MSG [monosodium glutamate]

I was wondering if anyone noticed this ingredient appearing in more and more foods such as potato chips, sauces, soups.. etc. It's sometime impossible to find a product that does not contain this ingredient. Research has shown that it is neurotoxic for baby mice [other pubmed study on baby mice] Further, it has been recently linked to obesity [pubmed study]

It apears that this ingredient was aproved due to the study that was based on tests subjects that were preselected.

MSG is potent exitotoxin
meaning that it stimulates brain cells to the point were they die.. I am curious if this ingredient is added to make the food addictive and by doing so produce consumers who will come back for more..
Is this another case of industry ruling the FDA?

If you say no.. then consider this recent aproval..
California approval for spraying fruits, grains, and vegetables with MSG.





[edit on 1-12-2005 by psilocin]

Good research and thread.

I always wonder what these food companies are putting in our foods. So many ingredients today have effects that are not released or are not spoken of. Its pathetic. I just want to be able to eat some real food with a real taste, however that is very hard to do nowadays.

Nice job

so quick question. If MSG is associated with obesity, then why are asians not as affected by this? I personally think obesity is a problem of this mind.

Either way just some food for thought and great information either way.

I believe part of the problem with MSG may be that while the Chinese and other Asians use a natural form of it, the US and companies in the west use an artificial not natural form that is often loaded with some bad compounds and/or an amino acid that makes some people sick. The manufactured version of it almost killed me or made me extremely sick after I ate a lot of it within the food at a local restaurant. I've discussed this before and the attached link also has a link for a list of names of other ingredients that contain MSG. MSG is in more foods than you may realize because it is often not listed as MSG but is within other names on the ingredient list. Read the attached for more info and I know I had the link for the list of ingredients within that link.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I don't know why that link was so hard to find especially since I created the discussion. It could be a conspiracy to fatten up Americans and hide the fact while the big chemical companies make money off of MSG.

Edited note: While it may be that the natural form of MSG might be safe, I got so sick from eating it (probably the artificial form of it) within the food at a local restaurant, I don't want to get that sick again or risk my life on the possibility that the natural form of MSG is safe for me to eat. If you can die from eating certain foods and it definitely makes you very sick, you'll definitely pay attention to it.

[edit on 2-12-2005 by orionthehunter]

Originally posted by psilocin

If you say no.. then consider this recent aproval..
California approval for spraying fruits, grains, and vegetables with MSG.

I did not realize that they are going to or are now spraying crops with MSG at least in California.

This should be illegal in my opinion or at least have labels on food indicating it was sprayed with a compound containing MSG. MSG is making people sick and I believe it can kill people who are sensitive to it. Airlines and others take other food allergies seriously such as that to peanuts so I don't know why officials are overlooking MSG.

I got extremely sick and felt like I was almost dying from it when I ate food containing MSG in the food at one restaurant. Now I may have trouble avoiding it thanks to people spraying it on the crops. The sprays get absorbed into the food and since the crops are not labeled as being sprayed with a compound containing MSG, many of us will get sick now. Thanks California.

Even if the crops were labeled, someone else will process the crop into food and then I can get sick that way as well because I won't be able to know if it's in the food or not. I'm going to avoid all food grown in California now. Thanks for the heads up.


Thanks for bringing this information on MSG back into the spotlight. I clicked on that list of ingredients of items containing MSG from within the link above reposted here.

www.truthinlabeling.org...

and now see why I got a stomach ache after eating at a Japanese restaurant. I didn't realize Soy sauce contained MSG.

Unfortunately, if California is spraying MSG onto food crops and that is getting sold and processed into food in some other state than California, I won't be able to avoid MSG or know if it's in the food or not unless I keep getting sick from eating food. I suppose anyone else like me will just start thinking they have stomach problems, migraines etc. and not know the true source. We're being contaminated with these artificial substances.

[edit on 2-12-2005 by orionthehunter]

Originally posted by psilocin

If you say no.. then consider this recent aproval..
California approval for spraying fruits, grains, and vegetables with MSG.

