Reverse MSG Shock II

After discovering that the FDA allows MSG to be labeled under many different names, especially if the substance is 98% or less MSG, I started re-reading labels. First, I looked at the labels at Red Robbin, where I ate lunch the other day, then at all of the labels I could find at home.

At Red Robbin, the MSG laced products were:

Red Robbin Seasoning (It listed 4 MSG ingredients: 1 or 2 were definitely less-refined MSG, and some of the other 2 or 3 might be the 99% or more pure MSG itself.
Heinz ketchup (it had 2 or 3 suspicious ingredients. No wonder ketchup seems to make things taste better.)

At home, most of the packages that I looked at had one or more ingredients that are or could be MSG. Some of these are things that I used to eat, not knowing that they probably have MSG in them:

mustard
mayonnaise
margarine
sandwich spread
low-fat cheese
ice cream
Cool Whip Lite
pancake syrup
microwave popcorn
seasoning salt
Asian seasoning sauces
plain soy milk (natural flavors?)
one type of bagged herbal tea
Spiced Cider powdered mix
some brands of bread (possibly)

I also looked at the ingredients of products sold in grocery stores, and found many more with MSG in them, such as:

pie
doughnuts
cake
cookies
chocolate
candy bars
muffins
canned soup
some brands of "all natural" ice cream
flavored chips
most packaged sweets
salad dressing

There really ought to be a regulation that makes food manufactures warn MSG sensitive people like me that there is MSG in their food, but that it is listed as something else on the package. I'll just have to find and memorize all the different ingredients that are or that could be MSG, and not buy or eat anything with one of those ingredients in it.

Reverse MSG Shock

Last year, I was feeling kind of relieved to be getting away from a place where Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is often added to the food, especially in restaurants and in packaged food and snack food. I'm sensitive to MSG. Besides often making my head ache and feel spacy, it tends to make my heart palpitate or race (any nervous system stimulant does because of my heart defect), which also makes me tired.

After arriving home, I naively thought that, if the package doesn't have MSG listed on it, then it doesn't have MSG in it. I started researching about MSG the other day, though, and was shocked to find out that MSG, according to the FDA, is only glutamate that is at least 99% pure. MSG goes by other names when it is 98% or less pure. The first source that I looked at was truthinlabeling.org, which has several articles about MSG. A few ingredients that always contain MSG are (to see more, go to: http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html):

hydrolyzed protein of any kind, also known as pea protein, whey protein etc.
textured protein of any kind
gelatin
yeast extract, yeast food, and autolyzed yeast
sodium or calcium caseinate
glutamic acid

A few of the many ingredients that often contain MSG are:
spice, flavor, natural flavoring,
milk solids
citric acid
carageenan
malt extract or flavoring or barley malt
maltodextrin
soy and/or protein of various kinds
pectin

I was kind of skeptical of this, but looked it up in several books and a textbook on Amazon.com and read other websites about it. As it turns out, the FDA considers MSG to be natural because it's an amino acid, which is why it can be listed as natural flavor or spice. The problem is that it is a free amino acid that, in it's free form only (not when it is bound to other proteins) is able to cross the blood brain barrier and stimulate the neurons in the brain (and give me a headache), which causes the tongue and mouth to better appreciate the food in it and not pick up on staleness or off-tasts. It causes brain cell and neuron death in rats. It is suspected to do the same in humans, but this has never been verified. It is also a central nervous system stimulant, which makes it addictive, casues people to eat more (according to some studies), and upsets my heart because of my Mitral Valve Prolapse.

Of course, the increase in taste perception and decrease in staleness and off-tastes, the addictiveness, and the increase in the amount eaten are all reasons that the food industry loves to add MSG to our food. The bad reputation that MSG has, likewise, is the reason that food manufactures like to hide MSG under names such as natural flavoring or hydrolized protein. It makes sense, but for all of the people like me who are sensitive to it and who value the health of their brains and bodies, it is an evil deception.