According to the FDA\u2019s \u201cbest advice\u201d on food safety, monosodium glutamate (MSG) is considered an \u201cadded chemical hazard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That warning will be found in the FDA\u2019s Food Code, considered to be the agency\u2019s \u201cbest recommendations\u201d on food safety issues for retail food establishments. MSG has been included in Annex 4, table 2b, Added chemical hazards at retail,<\/em> since 1999, with advice to \u201cavoid using excessive amounts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Requesting that the list be expanded to reflect the ever-growing use of excitotoxic chemical hazards in food, Adrienne Samuels, Ph.D., director of the nonprofit Truth in Labeling Campaign has submitted a Citizen Petition to FDA Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D., asking that additives containing manufactured free glutamate (MfG) \u2013 the same toxic ingredient found in MSG \u2013 also be included in the Food Code\u2019s list of Added chemical hazards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMonosodium glutamate is not alone in containing potentially excitotoxic (brain damaging) MfG\u201d says Samuels. \u201cMfG can be found in dozens of additives used in processed foods, and they should all be listed as \u2018chemical hazards\u2019 along with MSG.\u201d A list of the ingredients that always contain MfG<\/a> is kept up-to-date on the webpage of the Truth in Labeling Campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can read and comment on this petition at the FDA docket here: https:\/\/www.regulations.gov\/document\/FDA-2021-P-0267-0001<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the third petition Samuels has sent to the FDA this year. To read the others, one to strip MSG and manufactured glutamate of their GRAS (safe) status and the other to replace the FDA\u2019s inaccurate webpage, \u201cQuestions and Answers on Monosodium Glutamate,\u201d go to the Truth in Labeling Campaign\u2019s website petition page here: https:\/\/www.truthinlabeling.org\/petition.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n And remember, your comments at the FDA docket on these petitions matter, so be sure to tell them exactly what\u2019s on your mind regarding these toxic additives!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have questions or comments, we\u2019d love to hear from you. If you have hints for others on how to avoid exposure to MfG, send them along, too, and we\u2019ll put them up on\u00a0<\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/a>. Or you can reach us at questionsaboutmsg@gmail.com and follow us on\u00a0<\/em>Twitter @truthlabeling<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n