Are "natural flavors" in gummies actually just as fake as artificial ones??

So I've been trying to eat cleaner lately and I switched all my gummy vitamins and candy to ones that say "natural flavors" on the label thinking I was making a better choice. But then my friend told me that natural flavors can still be made in a lab and go through a ton of chemical processing. Now I'm totally confused about what I'm even buying.

I did some research and found out that the FDA definition of natural flavors is actually pretty loose?? Like the original source just has to come from a plant or animal but after that they can do all kinds of processing to it. I've been paying like double the price at Whole Foods for these "cleaner" gummies thinking I was avoiding artificial stuff but now I'm not sure there's even a real diffrence between the two.

Has anyone actually looked into this? I tried reading the ingredient labels more carefully but honestly it just says "natural flavors" without any more detail and thats not helpful at all. Is there any way to know if what your eating is actually more natural or are we all just getting tricked by marketing? Would love to know if there's specific things to look for or certifactions that actually mean something.