Oh for God's sake, how bad can this get? I realize a large population does not have a physical problem ingesting this stuff, but there are plenty of us who can be totally taken down by it. Yes, I noticed quite a few years ago that almost anything "munchie", particularly with flavorings like chips and things are off limits for me - fine.

Having to worry about it not only being in crops, but not being listed or labled? I guess I should consider myself lucky that obesity is not a problem for my future, but it seems to be getting to the point where malnutrition might be.

I look for it in the ingredients when I food shop. If it has MSG in it, I ain't buying it. I just look for something else.

I pulled this post from another thread that you might find interesting...

Originally posted by twitchy
I am pulling this from my research folder and don't have a link to this article and the author was listed as unknown, but I have looked into the following and found the information to be accurate. A search on google with the text should pull it up on a couple of sites though...

Slow Poisoning MSG (Monosodium Glutamate.) hides behind 25 or more names, such as "Natural Flavoring" or "Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein"...
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 the scientists have to create them. They make these morbidly obese creatures by injecting them with MSG when they are first born. The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates...

That would explain the diabetes epidemic in industrialized countries, also goes a long way to explaining the obesity problems as well. If additives to food to make them addictive sounds far fetched to you, then ask yourself why they would put MSG in our food to begin with considering that...

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. In the book he wrote, an expose of the food additive industry called The Slow Poisoning of America, (www.spofamerica.com), 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 at: www.msgfacts.com... explains that the reason they add it to food is to make people eat more. A study of
elderly people showed that people eat more of the foods that it is added to....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.

But they wouldn't put something in our food that was bad for us would they?

Not only is MSG scientifically proven to cause obesity, it is an addictive
substance! Since its introduction into the American food supply fifty years ago,
MSG has been added in larger and larger doses to the prepackaged 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. How can they claim it is 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 serotonin release in both normal and monosodium glutamate-obese rats. Guimaraes RB, Telles MM, Coelho VB, Mori RC, 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.
Yes, that last study was not a typo, it WAS written in 1978. Both the medical research community and food "manufaturers" have known MSG's side effects for decades! Many more studies mentioned in John Erb's book link MSG to Diabetes, Migraines and headaches, Autism, ADHD and even Alzheimer's.

If they thought you would buy more potato chips, you damn right they would. But why doesn't somebody sue their pants off? Hey that's a good question, let's see...

George W. Bush and his corporate supporters are pushing a
Bill through Congress. Called the "Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act" also known as the "Cheeseburger Bill", this sweeping law bans anyone from suing food manufacturers, sellers and distributors. Even if it comes out that they purposely added an addictive chemical to their foods.
Read about it for yourself at:
www.yahoo.com.http...://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/2004
0311/ap_on_go_co/obesity_lawsuits_4
The Bill has already been rushed through the House of Representatives, and is due for the same rubber stamp at Senate level. It is important that Bush and his corporate supporters get it through before the media lets everyone know about MSG, the intentional Nicotine for food. Several months ago, John Erb took his book and his concerns to one of the highest government health officials in Canada. While 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 refused to tell the public what he knew.
The big media doesn't want to tell the public either, fearing legal issues with their advertisers. It seems that the fallout on the fast food industry may hurt their profit margin....The food industry learned a lot from the tobacco industry. Imagine if big tobacco had a bill like this in place before someone blew the whistle on Nicotine?

Because the Food industry is a major lobby, that's why.
Check this out...

Go to the National Library of Medicine, at www.pubmed.com Type in the
words "MSG Obese" and read a few of the 115 medical studies that appear.

This is a subject that's close to my heart. Recently, along with certain naturally occuring hormonal 'changes' in my body, I started having migraine headaches. As I'm very aware of what I eat, I noticed several things that trigger these migraines and MSG is at the top of the list. I simply cannot eat anything with MSG in it or I will regret it for the following 24 hours.

Unfortunately, chocolate, avacado, aged cheddar cheese and citrus are also on that list.

I have noticed that MSG is in more and more foods. And it goes by many names.

