Tag: excitotoxins

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Not all glutamate is created equal

There are two types of glutamate. One is bound glutamate, glutamate tied or “bound” to other amino acids in protein.

Bound glutamate causes no damage in the brain or peripheral tissue. It triggers no adverse reactions.

Then there is free glutamate.  Free glutamate does three things simultaneously, it:

1. Triggers glutamate receptors in the mouth and on the tongue causing them to swell, so to speak, giving the food with which they were ingested a more robust taste.

2. Triggers glutamate receptors in the brain. In well-regulated amounts, glutamate enables the brain to function properly. However, in excess amounts such as those presently available in processed food, glutamate becomes an excitotoxic neurotransmitter firing repeatedly until its targeted glutamate receptors die.

3. Triggers glutamate receptors in peripheral tissue.

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Ajinomoto Finds Yet Another Way to Tell The Six Big Fat Lies About MSG


Over the past few years, Edelman PR has done its utmost to come up with wild and crazy campaigns for one of its major clients, Ajinomoto, the world’s leading manufacturer of monosodium glutamate.

Recent efforts include calling those who avoid MSG racists, a boot camp to teach bloggers and journalists how to promote MSG, having an online dictionary change the definition of “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome,” and managing to place obvious advertising segments promoting MSG in major networks masquerading as news. Ajinomoto even attempted to butter up the U.S. Department of Agriculture to come up with a “study” claiming MSG helps you to lose weight.

The latest is beyond absurd. And once again, Ajinomoto and Edelman are working hard and spending big bucks to try and give prime time to what we call the Six Big Fat Lies About MSG.

The organic metrics for this stunt, called CancelPizza, indicate it wasn’t very successful. However, we feel obligated to respond to yet another episode of MSG misinformation by countering it with the truth. Let’s connect the dots.

A ‘Trojan horse’ of hype

As is usual for Edelman PR, they don’t just create these schemes for their most-loved client Ajinomoto without bragging about it to anyone who will listen. In this case, the PR firm issued both a press release and several interviews about its campaign dubbed #cancelpizza.

As told to an industry-geared online publication, Edelman stated “We held our noses and studied the conspiracy content that tended to go viral.” It then attempted to create a “conspiratorial basement dweller aesthetic” in an “extremely sneaky campaign.”

The campaign consisted of a string of TikTok videos that were designed to “spread a slow-burn, incendiary campaign online” (again, in its own words) to “cancel pizza.” Why? According to Edelman, “If people are going to cancel monosodium glutamate, then we must also cancel foods where MSG naturally occurs…like pizza” (more on this, one of Ajinomoto’s Big Fat Lies, in a minute).

The campaign was indeed so sneaky, involving a “trove of influencers to fan the flames,” that it appeared to violate the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules regarding providing clear notice to indicate paid advertising. (FCC, where are you?)

Edelman summed up its “creative genius” as “a straightforward science lesson inside the Trojan horse of a TikTok conspiracy theory.”

But despite all the planning, money, and self-congratulatory statements, it came across as an actor reading a script and yelling about pizza and MSG. Nevertheless, Edelman managed to once again repeat Ajinomoto’s Six Big Fat Lies.

So, here are the real facts versus what Ajinomoto and its PR firm are hoping you’ll believe.

Fiction: Monosodium glutamate occurs naturally in food.

Fact: MSG is manufactured using genetically modified bacteria that excrete glutamic acid through their cell walls. In the United States, monosodium glutamate is produced in Ajinomoto’s plant in Eddyville, Iowa.

There have been hundreds of patents issued regarding the manufacture of MSG, which is a man-made product. One of the latest applied for by Ajinomoto was published by the US Patent and Trademark Office in December of 2023 and covers an improved method of producing “a free” L-amino acid “such as L-glutamic acid,” from Coryneform bacteria.

Proving once again that there is nothing “natural” about MSG.

Fiction: The glutamate contained in MSG is identical to the glutamate in the human body.

