Regulatory
Natural Flavor vs WONF: What Is the Difference?
The difference between natural flavor, natural WONF and from-the-named-fruit flavors — what each allows you to claim, what each costs, and how to choose.
September 21, 2026 · 3 min
Flavorist
Theo Vance
Theo covers the practical side: how a flavor is actually put together, why a product ends up tasting bitter or flat or nothing like the sample, and what you can change to fix it.
Most of what he writes here is about masking — covering up a taste you don't want — because that is what most people are really asking about when they call a flavor company.
Areas of focus
- Flavor creation
- Masking off-notes
- Labeling and natural claims
- Heat and shelf-life stability
Bylines
43 pages by Theo Vance
Formulation
How to Mask Pea Protein Off-Notes
A step-by-step development sequence for masking pea protein, covering isolate screening, blend design, dosing trials and how to run the sensory work.
September 10, 2026 · 4 min
Formulation
Liquid vs Powder Flavor: Which Should Product Developers Use?
When to use a liquid flavor and when to use a powder — dosing accuracy, dispersion, top-note retention, shelf life and cost compared.
September 10, 2026 · 3 min
Flavor profile
Root Beer Flavor
What root beer tastes like and why, from sassafras and the 1960 safrole ban to wintergreen, vanilla and licorice, and how to build a root beer flavor today.
October 23, 2026 · 3 min
Flavor profile
What Flavor Is Amaretto?
What amaretto tastes like, why benzaldehyde makes apricot kernels taste of almond, and how to build amaretto flavor for creamers and bakery without liqueur.
October 23, 2026 · 3 min
Flavor profile
What Flavor Is Coke?
What Coca-Cola tastes like, how it differs from Pepsi, what the company has and has not disclosed, and what that means if you are building a cola-type flavor.
October 23, 2026 · 3 min
Flavor profile
What Is Pandan Flavor?
What pandan tastes like, why it shares its key aroma compound with jasmine and basmati rice, and why that compound is so hard to keep through heat and storage.
October 23, 2026 · 3 min
Flavor profile
What Flavor Is the Mystery Airhead?
What the White Mystery Airhead tastes like, how it started, the production-line explanation, and what it shows about color and flavor in candy.
October 21, 2026 · 3 min
Flavor profile
What Flavor Is Superman Ice Cream?
What the red, yellow and blue in Superman ice cream usually taste like, how the mix varies by maker, its unproven Detroit origin, and what it takes to make one.
October 20, 2026 · 3 min
Flavor profile
What Flavor Is Blue Moon Ice Cream?
What Blue Moon ice cream tastes like, the disputed origin claims, who owns the name, and how to build a blue moon-type ice cream for your own range.
October 19, 2026 · 3 min
Flavor profile
What Flavor Is Butterbeer?
What butterbeer tastes like, the butterscotch chemistry behind it, what Universal has said about its version, and how to build a butterscotch cream soda.
October 19, 2026 · 3 min
Flavor profile
What Flavor Are Swedish Fish?
What red Swedish Fish taste like, why lingonberry is the usual answer, what the ingredients do, and how to build a Swedish Fish-type red berry chew.
October 16, 2026 · 4 min
Flavor profile
Cola Flavor
What cola flavor is made of (citrus oils, vanilla, spice, phosphoric acid and caramel color), where the kola nut fits, and how to build a cola that holds up.
October 15, 2026 · 3 min
Flavor profile
Umami
What umami is, the glutamate and nucleotide chemistry behind it, the receptor, and how to use it for sodium reduction without tripping US labeling rules.
October 15, 2026 · 4 min
Flavor profile
What Flavor Is Red Velvet?
What red velvet tastes like, where the cocoa, tang and cream cheese notes come from, the competing origin claims, and why the red is the hard part in production.
October 15, 2026 · 3 min
Flavor profile
What Flavor Is Candy Corn?
What candy corn tastes like, which ingredients create the honey-vanilla profile, and what to plan for before building a candy corn flavored product for fall.
October 14, 2026 · 3 min
Flavor profile
What Flavor Is Dr Pepper?
What Dr Pepper tastes like, which aroma compounds carry its cherry, almond and vanilla notes, and how to build a Dr Pepper-type flavor that holds up.
October 14, 2026 · 3 min
Flavor profile
Mango Flavor
Mango flavor profile, the difference between Alphonso and Tommy Atkins character, applications, and the sulfur chemistry that makes it process-sensitive.