Thank you for making this thread. It reminds me to write to a few companies to tell them that I won't be purchasing their products any longer because of this fact.

MSG - Slowly Poisoning America

Crops sprayed with MSG, it's like someone is saying "Eat your MSG and like it, Dammit!"

Troy

MSG... I have heard that a lot. I don't know much about it but I have heard it is a food additive, and considered poisonous by the masses though the government says its all good. What I'd like to see is a study in front of the masses, not a laboratory in a restricted lavatory with a sign saying "beware of the leopard" posted on the door! A free system that can be shown to the people.

Geez, we shouldn't even need to go so far as to showing it may be poisoning us. There are enough people so seriously debilitated by it, why don't we have the same rights to warnings or clear lableing as people with rarer forms of food reactions?

I am one of the people who wind up with a 24 hour totally disabling migraine, but it goes beyond that. I lose almost all memory of what occurs during that MSG migraine, and apparently am not in full control of my judgement. Not a pretty combination.

Anyway, if they are now allowing using it on crops, and we can't even know where half our produce comes from, guess I am now limited to shopping totally organic.

Originally posted by Relentless
...
There are enough people so seriously debilitated by it, why don't we have the same rights to warnings or clear lableing as people with rarer forms of food reactions?
...
Anyway, if they are now allowing using it on crops, and we can't even know where half our produce comes from, guess I am now limited to shopping totally organic.

I know what you mean. I suppose people have to start dying from obesity and blame it on MSG for anyone to notice. Those of us who just get seriously sick but manage to survive don't seem to be taken that seriously by those who are passing laws about food labeling and restrictions. Airlines banned peanuts from the air and I believe it might be restricted in schools as well but when it comes to people sensitive to MSG, oh they seem to think its ok to just spray it on the crops and let it soak in. Then when we all start suffering and don't know why, they'll invent some new disease and say we have it.

As far as organic goes, I don't know if farmers are allowed to spray their crops and still call it organic or not. Even if someone does die from too much MSG in the food they ate, someone would probably blame it on something else. Unfortunately, it seems this problem doesn't get the attention or respect because we haven't heard of people dying from it yet.

I felt like I was almost dying from it one morning though after I ate at a restaurant that used some heavy doses of MSG. I wasn't aware that MSG was the source of some problems I kept having after eating certain foods. Anyway the morning after eating at that restaurant, my vision blacked out for a second and I broke out in a big sweat with temps in the 50's, felt extremely nauseous and other even worse symptoms than that which I don't really want to describe here. A 24 hour mild headache was the least of the problems I had. I stopped eating food with MSG or try to not eat anything with it and all those stomach aches I kept getting dissappeared. I rarely get even a slight headache. Unfortunately, California wants to give it all back to me so I will have to suffer before I realize something was grown in California or sprayed with MSG.

[edit on 4-12-2005 by orionthehunter]

I don't know how many of you have enjoyed a good meal, only to wake up the next day with an "MSG headache" but I have done this too many times to count. So when I shop, I'm very careful about checking labels. Most of the time.

This week I decided to have some BBQ pork ribs for a 'treat' as we rarely indulge. I got some BBQ sauce that looked really good. I baked them and they were delicious! Halfway through the meal, it occured to me that I hadn't checked the label on the BBQ sauce! I enjoyed the rest of the meal thinking that it was already too late as I'd had a good portion of the sauce. Extra for dipping.

After dinner I checked the label and to my dismay, MSG was about halfway down the list of ingredients! For me, this is certain to mean a 16 hour headache, most likely starting in the middle of the night and going for most of the next day.

I have taken Activated Charcoal caps before because it absorbs poison so I thought it was worth a shot. I took 3 capsules.

It's 10:30 the next morning, and although I have felt twinges of a threat of a headache, I am by far convinced that the charcoal absorbed most of the poison, MSG!