Fact: The glutamate in the human body is L-glutamate. L-glutamate, only. The glutamate of any manufactured glutamate (found in monosodium glutamate and pea protein isolate, for example) is made up of both L-glutamate and D-glutamate plus unwanted by-products of production called impurities. And since industry has not found a way to remove the unwanted impurities from processed free L-glutamate, the glutamate in MSG will always come with impurities.

Fiction: MSG is naturally made, similar to yogurt, vinegar, and wine.

Fact: MSG is manufactured using genetically modified bacteria that excrete glutamic acid through their cell walls. The only similarity to yogurt, vinegar, and wine is that their production includes fermentation.

Fiction: MSG has been used for over a century without adverse reactions.

Fact: The statement that MSG has been used for over a century without adverse reactions is a bald-faced lie. Since 1968, there have been copious reports of brain damage, endocrine disorders, and adverse reactions following ingestion of MSG; and the glutamate cascade has been implicated in such disease conditions as addiction, stroke, epilepsy, degenerative disorders (Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, and Parkinson’s disease), brain trauma, neuropathic pain, schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression.

Fiction: It must be safe since the FDA has said so.

Fact: The FDA relies on industry to determine what products are “safe.” Only when products are undeniably toxic, and claimed so by industry, or are not produced by Big Food or Big Pharma, will the FDA deem them unsafe.

The FDA does not order drug recalls, regardless of evidence of toxicity unless directed to do so by Big Food or Big Pharma. The FDA does no recalls on food or other non-drug items. When things get hot, so to speak, the FDA orchestrates a voluntary recall to be made by the manufacturer.

Fiction: MSG is very well researched and found to be safe.

Fact: Independent researchers have found L-glutamate to produce brain damage, endocrine disorders, and observable adverse reactions like migraine headaches, hives, and seizures.

Those studies that claim to have demonstrated monosodium glutamate safety have been rigged to fail to produce evidence of toxicity.

Claims that “authoritative” bodies or “well-respected international agencies” have found MSG to be a harmless food additive are false. Neither independent scientists nor independent regulators have deemed monosodium glutamate safe. FDA studies, which were actually reviews, have always been staffed by those with ties to the glutamate industry.

The regulators and/or authoritative bodies cited by the glutamate industry did no research of their own, but were given copies of FDA opinions on MSG safety or were provided review information by Ajinomoto, its not-for-profit corporations, and/or its agents — the International Food Information Council (IFIC) and the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), for example. And the vast body of published research demonstrating monosodium glutamate toxicity was not shown to them.

To learn more, download or order The Perfect Poison, by Adrienne Samuels, Ph.D. at Amazon.

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Yeast Extract, Now with More Toxic, Brain Damaging ‘Food Flavor Enhancement’

Yeast extract might well be called the darling of the processed food industry, and the straw that breaks the camel’s back for MSG-sensitive people. Like MSG it’s manufactured (not “natural”), and also like MSG it contains toxic manufactured free glutamic acid.

Yeast extract is one of those “clean label” ingredients, often used in products such as soups and fake proteins that state “No added MSG” on the label (which is actually against FDA regulations, but enforcing that rule is no longer bothered with by the FDA).  Also qualifying as a “clean label” ingredient would be any ingredient other than MSG that contains free glutamate.  (Check out over 40 ingredient names that contain varying amounts of free glutamate here.)

Now we’re learning of a recent invention, a method for “large scale” production of a yeast extract product with nearly triple the brain damaging “glutamic acid content” of other yeast extracts.  Its patent describes how this new and improved yeast extract “possesses more delicious flavor and improved capability for food flavor enhancement.” Glutamic acid, the patent states, in free form can “strengthen the delicate flavour of food.” We’re being told in this official document that the more free glutamate an ingredient contains, the more flavor it will impart to any food it’s added to.

The patent was applied for and owned by Angel Yeast Co., which calls itself a “high-tech yeast company in China” with 10 “advanced” manufacturing facilities in China, Egypt and Russia. Angel provides yeast extract to food manufacturers for use in everything from soup to snacks, promising its product provides a “magic flavor explosion.”

