Natural Flavor with Other Natural Flavor

Not plural "natural flavors," just the singular, "Natural Flavor" and "Other Natural Flavor."

It's finals time, and to get through it all, snacks are a necessity.  I'll admit that I am not the most avid label reader.  Sometimes, the grocery trip is just too rushed to take the necessary time to read everything, so I choose the things that I usually eat and go on about things.

Well, today I was surprised at the label on my Triscuits when I got home.  One of the reasons I usually buy them is because they only have three ingredients: whole grain wheat, soybean oil, salt.  Today I picked up a new flavored Triscuit called "Chile Pepper," and when I got home, I was surprised at the front label, which advertises "Natural Flavor with other Natural Flavor."  What?! 

What distinguishes natural flavor from "other natural flavor?"  The list beyond the basic three ingredients are: chili peppers, onion powder, garlic powder, whey, spices, citric acid, natural flavor, yeast extract.  So, there is an actual ingredient called natural flavor.  Apparently, this natural flavor is the same manufactured flavor that Eric Schlosser discusses in his book Fast Food Nation.  I'm not so much interested in the science right now as I am about the flavor of this new "chile pepper triscuit" because as a chili afficionada, I actually don't think these crackers taste anything like chili peppers. 

I have a pretty sharp palette and can taste things in food and drinks that others may not even notice.  I couldn't identify what was so strange at first bite, until my third cracker made me realize that the flavor I was eating wasn't chili pepper at all.  It just tasted salty and slightly spicy, but not at all like a chili pepper.  I got to thinking today after the failure of this new flavor that if I don't succeed in getting into a PhD program, maybe I can become a flavor scientist.  Okay, perhaps not scientist, but flavor consultant.  I know that I can do way better at making chili pepper flavors and for that matter, BBQ-flavored chips.  That's just a start to what I could contribute to this field!  I even found this taste science website: http://www.tastescience.com/aboutus.html.  They have scientists and psychologists, but no folks talking about how labels and words change the way we taste something.  My official plan b is: "taste consultant, studies human gustatory sensitivity and the effects of contradictory word and taste experiences."