MSG what you say?

[Mikyart]

While I am unsure of the origin of this email which I received today,it is interesting and
important enough to find out more!!!

The food additive MSG (MonoSodium Glutamate) is a slow poison. MSG hides behind 25 or more names, such as 'Natural Flavoring.' MSG is even in your favorite coffee from Tim Horton's and other brand-name coffee shops.
I wondered if there could be an actual chemical causing the massive obesity epidemic, and so did a friend of mine, John Erb. He was a research assistant at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, and spent years working for the government. He made an amazing discovery while going through scientific journals for a book he was writing called
The Slow Poisoning of America.

In hundreds of studies around the world, scientists were creating obese mice and rats to use in diet or diabetes test studies. No strain of rat or mice is naturally obese, so scientists have to create them. They make these creatures morbidly obese by injecting them with MSG when they are first born.
The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates, causing rats (and perhaps humans) to become obese. They even have a name for the fat rodents they create: 'MSG-Treated Rats.'

When I heard this, I was shock ed. I went into my kitchen and checked the cupboards and the refrigerator. MSG was in everything -- theCampbell's soups, the Hostess Doritos, the Lays flavored potato chips, Top Ramen, Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper, Heinz canned gravy, Swanson frozen prepared meals, and Kraft salad dressings, especially the 'healthy low-fat' ones.
The items that didn't have MSG marked on the product label had something called Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein,' which is just another name for Monosodium Glutamate.

It was shocking to see just how many of the foods we feed our children everyday are filled with this stuff. MSG is hidden under many different names in order to fool those who read the ingredient list, so that they don't catch on. (Other names for MSG are 'Accent, 'Ajinomoto,' 'Natural Meat Tenderizer,' etc.)

But it didn't stop there. When our family went out to eat, we started asking at the restaurants what menu items contained MSG. Many employees, even the managers, swore they didn't use MSG. But when we ask for the ingredient list, which they grudgingly provided, sure enough, MSG and Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein were everywhere. Burger King, McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, every restaurant, even the sit-down eateries like TGIF, Chili's, Applebee's, and
Denny's use MSG in abundance. Kentucky Fried Chicken seemed to be the WORST offender: MSG was in every chicken dish, salad dressing. and gravy. No wonder I loved to eat that coating on the skin -- their secret spice was MSG!

So why is MSG in so may of the foods we eat? Is it a preservative, or a vitamin? Not according to my friend John Erb. In his book, The Slow Poisoning of America, he said that MSG is added to food for the addictive effect
it has on the human body. Even the propaganda website sponsored by the food manufacturers lobby group supporting MSG explains that the reason they add it to food is to
make people eat more.

A study of the elderly showed that older people eat more of the foods that it is added to. The Glutamate Association lobbying group says eating more is a benefit to the elderly, but what does it do to the rest of us?

'Betcha can't eat [just] one,' takes on a whole new meaning where MSG is concerned! And we wonder why the nation is overweight! The MSG manufacturers themselves admit that it addicts people to their products. It makes people choose their product over others, and makes people eat more of it than they would if MSG wasn't added.

Since its introduction into the American food supply fifty years ago, MSG has been added in larger and larger doses to the pre-packaged meals, soups, snacks, and fast foods we are tempted to eat everyday. The FDA has set no limits on how much of it can be added to food. They claim it's safe to eat in any amount. But how can they claim it's safe
when there are hundreds of scientific studies with titles like these:
'The monosodium glutamate (MSG) obese rat as a model for the study of exercise in obesity.' Gobatto CA, Mello MA, Souza CT, Ribeiro IA. Res Commun Mol Pathol Pharmacol. 2002.
'Adrenalectomy abolishes the food-induced hypothalamic serotoninrelease in both normal and monosodium glutamate-obese rats.' Guimaraes RB, Telles MM, Coelho VB, Mori C, Nascimento CM, Ribeiro. Brain Res Bull. 2002 Aug.
'Obesity induced by neonatal monosodium glutamate
treatment in spontaneously hypertensive rats: An animal model of multiple risk factors.' Iwase M, Yamamoto M, Iino K, Ichikawa K,Shinohara N, Yoshinari Fujishima. Hypertens Res. 1998 Mar.
'Hypothalamic lesion induced by injection of monosodium glutamate in suckling period and subsequent development of obesity.' Tanaka K,Shimada M, Nakao K Kusunoki. Exp Neurol. 1978 Oct. No, the date of that last study was not a typo; it was published in 1978.

