MSG Dangers and Deceptions

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MSG Dangers and Deceptions by Jack L Samuelshttp://www.price-pottenger.org/Articles/MSG.htmlMarch 30, 1998 was a sad day for consumers concerned with the safety of processed food.On that date, Federal Magistrate Judge Thomas C. Mummert, III, ruled against the Truth in Labeling Campaign (TLC) and 30 other plaintiffs who sued the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in an effort to have all free glutamic acid (MSG) disclosed on the labels of all processed food.On December 13, 1994, a legal document referred to as a Citizen Petition was filed with the FDA requesting that the FDA initiate a regulation that would cause all processed food to be measured post-production for free glutamic acid, the processed food component that consumers refer to as monosodium glutamate (MSG). The Citizen Petition further requested that if free glutamic acid was found to be present in a product, that its presence be stated on the label as “MSG,” in grams, with the amount present carried out to the third decimal place. Further, it was requested that an appropriate warning regarding MSG be included on the labels of products in which it was found.When the FDA failed to respond to the Citizen Petition within the 180 days required under law, TLC, a nonprofit corporation concerned with appropriate labeling of processed food, joined by the petitioners and several additional individuals, filed suit against the FDA on August 29, 1995. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit included researchers, physicians, MSG-sensitive consumers and parents of MSG-sensitive children. Some of the physicians involved in the suit were MSG-sensitive, and most of the MSG-sensitive individuals involved had been diagnosed as MSG-sensitive by a physician.It should be noted that all participants in the Citizen Petition readily agreed to be plaintiffs in the lawsuit except for one physician. That MSG-sensitive physician, age 47, died prior to the initiation of the lawsuit from the very condition that he attributed to his MSG sensitivity.The behavior of the FDA during the course of the lawsuit, in the opinion of this writer, was not what one would expect from an agency concerned about food safety. The agency attempted several times to have the suit dismissed on a number of different bases; kept the court from seeing important documents that we had requested, on the grounds that a federal agency is protected from full disclosure under the Administrative Procedure Act; and presented the court with what can be best described as deceptive and misleading information.The MSG ProblemMSG is a food additive that enhances flavors in food. It virtually has no flavor of its own, but neurologically causes people to experience a more intense flavor from the foods that they eat containing the substance. To millions of consumers, it means experiencing an adverse effect from the additive and possible adverse health effects in the future. To the food industry, it means increased profits, a simple way to balance taste in a product line and mask unwanted tastes, and to make otherwise unpalatable foods acceptable. In particular, MSG helps replace flavor lost by elimination of fat in many low-fat and no-fat foods.The FDA requires that the ingredient “monosodium glutamate” be listed on the labels of foods in which it is used. Technically speaking, that ingredient is approximately 78% free glutamic acid, approximately 21% sodium, and up to 1% contaminants. However, free glutamic acid is also found, in varying amounts, in over 40 other labeled ingredients whose names give no clue to the fact that free glutamic acid is present as a component of the ingredients. (See Table 1) In some foods, glutamic acid is not specifically added, but is formed during processing. That is why the TLC lawsuit called for post-production testing and labeling of free glutamic acid.Table 1: Hidden Sources of MSGThese ingredients ALWAYS contain MSG: GlutamateGlutamic acidMonosodium glutamate Textured proteinHydrolyzed proteinMonopotassium glutamate Calcium caseinateSodium caseinateGelatin Yeast extractYeast foodAutolyzed yeastThese ingredients OFTEN contain MSG or create MSG during processing: Flavors & FlavoringsSeasoningsNatural flavors and flavorings Natural pork flavoringNatural beef flavoringNatural chicken flavoring Soy sauceSoy protein isolateSoy protein BouillonStockBroth Malt extractMalt flavoringBarley malt Whey proteinCarrageenanMaltodextrin PectinEnzymesProtease Corn starchCitric acidPowdered milk anything Protein fortifiedanything Enzyme modifiedanything Ultra-pasteurizedSome unexpected sources of MSG: Salad dressingsFrozen mealsPackaged and restaurant soups CheeseReduced fat milkChewing gum Ice creamCookiesVitamin enriched foods BeveragesCandyCigarettes