People often assume that synthetic food ingredients are more harmful than natural ones, but this is not always the case. Typically, synthetic ingredients can be made in a precisely controlled fashion and have well-defined compositions and properties, allowing careful evaluation of their potential toxicity. On the other hand, natural ingredients often vary appreciably in their composition and properties depending on their origin, the time of year they were harvested, the climate they experienced throughout their lifetime, the soil quality, and how they were isolated and stored. These variations can make testing their safety extremely difficult ― one is never sure about the potential toxicity of minor components that may vary from time to time. In some cases, a natural food component has been consumed for hundreds or thousands of years without causing any obvious health problems and can, therefore, be assumed to be safe. However, one must still be very careful.

* synthetic: 합성의