that may not be particularly appetizing on their own.
Since pet owners are unlikely to continue buying a food their pets refuse to eat, flavor enhancers can play a significant role in making a product more marketable.
How the FDA Regulates Flavor Claims
The FDA allows manufacturers to label products with terms like “Beef Flavor Dog Food” even when very little actual beef is present.
Instead, the flavor may come from ingredients such as:
- Beef meal
- Beef by-products
- Animal digests
One of the most common flavoring ingredients in pet food is digest.
What Is Digest?
Digest is produced by treating animal tissues with heat, enzymes, and/or acids to create concentrated flavor compounds. For example, a small amount of chicken digest can provide enough taste to label a product as “Chicken Flavored Cat Food,” even if no whole chicken is included.
Other flavoring ingredients may include:
- Broths and stocks
- Whey (to provide milk flavor)
- Smoke or bacon flavorings in treats
Artificial vs. Natural Flavorings
Natural Flavorings
Derived from plant or animal sources that meet FDA criteria, but may still undergo significant processing.
Artificial Flavorings
Created using synthetic chemicals designed to mimic natural tastes.
Interestingly, artificial flavors are relatively uncommon in pet foods, with artificial smoke and bacon flavors being among the few notable exceptions.
Why Ingredient Transparency Matters
Generic terms like natural flavor and artificial flavor do not reveal:
- The exact source of the ingredient
- How it was processed
- Whether it contains substances that may trigger food sensitivities
This lack of specificity can be especially concerning for pets with food allergies or intolerances.
For example, a dog allergic to chicken could potentially react to a product containing “natural flavor” if that flavoring was derived from chicken, even though the label does not explicitly state the source.
What to Look for on Labels
The best labels identify the specific origin of flavorings.
A more transparent ingredient declaration might read:
- “Natural apple flavor derived from organic apples”
- “Natural chicken flavor”
- “Beef broth”
Specific ingredient names allow pet owners to better assess quality and avoid ingredients that may cause adverse reactions.
The Bottom Line
Flavorings are commonly used to improve the taste of pet foods and treats, but generic terms like natural flavor offer little insight into what your pet is actually consuming.
Whenever possible, choose foods with:
- Clearly identified ingredients
- Specific flavor sources
- Minimal use of vague or highly processed additives
By reading labels carefully and understanding what these terms mean, you can make more informed decisions and select foods that better support your pet’s health.