The flavourist creating an artificial flavour must actually use the same chemicals in their formulation that they would have used to make a natural flavour! The source of the chemicals is the only difference between natural and artificial flavours. Harkening back to the coconut flavour that we talked about in What Makes Natural Flavour So Natural?, rather than obtaining a natural flavour from the bark of an exotic tree in Malaysia, flavourists can create an identical version in a laboratory by selecting the correct flavour components and eliminating any toxic or useless chemicals.