October 1, 2026 · 2 min
Flavor profile
Vanilla Flavor
Vanilla flavor profile, the difference between extract, vanillin and natural vanilla, price volatility, and why vanilla is the hardest brief in masking work.
September 24, 2026 · 2 min
Flavor profile
Blue Raspberry Flavor
What blue raspberry actually is, where the profile came from, how it is built, and why it remains one of the most commercially reliable flavors in confectionery and supplements.
September 16, 2026 · 2 min
Flavor profile
Strawberry Flavor
Strawberry flavor profile, applications, pairings and technical considerations — including why natural strawberry extract underperforms and what to specify instead.
September 10, 2026 · 2 min
Flavor profile
Yuzu Flavor
Yuzu flavor profile, applications, emerging uses and technical considerations for beverages, confectionery and dairy.
September 10, 2026 · 2 min
Application
Dairy Flavor Development
A hub for dairy flavor — ice cream, yogurt and milk beverages, and why dosage, release and stability all behave differently in a fat-continuous system.
October 7, 2026 · 2 min
Application
Bakery Flavor Development
A hub for bakery flavor — bake stability, where flavor survives in a baked matrix, and how to specify for cookies, cakes, pastries and bars.
September 29, 2026 · 2 min
Application
Confectionery Flavor Development
A hub for confectionery flavor — candy, gummies, chocolate and freeze-dried formats, and the process constraints that decide which flavors are possible.
September 10, 2026 · 2 min
Formulation
Heat Stability
How thermal processing degrades flavor, which components are most at risk, and the practical strategies for retaining flavor through heat.
September 29, 2026 · 3 min
Formulation
Flavor Masking
A plain guide to flavor masking — the four ways to do it, how to work out which one you need, and what masking cannot fix.
September 10, 2026 · 5 min
Formulation
Plant Protein Masking
A practical guide to masking pea and other plant protein off-notes — where the earthy, green and bitter notes come from and how to address each one.
September 10, 2026 · 3 min
Glossary
GRAS
What GRAS status means for a flavor ingredient in the United States, and what a developer should ask a supplier to confirm.
October 22, 2026 · 1 min
Glossary
Natural & Artificial Flavor
Why so many ingredient statements read "natural and artificial flavor", and what that combination is usually doing in the formula.
October 22, 2026 · 1 min
Glossary
Extract
What a flavor extract is, how it differs from a flavor, and why the two are not interchangeable in a formula.
October 19, 2026 · 1 min
Glossary
Oleoresin
What an oleoresin is, why it is the standard form for spice flavor, and how it behaves differently from a ground spice.
October 19, 2026 · 1 min
Glossary
Taste Modulation
What taste modulators do at the receptor level, and why they have changed how sugar and sodium reduction are approached.
October 16, 2026 · 1 min
Glossary
Flavor Enhancer
What a flavor enhancer is, how it differs from a flavor, and the main classes in commercial use.
October 14, 2026 · 1 min
Glossary
Spray Drying
How spray-dried flavors are made, what is lost in the process, and how to specify one properly.
October 12, 2026 · 1 min
Glossary
Carrier
What a flavor carrier does, the common options, and how carrier choice affects solubility, dosage and labeling.
October 6, 2026 · 1 min
Glossary
Emulsion
What a flavor emulsion is, why beverages use them, and the two failure modes to watch for.
October 2, 2026 · 1 min
Glossary
Encapsulation
How flavor encapsulation works, what it protects against, and when the cost is justified.
October 1, 2026 · 1 min
Glossary
Top Note
What a top note is, why it disappears first, and what its loss does to a product over shelf life.
September 28, 2026 · 1 min
Glossary
Artificial Flavor
What artificial flavor means in US labeling, why it is often more stable than a natural equivalent, and where it is still standard practice.
September 24, 2026 · 1 min
Glossary
Natural WONF
How a natural WONF flavor is specified, what it costs relative to the alternatives, and when it is the right choice.
September 18, 2026 · 1 min
Glossary
Natural Flavor
What "natural flavor" legally means on a US ingredient label, and what it does not tell you about the product.
September 10, 2026 · 1 min
Glossary
WONF
What WONF means on a flavor specification, and how it differs from a plain natural flavor.
September 10, 2026 · 1 min