It’s a “magic flavor explosion” that comes with brain-damaging – excitotoxic – glutamate.

When consumed in excess (which differs from person to person), free glutamate becomes excitotoxic, with the capacity to overstimulate glutamate receptors in the body, causing them to fire rapidly and die. In simple terms, it causes brain damage.

We know that the new and improved yeast extract will contribute to the accumulation of toxic free glutamate.

What we don’t know is how much it will take to cause an excitotoxic “explosion.”

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The ‘soup wars’ are over, but the ‘clean label’ fraud lives on

Over a decade ago Progresso and Campbell’s duked it out over whose soup contained less MSG. Called the “soup wars,” the first shot was fired by Campbell’s in a 2008 ad that said more Progresso soups contained monosodium glutamate than Campbell’s. Soon after, Progresso took out a full-page ad in the New York Times stating that “Campbell’s has 95 soups made with MSG.”

Now, those big brands tell different stories about the MSG in their products.

Campbell’s has decided to focus on how safe MSG is. They tell us that “MSG occurs naturally in many foods, such as tomatoes and cheeses,” while in fact MSG is manufactured.  It does not appear “naturally” anywhere.

Along with that, “for those looking to avoid MSG,” Campbell’s has “clean label” soups. Those are soups that contain the same toxic manufactured free glutamate that’s in MSG, which will be found in ingredients such as yeast extract, whey protein concentrate and natural flavoring, without any mention of the toxic glutamate in them.

Progresso has taken it a step further, claiming that its “focus on quality ingredients” means they’ve ditched using this excitotoxic additive all together.

Not exactly.

Progresso New England clam chowder is advertised as “no MSG added,” yet it contains natural flavor, yeast extract and whey protein concentrate. The brand’s Chicken & herb dumpling soup also states “No MSG added,” but contains natural flavor, corn protein (hydrolyzed), soy protein isolate and a second listing of natural flavor. Those are just two examples, we could go on and on, but you get the idea. All of those ingredients contain free glutamate.

Considering what’s contained in those soups, and how big and bold Progresso makes the claim of “No MSG added” one might think there’s no FDA regulation against such fraud. But there is.

Over 25 years ago the FDA issued this statement:

“While technically MSG is only one of several forms of free glutamate used in foods, consumers frequently use the term MSG to mean all free glutamate. For this reason, FDA considers foods whose labels say “No MSG” or “No added MSG” to be misleading if the food contains ingredients that are sources of free glutamates, such as hydrolyzed protein.”

Unfortunately, long ago the FDA stopped punishing or even scolding those who violate the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act – but that doesn’t make this any less a violation of FDA rules.

Campbell’s and Progresso are far from the only food manufacturers who engage in this “clean label,” “No MSG added” trickery. And soups are not the only products promoted this way.

So, when you pick up a product that states “No MSG” or “No added MSG,” you’ll know that you don’t even need to read the ingredient label.

Just put it back on the shelf.

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Brain Damage, a Mouthful at a Time

Long before 1969, when Olney first demonstrated the toxic effects of free glutamic acid, it was observed that on occasion glutamic acid would accumulate in the space between neurons referred to as interstitial tissue, and that would be followed by brain damage.

It has long been understood that acute increases in extracellular glutamate levels can lead to over-stimulation of glutamate receptors, resulting in a cascade of excitotoxic-related mechanisms culminating in neuronal damage.

Recognition of the significance of the role played by glutamic acid was slow in coming.  Indeed, for a long time, it was not realized that glutamate was a neurotransmitter. The presence of glutamate in every part of the body as a building block for protein made its special role in the nervous system difficult to recognize. Its function as a neurotransmitter was not generally accepted until the 1970s, decades after the identification of acetylcholine, norepinephrine, and serotonin as neurotransmitters. 1.

Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter with several types of receptors found throughout the central nervous system, and its metabolism is important to maintaining optimal levels within the extracellular space.

