Hold the MSG

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Hold the MSG

New Age Journal Sept/Oct 1996

by Linda and Bill Bonvie

http://kefir.net/spray/holdmsg.htm

If you think cutting monosodium glutamate (MSG) from your diet is simply a

matter of checking for it on food labels, guess again. What the labels don't

tell is that the controversial flavor enhancer may be contained, undisclosed, in

more that 40 additives commonly found in processed foods.

If a group of consumer activists have their way, however, food companies

may soon have to 'fess up about the MSG content in numerous products such as

soup, salad dressing, even baby formula. A suit filed by the Chicago-based

Truth in Labeling Campaign seeks to make mandatory the " full and clear labeling "

of all MSG, not just when it appears in pure form. (At press time, the case was

scheduled for trial in May 1997.)

Led by investment banker Jack Samuels and his wife, Adrienne, a research

methodologist, the MSG-focused group resorted to litigation after a formal

citizen petition it filed with the FDA in December 1994 ran into a bureaucratic

brick wall.

Meanwhile, in August 1995 the Federation of American Societies for

Experimental Biology (FASEB) released a report on MSG's safety.

Summarizing its findings, the FDA announced that the study found MSG to be

safe for nearly everyone, with only a few susceptible people experiencing

relatively mild, temporary reactions such as headaches, tingling, chest pain,

nausea, and drowsiness upon consuming large doses (three grams or more per

meal). While asthmatics might be prone to more severe reactions, the FDA

reported, there was otherwise " no evidence linking MSG to any serious, long-term

medical problems in the general population. "

That position, the litigants maintain, is not only a whitewash, but a

misrepresentation of the FASEB report itself, whose conclusions were not nearly

so pat. It is Truth in Labeling's contention that there are " many millions " of

MSG-sensitive consumers out there, and that MSG in its various forms can induce

far more serious symptoms, ranging from migraines and seizures to

life-threatening anaphylactic shock.

Jack Samuels' own crusade was spurred by a rude discovery. Knowing he was

MSG-sensitive, he'd been avoiding the stuff for years -- he thought -- but in

the late '80s began experiencing memory loss and other worrisome symptoms. A

book on the MSG Syndrome eased his fear of Alzheimer's and suggested an

immediate cure: Cut out he canned tuna and other products containing the flavor

enhancer in hidden form.

It may not be just the MSG-sensitive who should be concerned, some medical

experts say. Russell Blaylock, M.D., associate professor of neurosurgery at the

Medical University of Mississippi, cites research showing that an excess of

glutamate, a neurotransmitter, can cause brain cells to die through

overstimulation, impairing mood and behavior in the process. Those most at risk

from the effects of MSG, he notes, are children and older people whose

blood-brain barriers are either not fully developed or have been weakened by

age.

While the Truth in Labeling trial is pending, those who want to say no to

MSG are advised to scan labels for hydrolyzed and textured protein, sodium and

calcium caseinate, yeast extract and autolyzed yeast, and gelatin (these always

contain MSG) and to be wary of generic terms such as stock, broth, bouillon,

seasonings, even natural flavorings -- or to practice reading between the lines.

For more information, contact the Truth in Labeling Campaign, P. O. Box 2532,

Darien IL 60561;

(312) 642-9333

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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