What are flavors made of?

[rj9923]

Ever since I began vaping I've been trying to figure out what the flavorings are made of. Even the bottles just say pg, vg, water, flavoring, and nicotine. I'd like to know what the flavors are made of in order to decide whether it's very harmful or not.

I would ask those of you who mix your own liquids, but I'm sure you just buy the flavorings without knowing the actual ingredients in them. Plus, I'm sure if you had a bottle of flavoring, it would just say something like "apple flavor" or "tobacco flavor" or whatever flavor it is in the ingredients panel.

I want to know exactly what makes the flavors and where they come from. Natural or artificial? And either way, how are the flavors produced? I know it may be difficult to find out because even foods just list "flavors" on the ingredients panel.

I want to know the chemicals which make up the flavors, so if any of you know what they are with certainty, please share. Thanks

I do understand that different types of flavors are probably made from very different things, like fruit vs tobacco vs food/drink flavors. So if you could also list the different ingredients for each type, that would be great. Thanks

 

[OBDave]

I don't think you're going to get anyone to come in here and list every ingredient for every flavor on earth, but perhaps the highly-knowledgeable @HeadInClouds would be so kind as to pop in and share some links to the threads on which he's started or participated in some helpful discussions already on flavoring ingredients and where to find out information on particular flavors. Most of this info, however, will only be useful to DIY folks who make their own juice, as I've never met a vendor that actually lists the brands and levels of flavoring they use in order to allow you to do your own research, though many in the DIY world do indeed take an active role in knowing what's in their juice and what potentially harmful ingredients we may or may not choose to avoid - there's a school of people very interested in this, but also a group who believes "hey, it's better than smoking." I'm not going to come down on either side here, though I generally do avoid diacetyl/diketones, one of the more well-known "bad" ingredients...

 

[OBDave]

Here's one good thread to start with:

http://vapingunderground.com/threads/chemicals.2687/#post-454561

 

[Smoky Blue]

why not go to the flavor companies and ask what their processes are?
a couple good ones to review are the flavor apprentice, and flavourart..
https://shop.perfumersapprentice.com/c-54-professional-flavors.aspx
http://clearstream.flavourart.it/site/?lang=en

 

[HeadInClouds]

I want to know exactly what makes the flavors and where they come from. Natural or artificial? And either way, how are the flavors produced? I know it may be difficult to find out because even foods just list "flavors" on the ingredients panel.

There is only one company that lists the actual molecules in many of their flavorings (not all, and they change fairly often). It gives you a good idea how complex even a simple flavoring can be. Start here: http://shop.perfumersapprentice.com/specsheetlist.aspx . Find the flavoring you're interested in and click "list" on the far right-hand side. As they have stated on the screen, "these are approximations only and are not definitive." No company is under any obligation to provide consumers with that kind of trade-secret info. The molecules some TFA flavorings use that tend to interest vapers are acetyl propionyl and acetoin.

Most other companies that reveal anything at all about components will tell you just what is NOT included. FlavourArt does that with vaping/inhalation in mind. A couple links to start you there: http://flavourartexpress.biz/index.php?dispatch=pages.view&page_id=19 and http://flavourartexpress.biz/index.php?dispatch=pages.view&page_id=271 and http://flavourartexpress.biz/index.php?dispatch=pages.view&page_id=7