What is a reliable source about MSG?

Question

Where can I find a reliable source about the truth of Monosodium glutamate? I heard that companies try to hide it by naming it other things in the list of ingredients. I need something that can be trusted as well as cited. Thank you.

Answer 1

Check some food science textbooks.  Food Science by Potter of Food Chemistry by Fennema come to mind.  I don't think its legal to hide MSG by naming it other things but there are other chemicals which function in the same manner.  

PhD  Food Chemistry and Nutrition

Answer 2

What Foods To Avoid?





Food manufacturers are hiding MSG so you don't know where it is. Lately, food manufacturers mention a "clean label" when referring to soy sauce and other processed flavor enhancers that already contain MSG in the form of glutamic acid.  Food manufacturers use these ingredients so they can claim "no added MSG".  Hence a "cleaner" label.  They know it's in there, they are just hoping you don't.  

For example, glutamic acid naturally occurs in food proteins, however, take a fresh food and concentrate the protein in it and the amount of glutamic acid becomes much larger.  Most people don't notice a reaction when they eat small amounts of fresh tomatoes or fresh peas or fresh mushrooms, because the amount of free glutamic acid is so small compared to what is found in processed foods such as soy sauce, or non-fat dry milk, or hydrolyzed protein.  

For example:

Casein has 33 times more glutamic acid by weight than the milk it comes from.  

Wheat gluten has 11 times more glutamic acid than the wheat it comes from.

Hydrolyzed corn protein has 14 times more glutamic acid than the fresh corn it comes from.



In addition, not only does it have MORE glutamic acid by weight, it is nearly ALL in its free state when the protein is hydrolyzed.  

The following Fast Food menu items contain MSG:

The Following McDonald's® Items:

    Grilled Chicken Filet

    Hot and Spicy Chicken Patty

    Grilled Chicken Ceasar Salad

    Grilled Chicken California Cobb Salad

    Seasoned Beef

    Sausage Scrambled Egg Mix, Sausage, and Sausage Patty

    French Fries - a "seasoning" made from beef, wheat and milk, processed to break down the proteins into free amino acids like glutamate) is added to the oil the fries are precooked in.  US laws allow "natural flavoring" to consist of "protein hydrolysates" containing free glutamic acid.  (That's why they do it - to free glutamate to act like MSG so they can declare a "clean label" while misleading the consumer.)

The Following Burger King® Items:

    Breaded Chicken Patty

    Spicy Chicken Patty

    Breaded Tendercrisp Chicken

    Chicken Tenders

    BK Chicken Fries

    Garden Veggie Patty - contains hydrolyzed corn, soy and wheat - which contains free glutamate

    Sausage Patty

    Ranch dipping sauce

    Ken's Fat Free Ranch Dressing

The Following KFC® products:

    Roasted Ceasar Salad (WITHOUT dressing and croutons)

    Crispy Ceasar Salad (WITHOUT dressing)

    Roasted BLT Salad (WITHOUT dressing)

    Crispy BLT Salad (WITHOUT dressing

    Hidden Valley - The Original Fat Free Ranch Dressing

    KFC Creamy Parmesan Ceasar Dressing - contains parmesan cheese - very high in MSG naturally

    KFC Garlic Parmesan Croutons Pouch - contains parmesan cheese - very high in MSG naturally

    KFC Famous Bowls - Mashed Potatoes with Gravy

    Gravy

    KFC Famous Bowls - Rice with Gravy

    Rice

    Seasoned Rice

    KFC Snacker - Chicken

    KFC Snacker - Honey BBQ

    Honey BBQ Sandwich

    Double Crunch Sandwich

    Crispy Twister

    Oven Roasted Twister

    Oven Roasted Twister (WITHOUT sauce)

    Tender Roast Sandwich    

    Tender Roast Sandwich(WITHOUT sauce)

    Original Recipe Chicken  (its in the marinade - it's literally soaked in MSG and salt)

    Extra Crispy - MSG is in both the marinade AND the breading

    Colonel's Crispy Strips

    Popcorn Chicken

    Chicken Pot Pie

    Boneless HBBQ Wings

    Boneless Fiery Buffalo Wings

    Sweet and Spicy Boneless Wings

    Hot Wings

    Green Beans (yeah, this shocked us too)

    Mashed Potatoes with Gravy

    Potato Wedges

    

Chick - fil - A® we'll examine this menu next, but we're not optimistic, the Chicken Sandwich has MSG in it.

The best advice to anyone visiting a Fast Food establishment if you have to:

    AVOID all CHICKEN items

    AVOID all SAUSAGE items

    AVOID all PARMESAN products

    AVOID all Ranch dressings - stick to oil and vinegar Italian

    AVOID Croutons

    AVOID KFC altogether - we're not kidding

    AVOID Dipping Sauces

    AVOID Gravy

    AVOID TOMATO AND MUSHROOM soups

    

Certain food companies described in the Wall Street Journal article are experimenting on how to put more MSG in your MSG-free foods.  We recommend you avoid ANY and all products from the following food companies - since they will NOT have a label that will alert you to the presence of free glutamic acid.  Blatant misleading advertising.  

Nestle'

Campbells

Frito-Lay

Unilever

Dairy Management Inc.