“Over the past three decades, researchers have learned that glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter of the healthy mammalian brain, as the most profuse free amino acid that happens to sit at the intersection between several metabolic pathways (Watkins and Jane, 2006; Zhou and Danbolt, 2014). Glutamate is stored in synaptic vesicles of nerve terminals until it is released by exocytosis into the extracellular fluid, where it can quickly become highly concentrated (Zhou and Danbolt, 2014). Additionally, micromolar concentrations of basal extracellular glutamate, originating from non-vesicular release from the cystine-glutamate antiporter, continue to circulate in the space outside the synaptic cleft (Baker et al., 2002). Maintaining optimal levels in this space is essential, as low levels can deplete energy whereas excess levels can lead to cell death (Zhou and Danbolt, 2014). Glutamate transporters located on the outside of astrocytes and neurons quickly act to remove excess glutamate (Zhou and Danbolt, 2014). Receptor proteins at the surface of cells detect glutamate in the extracellular fluid and receive it (Zhou and Danbolt, 2014).” 2.

In the meantime, the incidence of neurodegenerative disease and disease states such as autism was growing, and myriads of studies of “glutamate-induced” abnormalities were published and chronicled in PubMed.gov. It is well documented that glutamic acid is implicated in kidney and liver disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and more. By 1980, glutamate-associated disorders such as headaches, asthma, diabetes, muscle pain, atrial fibrillation, ischemia, trauma, seizures, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, depression, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), epilepsy, addiction, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), frontotemporal dementia and autism were on the rise, and the scientific community generally accepted evidence of the toxic effects of glutamate.

A January 15, 2023 search of the National Library of Medicine using PubMed.gov returned 4276 citations for “glutamate-induced.”

In 1969 and the decade that followed, it was demonstrated that ingestion of free glutamate of various dosages and routes of administration would produce excess amounts of free glutamate in such quantity as to cause brain damage in every laboratory animal available. In 1969, Olney coined the term “excitotoxin” to describe the brain-damaging actions of glutamic acid. 3.

Olney was a neuroscientist interested in such things as amino acids and brain function and had no interest in food science.

In the late 1960s, he became suspicious that obesity in mice, which was observed after neonatal mice were treated with monosodium glutamate for purposes of inducing and studying retinal pathology, might be associated with hypothalamic lesions caused by monosodium glutamate treatment; and in 1969 he first reported that monosodium glutamate treatment did indeed cause brain lesions, particularly acute neuronal necrosis in several regions of the developing brain of neonatal mice, and acute lesions in the brains of adult mice given 5 to 7 mg/g of glutamate subcutaneously.

Research that followed confirmed that monosodium glutamate, which was routinely given as the sodium salt, monosodium glutamate (brand name Accent), induces hypothalamic damage when given to immature animals after either subcutaneous or oral doses.

At the time, Olney and others were using inexpensive, off-the-supermarket shelf Accent brand monosodium glutamate for their studies instead of using more expensive pharmaceutical grade glutamic acid. 

Those who manufactured and profited from the sale of MSG had a different agenda. They knew that their product, monosodium glutamate, had been used as the source of free glutamate that caused brain damage in laboratory animals.  And they made it their mission to do whatever it might take to convince the public that MSG was a harmless, or even beneficial, food additive. 

After Olney’s 1969 discovery, the existence of free excitotoxic amino acids present in food became the best-guarded secret of the food and drug industries. The U.S. producer of monosodium glutamate established an organization, hired researchers and PR firms that produced non-stop propaganda, and successfully censored anything that suggested that MSG might be harmful. This is how it was and how it continues to be done. 

1) Start with a well-funded organization

In 1969, the International Glutamate Technical Committee (IGTC) was founded. Andrew G. Ebert, Ph.D. took credit as its founder.  Ajinomoto’s role was not publicly disclosed.

The IGTC sponsored, gathered, and disseminated research on the use and safety of monosodium glutamate; designed and implemented research protocols and provided financial assistance to researchers; promoted acceptance of monosodium glutamate as a food ingredient; and represented members’ collective interests. Those collective interests were to sell monosodium glutamate. Ajinomoto was its principal sponsor.  There is every indication that its financial resources were unlimited.