Activated charcoal's most important use is for treatment of poisoning. It helps prevent the absorption of most poisons or drugs by the stomach and intestines. In addition to being used for most swallowed poisons in humans, charcoal has been effectively used in dogs, rabbits, rats, and other animals, as well. It can also adsorb gas in the bowels and has been used for the treatment of gas or diarrhea. Charcoal's other uses such as treatment of viruses, bacteria, bacterial toxic byproducts, snake venoms and other substances by adsorption have not been supported by clinical studies. By adding water to the powder to make a paste, activated charcoal can be used as an external application to alleviate pain and itching from bites and stings.

Now, I am by no means advocating ingesting MSG. It's poison! But if you ever accidently do, or think you may have... Have some activated charcoal on hand to take immediately! You'll be glad you did!

And this morning, as I wondered if anyone else had made this discovery...

Food Additive Headache

First, you could be eating foods that have, in fact, been found to cause headaches. These include:
...
Citrus fruits, eggs, milk, wheat as well as food additives, like, monosodium glutamate (MSG); nitrates used to preserve meats and sugar substitutes, as well as sulfites used on restaurant salads. (Source: Feltman, John, ed. Giant Book of Health facts, Emmaus, PA., Rodale, 1991.)

Some Solutions

If your diet, per the above is causing you headaches, then consider the following as some suggested remedies. Drinking a glass of fresh cabbage juice, celery, lettuce, or other green-veggie juice. This may help neutralize reactions from other foodstuffs. Also, taking activated charcoal tablets an hour before, and immediately after, consuming suspected headache triggers.

I can't tell you how excited I am to find this remedy!

I didn't have any reactions to MSG before. However, when I did a cleansing diet eliminating all canned goods, processed food (all foods containing sodium nitrate like hotdogs, bacons, etc), junk foods (potato chips, chocolates, etc), and milk products and replaced it with natural foods, after a month, when I started to eat junk foods containing MSG, I began to feel dizzy and nauseated. I started to get bad headaches and I couldn't sleep right. I've been really sick for a few days. I stopped eating junk foods since and only stick to natural foods.

I don't know whats wrong with my body. I think it is telling me that what I've ingested is poison. I think my body is beginning to be very sensitive since I did the cleansing diet. Anyway, I have no choice but to stop eating processed food anymore.

I think people get desensitize after consuming MSG for many years. Try stopping for a month. You'll know what I mean.

Hey OP great post, I suffer from migraines and when I go into a restaurant, in about a 1/2 an hour after the meal, whether or not MSG was used. The pain is so extreme that I cant drive but over the counter Excedrin migraine medication seems to help.
I have gotten to the point whenever I go to an oriental restaurant, I ask if MSG is used, they look at me quite rudely, but hey, I want to enjoy and keep my food down, you know what I mean,
gwhint

It just occured to me, it's a sodium based salt of glutamic acid, and since saliva is alkaline, wouldn't it then become a freebase? Are we literally freebasing glutamic acid, hell no wonder it's addictive. Tobacco companies seem to have known this as well, it's on the list.

reply to post by gwhint


Bah, don't worry the FDA says it's ok. That headache your feeling is merely the excitotoxic action of glutamate/aspartate, causing ireperable neural damage.
Actually the MSG Aspartame conspiracy may be related, and much creepier than I thought, check this article out...
www.smart-drugs.net...
One of the things it mentions is that excessive calcium potentiates this neural damage, now it's interesting at least to me to note that Flouride and Electromagnetic exposure causes excessive absorption of Calcium. Brush your teeth with flouride toothpaste, drink your flouridated water, sit in front of the milligauss crackling television, maybe pop you some MSG laden popcorn in microwave and drink your artificially sweetened beverage, and maybe chat on your little microwave radiation phone for a couple hours and you've got a real recipe for severe neural damage. Maybe we're being dumbed down in a real creepy poisonous sense of the word as well eh?

Wasn't it the Michael Keaton Batman movie where the Joker had put chemicals in products that alone weren't poisonous but in combination they were deadly? Might not have been too terribly far off the track there.

Thanks Twitchy for the posting and I guess saying something like
"That Which does not Kill us Makes us Stronger" just doesnt apply here. Obviously I've got to start reading more labels shopping and you are problably right with the Dumbing down theory.
gwhint