No artificial flavourings

Flavourings are ingredients added to make a supplement taste of something. In the UK and the EU they are regulated separately from additives, so they carry no E number. On a label you will see three main wordings: natural flavouring, plain flavouring, or a named aroma such as natural vanilla flavouring. Natural flavouring comes from a plant, animal or microbial source. Plain flavouring is made in a lab, sometimes as a copy of a molecule that also exists in fruit. That lab-made group is what most people mean by artificial.

Two other wordings cause confusion. A fruit name plus the word flavour, like strawberry flavour, promises no actual strawberry. Strawberry flavoured usually means the taste comes mainly from the fruit itself. And some products taste of nothing at all: they are simply unflavoured, which gives you the shortest ingredient list available. If you want to filter further, our diet and free-from filters let you combine this with vegan, organic or allergen choices.

Flavourings sit in some forms and not in others

Capsules, tablets and softgels rarely need flavour, because you swallow them whole. Flavourings concentrate in the forms you taste: powders, gummies, chewables, effervescent tablets and liquid drops. So the practical question is not only which product, but which form. Unflavoured creatine monohydrate is close to neutral in water. Unflavoured whey tastes mildly of milk. Unflavoured electrolytes taste salty, because nothing is masking the minerals.

One honest note: this filter tells you what is not in the product. It says nothing about the dose, the form of the nutrient or the amount of sugar. A naturally flavoured gummy can still be built on glucose syrup, and many sweet powders combine flavouring with added sweeteners. Read both parts of the ingredient list.

• Look for the word flavouring in the ingredient list, not on the front of the pack
• Unflavoured is not the same as unsweetened; sweeteners are listed separately
• Chewable tablets and lozenges often do contain flavouring, unlike normal tablets

How we select the products in this list

We judge every product on three things: the form of the ingredient, the dose, and whether the combination makes sense. The absence of artificial flavourings never outweighs those three. So here you will find capsules and unflavoured powders with doses we can defend, and we leave out sweet-tasting products that need a long additive list to be drinkable. We are brand-neutral and buy directly from the brands, with no intermediaries. Our compliance team checks every label before a product goes live, we test products ourselves, and independent labs spot-check batches. You can read how we select brands and products.

Who this selection suits

This list suits people who read ingredient lists closely, parents buying for children who dislike strong sweet tastes, and anyone who stirs powder into porridge or yoghurt, where added flavour clashes. It also helps if strong aromas put you off taking a supplement daily, since the product you actually finish is the one that does something. Many shoppers here also skip added colourings for the same reason. Expect the same realistic timeline as with any supplement: with consistent daily use, most people judge the effect after two to three weeks, not after two days.