> >>I don't know if "natural flavors" means something funky, like msg...
>
> "Natural Flavors" is as ambiguous as it gets. It could be virtually
anything
> that could possibly be considered "natural" (sugar, MSG, wheat, barley,
> chicken feet, anything).

I read an excellent article on this subject, in the January 2001 issue of
Atlantic Weekly.  The full article is at the link below.  I've pasted an
exerpt from the article ... hope it's not too long, but I tell you it was a
real eye-opener for me.

Cheyenne

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2001/01/schlosser.htm

from:  Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good:  A trip to northern New Jersey,
the home of natural flavors
by Eric Schlosser

For the past twenty years food processors have tried hard to use only
"natural flavors" in their products. According to the FDA, these must be
derived entirely from natural sources -- from herbs, spices, fruits,
vegetables, beef, chicken, yeast, bark, roots, and so forth. Consumers
prefer to see natural flavors on a label, out of a belief that they are more
healthful. Distinctions between artificial and natural flavors can be
arbitrary and somewhat absurd, based more on how the flavor has been made
than on what it actually contains.

"A natural flavor," says Terry Acree, a professor of food science at Cornell
University, "is a flavor that's been derived with an out-of-date
technology." Natural flavors and artificial flavors sometimes contain
exactly the same chemicals, produced through different methods. Amyl
acetate, for example, provides the dominant note of banana flavor. When it
is distilled from bananas with a solvent, amyl acetate is a natural flavor.
When it is produced by mixing vinegar with amyl alcohol and adding sulfuric
acid as a catalyst, amyl acetate is an artificial flavor. Either way it
smells and tastes the same. "Natural flavor" is now listed among the
ingredients of everything from Health Valley Blueberry Granola Bars to Taco
Bell Hot Taco Sauce.

A natural flavor is not necessarily more healthful or purer than an
artificial one. When almond flavor -- benzaldehyde -- is derived from
natural sources, such as peach and apricot pits, it contains traces of
hydrogen cyanide, a deadly poison. Benzaldehyde derived by mixing oil of
clove and amyl acetate does not contain any cyanide. Nevertheless, it is
legally considered an artificial flavor and sells at a much lower price.
Natural and artificial flavors are now manufactured at the same chemical
plants, places that few people would associate with Mother Nature