Both the 'medical research community' and 'food manufacturers' have known about the side effects of MSG for decades. Many more of the studies mentioned in John Erb's book link MSG to diabetes, migraines and headaches, autism, ADHD, and even Alzheimer's. So what can we do
to stop the food manufactures from dumping this fattening and addictive MSG into our food supply and causing the obesity epidemic we now see?

Several months ago, John Erb took his book and his concerns to one of the highest government health officials in Canada. While he was sitting in the government office, the official told him, 'Sure, I know how bad MSG is. I wouldn't touch the stuff.' But this top-level government official refuses to tell the public what he knows.

The big media doesn't want to tell the public either, fearing issues with their advertisers. It seems that the fallout on the fast food industry may hurt their profit margin. The food producers and restaurants have been addicting us to their products for years, and now we are paying the price for it. Our children should not be cursed with obesity caused by an addictive food additive.

The food industry learned a lot from the tobaccoindustry. Imagine if big tobacco had a bill like this in place before someone blew the whistle on nicotine?

If you are one of the few who can still believe that MSG is good for us and you don't believe what John Erb has to say, see for yourself. Go to the National Library of Medicine at < http://www.pubmed. com > Type in the words 'MSG Obese and read a few of the 115 medical studies that appear. We the public do not want to be rats in one giant experiment, and we do not approve of food that makes us into a nation of obese, lethargic, addicted sheep, feeding the food industry's bottom line while waiting for the heart transplant, the diabetic-induced amputation, blindness, or otherobesity-induced, life-threatening disorders.
Blowing the whistle on MSG is our responsibility, so get the word out.

[bbally]

Ah the happy horsecrap on MSG continues. The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

No science and bull.

[justwingit]

Umami?

What next salt is making the western society fat??

Ahh

Tom

[cheztom]

I was gonna say - isn't MSG at the heart of umami? No MSG, no yummy umami. Or at least - you've lost a big piece of that picture without MSG.

No Tom - I think they say now that salt makes our hearts explode. The next thing is that bottled water makes you fat AND its killing the earth.

[lockport]

who's unami fighting at madison square gardens i am confused

[cheztom]

I thought you knew....the main event is

The Tokyo Typhoon...the mighty Umami

versus

Los Ostre Montana...The magnificent Clam of Fear!

[Gourmet_Mom]

Tom, you're such a tease! You know we get all giddy when you show up like this....

(fanning myself)AHHHHHHH......"THUMP"!
>>>>>>>>>>>>falling out in a dead faint<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

[bbally]

The "clam of fear" has had quite a career!

And yet another Mommy falls to his great looks!

[dnelson]

It takes a "Hot Topic" to bring out "The Clam of Fear" who is BTW one of my all time heros! I predict he will reduce the Tokyo Typhoon to a mere pool of stagnant flavorless water!

What channel is this event held on?

[Mikyart]

This forum is for culinary professionals and chefs but you all responded like a dishwasher.

[RodinBangkok]

This forum is for culinary professionals and chefs but you all responded like a dishwasher.

Well for me the quality of the response was an indication of the value or validity of the original post....to reiterate...the sky is falling MSG will kill you...last time I looked all of us here in Asia that use the stuff a lot are still alive and kicking.

[bbally]

This forum is for culinary professionals and chefs but you all responded like a dishwasher.

Yes, but damn good dishwashers!

With some understanding of science and the ability to separate it from the special interest sky is falling crowd. As well as realizing since 1959 MSG achieved GRAS status and all the continued REAL science has never been able to show anything other than GRAS as the proper classification.

Nice of you to plug your friends book, but I would say the title really lets him out of an impartial discussion.

[Bernhard]

Thank you BOB.
You said it all and very well what needs to be said about MSG

[garball]

http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2003/103_msg.html

[Mikyart]

Thank you Garball for factual reply. Personally I am using Accent or other MSG products and I am not paranoid about this taste enhancer. I wanted to focus your attention on this side of the story and start an intelligent discussion. I was not prepared on the attack of Sumo wrestlers.
P.S. I am not plugging for any-body's book. I need a rest. See me in 2009