MSG (Monosodium Glutamate)
A GOOD OR BAD “FLAVOR
ENHANCER”?
MSG is shorthand for processed free glutamic acid and is a toxic substance often found in ingredients such as “yeast extract” and “natural flavoring”. MSG is a food ingredient that contains 78.2 per cent glutamate, 12.2 per cent sodium, and 9.6 per cent water. The glutamate in monosodium glutamate is not identical to the glutamate found in plants and animals. Simply put, processed, fermented, or manufactured glutamate contains L-glutamic acid plus other chemicals. Natural glutamate is L-glutamic acid, only. MSG, used as a the Orient. Ext“flavor enhancer,” was brought to the United States in the late 1940s. It has a long history of use in food preparation in racted from seaweed or soybeans, it was used in their dishes to give the foods a meaty flavor.
Some Americans believe that they only get MSG when they go out for Chinese food little realizing that this poison is, in all probability, sitting at home in their pantry. This “flavor enhancer” is in most prepared foods & non-food products alike.
The composition of the MSG now added to more than ten thousand different processed food items in America differs from the Oriental product. It is manufactured from wheat or corn gluten, or from sugar-beet by-products. These three MSG components — namely wheat, corn, and sugar-beet by-products — are common allergens. Presently, more than 40 million pounds of MSG are sold annually to add to American foodstuffs, and it has become the most ubiquitous of all food additives.
MSG — HOW DANGEROUS IS IT TO YOUR HEALTH?
Is MSG really so bad? Is it dangerous to your health? It is estimated that more than 30 percent of the population reacts to MSG. The glutamate in monosodium glutamate causes adverse reactions in humans. Those reactions can be mild or severe. They can come and go quickly, or be long lasting. Migraine headache is the reaction most often reported. Also, a general feeling of malaise-fatigue, loss of energy, fuzzy thinking, and sometimes depression — seems to accompany most reactions. Researchers have spent millions of dollars yearly to develop drugs to block the effects of toxic glutamate.
The glutamate in monosodium glutamate is toxic. It kills brain cells in laboratory animals, causing the most harm to the youngest animals. When given to infant animals, it also causes gross obesity, reproductive disorders, and learning disabilities later in life. MSG intolerance is not an allergic reaction — but a true drug effect.
Researchers injected MSG under the skin of young mice, which induced retinal lesions and hypothalamus damage and brain damage. MSG-treated adult animals showed stunted skeletal development, marked obesity and female sterility.
Experiments on rhesus monkeys with MSG showed brain lesions. Nerve-cell deaths occurred in seven out of nine baby animals with about five times the amount of MSG used in a 4-1/2 ounce jar of commercial baby foods.
As a result of data from these various experiments, leading baby food manufacturers voluntarily withdrew MSG from their products pending a clearer understanding of the mechanism of injury to the developing brain. However, infants still get MSG from ordinary table foods.
Although MSG may no longer be found on the labels of baby foods, a substance closely related to it has been substituted. Hydrolyzed vegetable protein, also called protein hydrolysate, is now added (It is now known that this is an excitotoxin). When protein is hydrolyzed, the individual amino acids are released in free form. Protein hydrolysate, like MSG, has been shown to damage the infant mouse brain.
At least 20 million people in the United States and more than 100 million worldwide react to MSG.
It is important to remember that in sufficient quantities, MSG is toxic to everyone. Knowing how to avoid this flavor enhancer can dramatically change lives, though elimination of MSG is not a simple matter.
MSG AND THE SUPERMARKET
When MSG was first introduced in the United States its use was mainly confined to soups. It is now virtually impossible to avoid MSG in any processed food. MSG is found commonly in heat-and-serve convenience foods; meats, stews, and meat tenderizers; canned and frozen vegetables; seafood, and canned tuna; almost all canned soups and soup mixes; condiments and seasonings; pickles; salad dressing and mayonnaise; imitation maple syrup; potato chips; crackers and other baked goods; candy; baby food; and even animal feed.
Although MSG was considered GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe), it should never have been placed on that list, since before the list was drawn up, the medical journal had already reported that MSG had caused eye damage in newborn mice.
The food industry shows much enthusiasm for MSG because MSG suppresses undesirable flavors; removes the tinny taste from canned foods; gives meaty, chicken-like flavor and gives zest to food.
MSG AND RESTAURANTS
Restaurants — from the greasy-spoon diner to the very expensive establishment — use MSG extensively to “hold the flavor.”
The hamburger you may order for lunch at a fast food counter and the expensive veal dish you have for dinner at an exclusive restaurant probably contain MSG.
If you are one of those who react adversely to MSG, eating in restaurants can be a risky matter.
Listed below are just a sample of restaurants where MSG is found in foods. Many large chain restaurants will provide booklets upon request detailing the contents of their foods:
- Wendy’s
- Jack in the Box
- Burger King
- McDonald’s
- Arby’s
- Denny’s
- Kentucky Fried Chicken
Airplanes and trains are also likely to serve meals containing MSG. To avoid MSG when traveling (especially by air), it is wise to order low-salt meals and check the ingredients in salad dressings carefully.
