The Enduring Mystery of What the Hell's in LaCroix

(tab snaps)

[Narrator] Mm, La Croix.

Fizzy, cold, refreshing, and incredibly addicting.

It starts with just one can a day,

and then before you know it, this happens.

You're not alone either.

Sales of La Croix have more than tripled

in the past few years.

But hey, what's the harm?

After all, it's just water, right?

It says right here, naturally flavored

with no sweeteners, no calories, no artificial anything.

But if you're drinking a pack a day,

you've gotta wonder, what the hell is natural flavor?

And could this stuff actually be bad for you?

According to the FDA, natural flavor can be

anything a company uses to add flavor to a product

so long as it comes directly from a natural source.

But there is a catch, even if for example,

a certain grapefruit flavor is extracted

directly from grapefruits.

Companies can still mix in synthetic additives,

like solvents, to make that flavor blend well

with the other ingredients.

The FDA calls these ingredients incidental additives.

And thanks to a lack of policy governing their use,

food makers are not required to disclose

what they are or when they're in a product.

When a consumer sees natural flavors

on an ingredient label, that does not necessarily mean

that the product, or the food, is free

of synthetic ingredients.

In higher concentrations we definitely know

that some of these can be harmful.

The question would be at what levels

they are found in foods.

[Narrator] So we asked National Beverage

if they use any incidental additives

in their product, La Croix, and no surprise,

they claim that there is nothing artificial in the drink.

Of course, we have to take this claim at face value

because they're not required to tell us

how they extract those flavors.

There's two different issues,

one is the lack of transparency,

and not knowing exactly what's being added to a product.

The other concern would be that the use

of these flavors are making foods

that may not be as healthy for you as your body thinks.

[Narrator] Even if there's nothing artificial added,

there could still be naturally derived additives

that could be harmful if you drink too much of them.

Unlikely, yes, but there's no way to know for sure,

and there's still one more concern for La Croix fanatics.

All those bubbles.

So we asked a dentist, is carbonation bad for your teeth?

Sparkling water is carbon dioxide dissolved in water,

which forms carbonic acid.

When you drink a carbonated beverage

that natural fluid in the mouth neutralizes

the carbonic acid and there's very little damage

likely to occur.

(tab snaps)

[Narrator] How should you celebrate that bit of good news?

With some bubbly of course.

But as always, drink responsibly.

(soft music)