2) Identify and employ MDs and PhDs to conduct research designed and supervised by your organization – research from which readers will conclude that monosodium glutamate is a harmless food additive.

By and large, those who have represented the glutamate industry have produced research relative to the safety of monosodium glutamate only in response to encouragement (payment of some sort) from the glutamate industry.

3) Identify and employ prestigious universities and medical schools to host your research. Universities and medical schools profit from hosting research.

4) Identify and befriend FDA, USDA, EPA, and NIH staff who will work actively to support the position that monosodium glutamate should be accepted as generally recognized as safe (GRAS).  It is well understood that those who work for government agencies and do nothing to challenge the industries that they are employed to regulate will be rewarded with industry jobs from time to time (the revolving door policy) or with government retirement.

5) Use a variety of strategies.

Vary the details of the individual research studies so the studies give the appearance of being independent of one another.  (When asked for the details of their studies, IGTC-sponsored researchers know little or nothing of the details.)

Suppress unfavorable information. 

Disseminate seemingly unlimited amounts of deceptive and/or misleading information. 

6) Disrupt the activities of those who oppose you.

7) Convince both appointed and elected officials to endorse monosodium glutamate as a harmless food additive.

They’re called lobbyists.  They do most of Ajinomoto’s work in this area.

8) Legitimize the need for the existence of monosodium glutamate. 

After years of funding studies aimed at renaming glutamate receptors in the mouth and on the tongue – calling them taste receptors — Ajinomoto had some of those studies published and reported on by the media. From that point, the concept of “umami” as a fifth taste was picked up by the food industry, and its friends at the FDA. That was how Ajinomoto moved the concept of “umami” into the vernacular.

What is “umami?”  It’s a hypothetical construct invented by Ajinomoto to legitimize and promote the use of MSG in food.  Think about it. MSG is a neurotoxic flavor enhancer.  By referring to MSG as umami and promoting its new name, Ajinomoto is working to sell MSG to the public as a way to provide an ‘exciting’ fifth taste.

By and large, the IGTCs human studies commenced in 1980 with research that “failed to produce any evidence that monosodium glutamate causes asthma or Chinese restaurant syndrome.”  And coming to that conclusion was a slam dunk. All they had to do was look at the wrong thing, at the wrong time, in people who were not sensitive to MSG. For good measure, they laced their placebos with excitotoxic aspartame and/or ingredients other than monosodium glutamate that contained excitotoxic processed free glutamic acid. Then the propaganda people would spin the story that monosodium glutamate is safe.

The Glutes don’t plagiarize, fabricate (make up) data, or falsify data by manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record. Instead, the Glutes design and implement studies guaranteed to fail to find evidence of MSG toxicity. 

Leaving nothing to chance, Andrew Ebert supplied all industry researchers with placebos that caused reactions identical to those caused by MSG test material.  That practice started in 1978 and remained in operation until it was made public.

Adverse reactions

Despite the fact that the Glutes are in control of mainstream media and social media, individuals continue to share information about their adverse reactions following eating things that contain free glutamate.

The growing literature on control of glutamate release testifies to this increasing awareness — awareness of glutamate-induced brain damage, but without focus on the benefits of reducing the availability of free glutamate.  This growing literature on control of glutamate release focuses on the development of drugs with which to treat glutamate-induced brain damage, giving little attention to actually reducing free glutamate.

At last search, there were 5778 articles listed on PubMed on the subject of “control of glutamate release,” with titles such as “Influence of glutamate and GABA transport on brain excitatory/inhibitory balance” 4. and “Astrocytes Maintain Glutamate Homeostasis in the CNS by Controlling the Balance between Glutamate Uptake and Release.” 5.

Each studied the subject through the review of potential remedies (drugs) that might reduce whatever abnormality was being studied. 

In contrast, I have found only one article that suggests the way to prevent adverse reactions following ingestion of foods that contain free glutamate might be to stop eating things that contain it.