MedicationsI.V. MaterialsSupplements, particularly mineralsThe number of U.S. citizens affected by ingestion of MSG is in the tens of millions. This figure is based on epidemiologic studies completed in the 1970’s that determined that at least 25% of the population reacted to MSG at the levels that were then found in processed food.1,2 (The amount of MSG currently found in processed food has increased dramatically over the years.) To counter these findings, the glutamate industry funded their own epidemiological study,3 a study since relied on by the FDA. In the industry-funded study, 43% of the respondents reported adverse reactions following a meal, reactions that we now associate with MSG sensitivity. However, the author of the study narrowly defined MSG sensitivity as three specific, mild and transitory conditions, all occurring at one time, within a limited time following ingestion of MSG. Even so, the researchers found 1.8% of the test population reacting to MSG. Since the time of that study, the FDA has claimed that approximately 2.0% of the population react to MSG with mild and transitory reactions.Tracking MSG DangersThe ingredient “monosodium glutamate” was invented in Japan in 1908.4 The inventor, Kikunae Ikeda, identified the flavor enhancing substance of seaweed, recognizing that Asians had used seaweed for flavoring for thousands of years. Shortly thereafter, he and a partner formed Ajinomoto, currently a six billion dollar firm, that is the world’s largest producer of MSG. Use of the product was minimal in our country until after World War II, when it was introduced to the United States food industry as a flavoring agent that our military discovered made Japanese army rations more palatable than our own. Many may remember when pure monosodium glutamate became available in our stores in a product called “Accent.”In 1968, a Chinese physician who immigrated to our country, Dr. Robert Ho Man Kwok, wrote a letter to the editor of The New England Journal of Medicine5 to ask for help in determining why he and friends suffered numbness, weakness, and palpitations when they dined in certain Chinese restaurants. He reported that the condition occurred 15 to 20 minutes following the meal and lasted about two hours. The letter was published under the heading “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.” Published responses that followed indicated that Dr. Kwok’s problem was a reaction to monosodium glutamate and -- as industry protested -- the debate over the safety of MSG began.About the same time, John W. Olney, M.D., a neuroscientist at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri who recently had been appointed to the National Academy of Science, noted that mice being fed MSG for a study of retinal deterioration had become grotesquely obese.6 Believing that the obesity was related to the function of the hypothalamus in the brain, he sacrificed MSG-fed mice and found that MSG caused hypothalamus lesions and neuroendocrine disorders, and that the very young were at particular risk. Neuroscientists now generally agree that glutamic acid is neurotoxic, killing brain neurons by exciting them to death.Dr. Olney’s findings did raise concern, especially since he had pointed out that the very young were most susceptible to damage because the protective blood brain barrier remains under development in the young. Because of Dr. Olney’s work, considerable pressure was put on the food industry to remove MSG from baby food. In an apparent effort to diffuse the pressure, they agreed. To this date, however, the FDA has taken no official action to disallow MSG in baby food.Although baby food sold today appears to be MSG-free, there are junior food products with MSG, and, of course, infants eat table food, much of which contains MSG. Also, baby formula contains ingredients with MSG; formulas for allergic infants contain much larger amounts than regular formula.Industry ResearchIn 1969, just as the dangers of MSG were being discovered, the glutamate industry formed a nonprofit organization, the International Glutamate Technical Committee (IGTC), and in 1977 formed a subsidiary, The Glutamate Association (TGA), to defend the safety of its product, the ingredient “monosodium glutamate.”To this day, IGTC serves as a research organization for the MSG industry, interacting with scientists and others, and providing research grants for studies on the subject of MSG. Until several years ago, TGA served as the MSG industry’s connection to consumers, acting somewhat like a public relations firm. Today, the International Food Information Council (IFIC) most often acts for TGA, distributing questionable information on the subject of MSG to the media and clogging the Internet with similar misleading information. IFIC holds itself out as an independent organization concerned with food