The other day I wrote about the unexpected natural flavorings in food and my objection that the legal definition of those “natural flavors,” as we seen in an ingredient list, could be any one of a variety of things. Whether from from plant or from animal, the inherent vagueness in that definition prevents us as consumers to actually know what we eat when choosing a processed food products.

Then today I was in line at my favorite art supply store and actually laughed out loud when I saw the items pictured below stacked on the impulse purchase shelf next to the register. I don’t know what to call them. Novelty snacks? I love them, though; they’re so wonderfully, blatantly . . .  fake. The kind of thing that can only exist to fuel kids and dares. With completely honest nutrition facts and ingredient information . . . nothing wrong with that.

These roast beef gumballs get their flavor from artificial roast beef flavor.

Likewise, artificial dill flavoring gives this its pop:

Artificial cumin flavor:

Artificial corndog flavor:

And the stomach-curdling foie gras bubble gum. Sugar, corn syrup, gum base, and artificial liver flavoring. Artificial liver flavoring! Who knew there would be such a thing? But it will certainly come in handy when the foie gras ban goes into effect.

The very fact that these exist at art supply store, as opposed to the grocery or corner liquor stores, says perhaps these are to be enjoyed visually as opposed to digestively. Art that is safe to chew. Either way, check out Accoutrements to see more.