Today, excitotoxins present in food remain largely ignored or unknown, mostly because the rich and powerful food and pharmaceutical industries want it that way. A great deal of food industry profit depends on using excitotoxins to “enhance” the taste of cheaply made food. And a great deal of pharmaceutical industry profit depends on selling drugs to “cure” the diseases and disabilities caused by the excitotoxins in the food supply.

It may be that industry’s ability to censor anything that might suggest that MSG might be harmful continues to be effective, for no one has yet come out and said, “The way to prevent adverse reactions following ingestion of foods that contain free glutamate might be to stop eating things that contain it.”

Adrienne Samuels

References

1. Watkins JC. l-glutamate as a central neurotransmitter: looking back. Biochem Soc Trans. 2000;28(4):297-309. PMID: 10961913.

2. Pal MM. Glutamate: The Master Neurotransmitter and Its Implications in Chronic Stress and Mood Disorders. Front Hum Neurosci. 2021 Oct 29;15:722323. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.722323. PMID: 34776901; PMCID: PMC8586693.

3. Olney JW. Brain lesions, obesity, and other disturbances in mice treated with monosodium glutamate. Science. 1969 May 9;164(3880):719-21. doi: 10.1126/science.164.3880.719. PMID: 5778021.

4. Sears SM, Hewett SJ. Influence of glutamate and GABA transport on brain excitatory/inhibitory balance. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2021 May;246(9):1069-1083. doi: 10.1177/1535370221989263. Epub 2021 Feb 7. PMID: 33554649; PMCID: PMC8113735.

5. Mahmoud S, Gharagozloo M, Simard C, Gris D. Astrocytes Maintain Glutamate Homeostasis in the CNS by Controlling the Balance between Glutamate Uptake and Release. Cells. 2019 Feb 20;8(2):184. doi: 10.3390/cells8020184. PMID: 30791579; PMCID: PMC6406900.

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Stop eating fake meat thinking it’s healthy!

Looks like followers of The Truth in Labeling Campaign aren’t the only ones concerned about fake meats. According to Just Food, a trade publication that offers up-to-date international news and features on the global food industry:

“There is fevered debate about the outlook for meat substitutes amid slowing demand in two major markets – the US and the UK. Proponents argue the category remains one of the most attractive in food, fueled by consumer concerns about health and sustainability. Naysayers contend products aren’t good enough to convince shoppers to buy them regularly.”

Consumers who are buying meat substitutes because they are concerned about their health have it all wrong.  Some people believe that it’s healthier to eat plant-based food than to eat animals, and we won’t argue for or against that.  But there’s nothing healthy about eating food that is loaded with excitotoxic — brain damaging — glutamic acid (manufactured free glutamate), and when the only plants involved are the chemical plants that these products are made in. 

There are no exceptions.  Each and every fake protein product contains manufactured free glutamate. The protein in the plants used in “plant-based” meat substitutes is hydrolyzed or fermented to release its brain-damaging free glutamate, the same excitotoxic amino acid that is found in MSG.

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MSG and aspartame – ‘friends’ on the top ten

MSG and aspartame have a lot in common. Both contain an essential ingredient that is an excitotoxic — brain damaging — amino acid. And you’ll find both on more and more “top ten” lists of food additives to avoid.

The editors of Prevention list MSG and aspartame on their 10 food additives to never ever eat, calling FDA loopholes for “testing and approval” “just plain dangerous.”

https://www.prevention.com/food-nutrition/a20480944/worst-food-additives/

The website Food Matters includes MSG and aspartame on its Top ten food additives to avoid list, saying MSG is a “known excitotoxin, a substance which overexcites cells to the point of damage or death.”

https://www.foodmatters.com/article/top-10-food-additives-to-avoid

Dr. Sears says to avoid MSG and aspartame “for the brain health of your family,” also noting that “excitotoxins can alter the chemistry of the brain.”

Excitotoxins in Your Food

And a blog done by The Underground Health Reporter also notes MSG and aspartame as number one and two on their list of The 10 worst food ingredients.  

http://undergroundhealthreporter.com/the-10-worst-food-ingredients/

It’s not just coincidental that they appear together, because the essential ingredient in each is an excitotoxic – brain damaging – amino acid.