What Is All Natural Seasoning and What Is It Made Of?

All natural seasoning is a blend of plant-derived flavorings like spices, herbs, and extracts — but the phrase is a marketing claim, not a government-defined recipe.

Two jars labeled all natural seasoning often list completely different ingredients: salt in one, silicon dioxide in another; one says “spices,” the other names every pepper and herb. That’s the gap between what the phrase sounds like and what federal rules require. No agency publishes an official “all natural seasoning” formula — only definitions for the words on the label, plus a marketing claim checked against narrower rules depending on the jar’s contents.

What “Natural” Actually Means On A Label

The term carries legal weight mainly for meat and poultry: USDA rules allow “natural” only if the item has no artificial flavoring, coloring, chemical preservatives, or other synthetic ingredients, and is not more than minimally processed.

Everything else — spice blends, rubs, popcorn shakers — falls under looser FDA oversight. “Natural” isn’t a certified category like “organic,” which comes with inspections, rules, and fees. A blend can be natural and still full of salt, or natural and not organic at all.

What’s In The Jar: The Ingredients That Count

Common bases include salt, black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried herbs, citric acid, and anti-caking agents such as silicon dioxide. Formulas swing widely by brand, so the label is the only real answer.

The definitions that matter sit in 21 CFR 101.22. Two terms carry most of the confusion:

• Spice means an aromatic vegetable substance in whole, broken, or ground form. Onion, garlic, and celery are exceptions — when their main job is seasoning rather than nutrition, they fall outside the “spice” umbrella.
• Natural flavor or natural flavoring means flavoring constituents derived from plant or animal sources through essential oils, oleoresins, extracts, distillates, roasting, heating, or enzymolysis — where the primary function is flavoring, not nutrition.

That second definition surprises most people: “natural flavor” isn’t shorthand for “a pinch of oregano” — it’s a legal category broad enough to cover distilled garlic extract or black pepper oleoresin. Cornell’s copy of 21 CFR 101.22 spells out the qualifying processes.

For meat and poultry, USDA guidance says spices, spice extracts, essential oils, oleoresins, onion powder, garlic powder, celery powder, and onion or garlic juice may all be declared simply as “natural flavor,” “flavor,” or “flavoring.”

How The Ingredient List Is Built

Ingredients are listed by common or usual name in descending order of predominance by weight — heaviest first. That order tells you whether salt leads the blend or trails far behind.

Flavorings have their own rules: a single-ingredient flavor is declared by its common or usual name; a multi-ingredient flavor may list each component individually.

The FDA allows the collective term “spices” for spice ingredients in seasonings, but non-spice and non-flavoring ingredients must be declared separately — which is why a label can say “spices” and then list citric acid and silicon dioxide as distinct entries. At the shelf, ingredient order and the split between collective and named items tell you more than the front-of-jar claim.

What “Natural” Doesn’t Promise

It doesn’t promise allergen-free, low-sodium (salt often sits first in the list), additive-free (anti-caking agents like silicon dioxide appear regularly), or unprocessed (USDA’s “natural” rule requires only minimal processing). USDA also notes “all natural” claims can still include sugar and natural flavorings from oleoresins or extractives in some contexts. The phrase describes a category of sourcing, not a purity guarantee.

Applicability splits by product type: USDA FSIS rules govern meat and poultry labeling; FDA rules cover most other packaged foods, so a steak rub and a popcorn shaker can sit under different rulebooks while wearing similar front-of-pack language.

The takeaways: “All natural” is a claim, not a recipe. “Natural flavor” is a labeling term with a technical definition, not a promise of source transparency. And “natural” never means “organic.” Read the ingredient list, check the order, and let that decide.

If you’d rather skip the label-reading, our tested picks for the best all natural seasoning blends break down ingredients, salt levels, and label transparency side by side.