The Mushroom Council

Ajinomoto Food Ingredients

Senomyx

The following foods contain MSG or its business end - the free amino acid glutamate - in amounts large enough to cause reactions in those sensitive to it.:

Taco Bell® - seasoned meat - contains autolyzed yeast - which contains free glutamate

Other menu items that contain soy sauce, natural flavors, autolyzed yeast or hydrolyzed protein which can contain up to 20% free glutamic acid - the  active part of MSG.      

Hamburger Helper Microwave Singles®  (targeted towards children)

Doritos®

Campbell's® soups - all of them - based on their commitment to add "umami" (read - MSG) to their products

Pringles® (the flavored varieties)

Boar's Head® cold cuts and most of their hotdogs

Progresso® Soups - all of them  

Lipton® Noodles and Sauce

Lipton® Instant soup mix

Unilever or Knorr® products - often used in homemade Veggie dips.  

Kraft® products nearly all contain some free glutamate

Gravy Master®

Cup-a-soup® or Cup-o-Noodles®

Planters® salted nuts - most of them

Accent® -this is nearly pure MSG

Braggs® Liquid Aminos - sold at Whole Foods

Hodgson Mill Kentucky Kernel Seasoned Flour®  

Tangle extract (seaweed extract) - found in sushi rolls (even at Whole Foods)  Seaweed is what MSG was first isolated from.

Fish extract - made from decomposed fish protein - used now in Japanese sushi dishes - very high in free glutamate.

sausages - most supermarkets add MSG to theirs

processed cheese spread

Marmite®

supermarket poultry or  turkeys that are injected or "self-basting"

restaurant gravy from food service cans

flavored ramen noodles

boullion - any kind

instant soup mixes

many salad dressings

most salty, powdered dry food mixes - read labels

flavored potato chips

restaurant soups made from food service soup base or with added MSG

monopotassium glutamate

glutamic acid

gelatin  

hydrolyzed vegetable protein (found in many processed AMERICAN foods, like canned tuna and even hot dogs)

hydrolyzed plant protein (found in many processed AMERICAN foods, like canned tuna and even hot dogs)

autolyzed yeast (found in many processed AMERICAN foods, read labels)

sodium caseinate

textured protein

beet juice - it is used as a coloring, but MSG is manufactured from beets and the extract may contain free glutamic acid - Yo Baby - organic baby yogurt has just changed the formula to include beet extract

yeast extract

yeast food or nutrient

soy protein isolate

soy sauce

Worcestershire sauce

Kombu extract

dry milk and whey powder

"natural flavors" - may contain up to 20% MSG

carageenan

dough conditioners

malted barley  

malted barley flour - found in many supermarket breads and all-purpose flours including: King Arthur, Heckers, and Gold Medal flour

body builder drink powders containing protein

Parmesan cheese - naturally high in free glutamate

over-ripe tomatoes - naturally high in free glutamate

mushrooms - naturally high in free glutamate

Medications in gelcaps - contain free glutamic acid in the gelatin

Cosmetics and shampoos - some now contain glutamic acid

Fresh produce sprayed with Auxigro in the field.  (Yes the EPA approved this.  It appalled us too.)

Be aware it is not just the brand names mentioned, but many similar products to the ones listed also contain MSG.  You must read labels.  These product names were given as examples of the many products that contain MSG.  

Four good rules of thumb are:

The more salty a processed food is, the more likely it is to contain MSG or free glutamate.  

The more processed a food is, the more likely it is to contain MSG or free glutamate:  powdered stuff that used to be food is likely to have added MSG because the original flavor has been degraded.  

The more ingredients in a packaged food, the more likely MSG is present.  Read labels carefully if a food has more than five ingredients.

Do not trust something simply because it is in a health food store and the label states it is natural or even organic.

The next wave of hastily approved "MSG replacers" you may wish to avoid will be Senomyx.  

According to the New York Times April 6, 2005 article "Food Companies Test Flavorings That Can Mimic Sugar, Salt or MSG":

" Since Senomyx's flavor compounds will be used in small proportions (less than one part per million), the company is able to bypass the lengthy F.D.A. approval process required to get food additives on the market. Getting the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association status of generally recognized as safe, or GRAS, took Senomyx less than 18 months, including a 3-month safety study using rats. In contrast, the maker of the artificial sweetener sucralose spent 11 years winning F.D.A. approval and is required to list the ingredient on food labels."  

And Senomyx DOESN'T have to be labeled as such.  It will be grouped under "artificial flavors".  They still don't believe the consumer should know what they are eating. In fact, that is exactly the strategy.  Here is one last quote from the NYT article to leav

Answer 3

There is a product called Alpine Touch that is made in Montana and it is almost 100 percent MSG....

Answer 4

Monosodium glutamate, sodium glutamate, flavour enhancer 621, EU food additive code: E621, HS code: 29224220 (IUPAC name 2-aminopentanedioic acid. Also known as 2-aminoglutaric acid), commonly known as MSG, Ajinomoto, Vetsin, or Accent, is a sodium salt of glutamic acid. MSG is a food additive and it is commonly marketed as a "flavour enhancer".

Although traditional Asian cuisine uses flavour-enhancing ingredients which contain high concentrations of MSG, it was not isolated until 1907. MSG was subsequently patented by the Japanese Ajinomoto Corporation in 1909. In its pure form, it appears as a white crystalline powder; when dissolved in water (or saliva) it rapidly dissociates into sodium cations and glutamate anions (glutamate is the anionic form of glutamic acid, a naturally occurring amino acid).