HIDING MSG
Many vegetarians feel safe in eating “hydrolyzed vegetable protein.” In fact what could be better for us than protein? And we all know that vegetables are very important for good health. Thus,”hydrolyzed vegetable protein” sounds safe. Unfortunately, this is the chemical method of producing monosodium glutamate.
A mixture of hydrolyzed protein contains the salts of other proteins as well, and monosodium glutamate may comprise as much as 20 percent of hydrolyzed vegetable protein (the usual range is 12-20%). The flavor enhancement produced by this mixture is almost entirely dependent on MSG.
Very few people are aware that products containing hydrolyzed vegetable protein frequently are advertised as “all natural.” While MSG must be specifically listed on food labels, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, which contains MSG, may be designated simply as “natural flavorings.”
For the consumer trying to avoid MSG and not understanding the labeling code could be misled into thinking that “natural flavorings” is ok. Labeling protein hydrolysate as “natural flavoring” is definitely misleading for those trying to avoid products with MSG used in them.
The following is a list of names to check for on labels:
- Accent
- Ajinomoto
- Zest
- Vetsin
- Gourmet powder
- Subu
- Chinese seasoning
- Glutavene
- Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
- Hydrolyzed plant protein
- Natural flavorings (can be HVP)
- Flavorings
A flavor enhancer is different from seasonings in that it can intensify existing flavors without adding a strong flavor of its own.
MSG works by appearing to increase the sensitivity of the taste buds and feeling receptors in the mouth, and stimulates an electrical discharge. Basically, it is a mouth aphrodisiac. Plus, it acts on intestinal muscle, blood vessels and on the brain.
Some recent concern about glutamate stems from the observation that it acts as an excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain. A neurotransmitter is a substance which stimulates brain cell activity.
IS MSG A FORM OF DRUG?
Our society has become one in which drugs are used to enhance human activities and the functioning of human organs beyond their natural limits. For example, the widespread use of anabolic steroids by sports enthusiasts.
MSG is a drug which acts directly on the taste buds altering their sensitivity. The ill effects of MSG may not be so dramatic as those of the “hard” drugs, but ill effects are there none-the-less. Yet, they are so little known? Why is that?
For one reason, there is no question that the corporate health of many companies depends on the use of MSG. Also the “Glutamate Association,” is a multi-million-dollar worldwide lobbying organization, and is very powerful in keeping scientific information from being made public. They have even harassed the New England Journal of Medicine for publishing well-documented articles dealing with scientific research on MSG. Also, for other reasons less clear, taste enhancement is not looked upon in the same light as the enhancement of the functions caused by other drugs.
Because we live in a fast-paced world, there appears to be a great need in preparing “quickie” meals in microwave ovens. To help make many of these meals more palatable MSG is added. Against this background, it becomes easier to understand how the widespread use of MSG is so carelessly and so casually accepted.
Below is a sample list of food products that contain some form of MSG or hydrolyzed vegetable protein. The list is by no means exhaustive; however, this sampling should give some idea of the range of products which contain monosodium glutamate:
- Bumble Bee Canned Tuna, packed in water
- Chicken of the Sea Canned Tuna packed in water
- Betty Crocker Oriental Classics Stir Fried Rice
- Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli
- Golden Grain Chicken Flavor Rice-A-Roni
- Kellogg’s Croutettes Stuffing Mix
- Stovetop Corn-bread Stuffing Mix
- Campbell’s French Onion soup
- Campbell’s Onion-mushroom soup mix
- Knorr Country Barley Soup
- Lipton Cup-A-Soup Tomato
- Nabisco Cheese Tidbits (crackers)
- Keebler Tato Skins Baked Potato
- Green Giant Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrots in Cheese Flavored Sauce
- Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing
- Accent
- Lawry’s Seasoning Salt
- Lawry’s Garlic Salt
- Spike Seasoning
The use of MSG in food is growing. Often in “low fat” foods it is used to make up for flavor lost when fat is reduced or eliminated. MSG is even found in some ice creams, frozen yogurt; and in some crackers and bread.
In 1998, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved spraying processed free glutamic acid (MSG) on crops as they grow. MSG is found in medications as well as vaccines, infant formulas and liquid supplements given to the elderly. By law, the burden of proof that any food ingredient is safe lies with the manufacturer.
It is not easy to avoid MSG. MSG is added to over more than 10,000 different processed food and non-food items in America. Products loaded with processed free glutamic acid (MSG) are unfortunately, advertised as “No MSG added, no hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, no preservatives.” The fact is many foods are labeled as having “No MSG” but in fact not only contain MSG but also are laced with other excitotoxins of equal potency and danger.
I hope that you will want to learn more about the toxicity of processed free glutamic acid (MSG). Fortunately, today there are many good web sites and books written on this subject.
References:
- Russell L. Blaylock, M.D., Excitotoxins The Taste that Kills, Health Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1995.
- Beatrice Trum Hunters, Additives Book what You Need To Know, Keats Publishing, Inc. New Canaan, Connecticut.
- George R. Schwartz, M.D., In Bad Taste The MSG Syndrome, New American Library, New York, NY.
- Life Science Research Office, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, Bethesda, Mt.
- Schaumburg, H.H., Byck, R., Gerstl, R., and Mashman, J.H. Monosodium L-glutamate: its pharmacology and role in the Chinese restaurant syndrome. Science 163:826-828, 1969.