{
    "id": 1070309,
    "title": "What \"natural flavouring\" means on a tea label",
    "slug": "what-natural-flavouring-means",
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    "url": "https://teas.co.uk/wiki/what-natural-flavouring-means/",
    "modified": "2026-09-18T00:45:36+01:00",
    "excerpt": "Natural flavouring is a flavouring ingredient, not fruit. What the 95% rule really covers, why the picture is not the recipe, and how to read a tea label.",
    "content_text": "\"Natural flavouring\" is an ingredient in its own right \u2014 a flavouring made from natural source material \u2014 and it is not the same thing as having fruit in the bag. A tea can smell intensely of raspberry and contain no raspberry at all.\r\nThat is not a scandal; flavoured tea is a legitimate, long-established product. But it explains why so many fruit teas smell wonderful and taste of very little: aroma is doing the work.\r\nThe wording tells you more than you think\r\nRetained EU flavouring law (Regulation 1334/2008) sets out how flavourings can be described, and the exact phrasing matters. Article 16 on legislation.gov.uk\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWhat the label says\r\nWhat it means\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nNatural strawberry flavouring\r\nAt least 95% of the flavouring component comes from strawberry\r\n\r\n\r\nNatural strawberry flavouring with other natural flavourings\r\nStrawberry is recognisable, but other natural flavourings make up more of the mix\r\n\r\n\r\nNatural flavouring\r\nA natural flavouring, with no single named source promised\r\n\r\n\r\nFlavouring\r\nNot restricted to natural sources\r\n\r\n\r\nStrawberry pieces\r\nActual fruit, declared as an ingredient in its own right\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe 95% applies to the flavouring, not to the tea bag. If a blend contains 0.5% flavouring, then 95% of that 0.5% came from strawberry. It says nothing about how much fruit is in the bag \u2014 which is usually none.\r\nThe picture on the box is not the recipe\r\nPackaging shows what a tea is meant to taste like. The ingredients list shows what is in it. When they disagree, believe the list.\r\nA \"pear and white tea\" might be:\r\n\r\nwhite tea with dried pear pieces,\r\nwhite tea with natural pear flavouring,\r\nor white tea with apple pieces and pear flavouring \u2014 apple being the cheap, sturdy fruit that gives fruit blends their bulk.\r\n\r\nAll three are legal, and all three taste different. If you want actual fruit, look for the fruit named in the ingredients with a percentage beside it.\r\nPercentages: where they appear and what they mean\r\nWhere a fruit is emphasised on the label, its quantity usually has to be declared in the ingredients \u2014 that is the \"(10%)\" you sometimes see. Ingredients are also listed in descending order by weight, so the first two or three are most of the bag.\r\nA useful habit: read the first three ingredients, then look for the fruit you were promised on the front. In many fruit teas the top of the list is apple, hibiscus and rosehip, whatever the box is called.\r\nDoes flavoured tea taste worse?\r\nNo \u2014 it depends on the blend and your preference. Flavouring gives consistency and intensity; real fruit pieces give body, natural sweetness and a rounder taste, but they fade faster and cost more.\r\n\r\nWant aroma? Flavoured blends deliver it.\r\nWant fruit taste and body? Look for a high percentage of actual fruit pieces.\r\nWant no flavouring at all? Buy plain tea and add fresh fruit yourself.\r\n\r\nMore about what is usually in the bag in fruit tea explained, and about scenting versus flavouring in scented vs flavoured tea.\r\nCommon questions\r\nIs natural flavouring made from the fruit?\r\nIt is made from natural source material, which may or may not be the fruit named. Only the \"natural X flavouring\" wording ties it to a named source.\r\nIs \"natural\" healthier than \"flavouring\"?\r\nIt tells you about the source of the flavouring, not about nutrition.\r\nWhy do fruit teas smell sweeter than they taste?\r\nBecause aroma carries fruit and there is no sugar in the cup. See why fruit tea smells sweeter than it tastes.\r\nDo allergens have to be declared in flavourings?\r\nYes. Any of the 14 regulated allergens used must be declared, however it enters the product. See allergens in tea.",
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