Let\u2019s start with plant-based \u201ceggs,\u201d an unknown commodity just a short time ago that is now out-selling the real deal at ten times the rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The leader in the artificial egg game is JUST, Inc., makers of JUST Egg<\/strong>, which contains nothing that any reasonable person would consider having come from a bird of any kind. JUST, however, has no shame about splashing the word EGG all over its product and website. The company (known as Hampton Creek when it introduced its first fake product, mock mayo) is apparently taking advantage of an odd FDA loophole in the \u201cstandard of identity\u201d (SOI) for what can be called an egg. While the FDA requires that there be a legally binding SOI for hundreds of items from peanut butter to pasta (consisting of a detailed description of that food), you won\u2019t find eggs among them. And, to make things even crazier, the FDA is prohibited from creating an SOI for eggs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, a product concocted of mung bean protein isolate<\/strong> (containing MSG\u2019s toxic component MfG), canola oil, tetrasodium pyrophosphate (a thickening agent or coagulant) and transglutaminase (a.k.a. \u201cmeat glue\u201d), among other highly processed ingredients, came to be called \u201cegg,\u201d outselling highly nutritional real eggs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fake fish<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The ever-expanding market for imitation food has reeled in a host of phony fish dishes, the latest coming from \u201cGood Catch,\u201d with its \u201cfish-free TUNA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This product contains more brain damaging MfG ingredients than any other product we\u2019ve previously looked at, including pea protein isolate, soy protein concentrate, faba protein, lentil protein, soy protein isolate, citric acid and yeast extract.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Why the company has not been challenged by the FDA for false and misleading labeling isn\u2019t clear, since the FDA has a long list of what can legally be called tuna, which is limited to actual varieties of real fish. Nestle, which also makes a faux fish product at least calls it \u201cVuna,\u201d a product that \u201ctastes like tuna.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That little detail hasn\u2019t stopped \u201cGood Catch\u201d from netting millions of dollars in investment capital, including close to $30 million in its latest round of funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The big kahuna of mock meat<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While meatless burgers and nuggets have been around for some time, it wasn\u2019t until Impossible Foods came along with the additive-filled concoction it calls a \u201cburger\u201d that the market for consuming bogus beef took off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Impossible claims it\u2019s busy saving the Earth from devastation, it doesn\u2019t have much to say on its main component, soy-protein concentrate<\/strong>, an MfG filled excitotoxic ingredient. And that\u2019s not the only one. You\u2019ll also find natural flavors, potato protein, yeast extract and soy-protein isolate<\/strong> in their \u201cburgers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aside from the known brain-damaging nature of these ingredients, there\u2019s also a GMO ingredient called soy leghemoglobin, or heme, added as a color additive to make the burger appear to \u201cbleed\u201d like real meat. That\u2019s now the subject of a lawsuit filed by The Center for Food Safety (CFS) challenging the FDA\u2019s approval of the ingredient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This genetically modified soy (a newcomer to the human diet), was OK\u2019d by the FDA without \u201cextensive safety testing before approving its use,\u201d CFS states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The heme is produced by a chemically complex process in which the DNA from genetically modified soy is extracted, inserted into genetically engineered yeast and fermented to produce genetically engineered heme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The FDA has no comment as to the regulatory compliance of these fake foods other than saying (in a 2018 press release) that it\u2019s on a \u201cfast track\u201d in reviewing \u201csubstitute\u201d food products. The last we were told by the FDA is that staffers there are busy reading over 13,000 comments on this issue and that they take \u201clabeling concerns seriously.\u201d But apparently not all that seriously, as more and more foods that aren\u2019t really foods are being manufactured and misleadingly labeled all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How one health crisis is helping to fuel another<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It seems that it took a world-wide health crisis to give these \u201csubstitute\u201d products the push needed to rake in those billions in sales. Along with meat shortages last year and the all-around difficulty in buying actual food items, somehow these products became labeled by some as \u201chealthier\u201d eating, with numerous articles attributing the plant-based \u201crevolution\u201d to Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But despite all the extravagant claims made by manufacturers, if you read the ingredient labels on these products you\u2019ll find that they are not eggs, meat or fish, and not the kinds of \u201cplants\u201d grown by farmers either. As we\u2019ve said before, a better name might be chemical-based junk foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Watch out for products that make protein claims<\/strong> on the packaging. Most are made from combinations of manufactured free amino acids such as those found in MSG and in aspartame. This includes snack bars, cookies, smoothie mixes, protein powders and protein drinks in addition to fake eggs, fish, and meat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All, \u201csubstitute\u201d protein products will contain MSG or its toxic MfG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember also that soy, pea and bean protein do not taste remotely like meat, fish or eggs, so MfG-containing flavor enhancers like MSG are added to trick your tongue into making that taste association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check out our list of ingredient names that contain MfG<\/a> as well as our brochure<\/a> to take shopping with you. Better yet, if you want to do all you can to have a healthy diet, ditch the processed foods and ultra-processed fake foods, altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/truthinlabeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fake_tuna.jpg\")
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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 <\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/a>. Or you can reach us at questionsaboutmsg@gmail.com and follow us on <\/em>Twitter @truthlabeling<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n