related health issues. In fact, IFIC is funded primarily, if not totally, by the food industry whose products it claims to be safe.7 Through a foundation, IFIC provides grants to agencies such as the American Dietetic Association and the American College of Family Practice Foundation.If one were to review the literature to determine if controlled studies have ever been done on humans to prove or disprove that they are sensitive to MSG, one would find that, with possible rare exception, all such studies have been conducted under sponsorship of IGTC or one of their agents or supporters. One would also find that both test and placebo materials have typically been provided by IGTC. In one case, where the researcher used soup in the study, the researchers obtained the soup from Ajinomoto in Japan rather than rely on a source in this country.8 In these controlled studies, some subjects always react to MSG, but large numbers of subjects also react to a placebo. These studies conclude that since the subjects react to both MSG and placebos, it “proves” that it is not the MSG that people are reacting to. As faulty as this logic is, it is these studies that the FDA relies on in concluding that MSG is safe.Placebo ProblemsFor years, I could not figure out why large numbers of subjects in MSG industry-sponsored studies were reacting to placebos which, by definition, should be made up of inert, non-reactive material. Finally, in 1993, we found the answer. The placebos contained aspartame! The proof was contained in a letter signed by the chairman of the IGTC.9 It was found in a file of the FDA. The use of aspartame dated back to 1978, three years before aspartame was approved by the FDA for human consumption.Aspartame is far from inert and non-reactive. It contains approximately 40% aspartic acid, 50% phenylalanine, and 10% of a methyl ester. Neuroscientists have determined from studies on experimental animals that both aspartic acid and glutamic acid load on the same receptors in the brain, cause identical brain lesions and neuroendocrine disorders and have an additive affect. Indeed, MSG-sensitive people suffer similar adverse reactions from aspartame, providing that they ingest amounts that exceed their tolerance levels, and vice versa. At this writing, the FDA has on file approximately 7,000 unsolicited reports of adverse reactions to aspartame.The proof of the inappropriate placebos was turned over to the FDA. After several years of prodding, the FDA turned for vindication to a special Expert Panel of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), then studying the safety of MSG in food for the FDA. Many months later, FASEB, in a wishy-washy response, indicated that aspartame should no longer be used as test material in studies on MSG sensitivity.10Yes, IGTC did respond to the advice given by FASEB. They changed the placebo materials that were to be used in studies that were under development. The first study using new placebo material has now been published. The new placebo material does not contain aspartame, but contains sucrose11, a substance that will affect the findings of any study on MSG intolerance. If sucrose is used in placebos, it will also be used in test material where it will -- surprisingly -- diminish the effect of MSG.12 IGTC knows this well because they funded research that said so. The FDA also knows that sucrose and other carbohydrates diminish the effect of MSG.FDA StudiesIn a July, 1995 FDA-funded report by FASEB entitled “The Safety of MSG in Food,” FASEB was to have reviewed all of the published studies and reports relating to MSG. Their eight member Expert Panel, at least four of whom had conflicts of interest, did not do so. Instead, they elected to prepare a 20 page Executive Summary for broad distribution that consisted of answers to 18 specific questions posed by the FDA. These questions created the impression that MSG causes only mild and transitory problems.The FDA did not ask about, and FASEB did not even address, the fact that MSG causes migraine headaches, the leading reaction to MSG, and a reaction that is now well recognized by headache clinics throughout the country. Also not properly addressed in the July, 1995 FASEB report are a number of studies that have found that when MSG is administered to pregnant rats or mice, or to very young rats or mice, the offspring or young rodents all suffer from very specific and very definite learning disabilities.13 The report also fails to mention that many studies point to grotesque obesity in animals that were administered MSG when young,14 and that MSG has been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease),15-17 certain psychiatric conditions,18 and heart irregularities such as tachycardia.19 (See Table 2 for a list of adverse conditions reported by MSG-sensitive individuals). Back to top