Truth in Labeling Campaign Blog
The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about MSG and manufactured free glutamate
Trouble avoiding MSG? That’s because it’s not MSG per se that’s causing your reactions. it’s the Manufactured free Glutamate in it. And MfG is found in snacks, processed foods, protein drinks, protein powders, dietary supplements, infant formula and pharmaceuticals.
Download our list of ingredient names here.
This article was published in “Wise Traditions.” Summer 2022, Volume 23, Number 2, pages 25-30.
Albert Einstein once coined the phrase “combinatory play” to describe the process of taking unrelated elements and concepts and putting them together to generate new ideas. Einstein did not invent the concepts of energy, mass or speed of light for his famous equation. Rather, he combined these concepts in a novel way, which restructured the way he looked at the universe.
In similar fashion, I have drawn from several different bodies of knowledge about the glutamate molecule (also called glutamic acid) to make the case that ingestion by humans of manufactured free glutamate — including the flavor-enhancing food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG), the sodium salt of glutamic acid is at the root of the obesity epidemic. The glutamate-obesity link stems from the following well-established facts: free glutamate is prevalent in the diet due to its presence in most processed foods; given its dietary prevalence, pregnant and lactating women routinely expose fetuses and newborns to free glutamate via the placenta and breastmilk; and, under some circumstances, free glutamate induces brain damage affecting the part of the brain that controls food intake and metabolism.
Glutamate is the principal neurotransmitter in humans, carrying nerve impulses from glutamate stimuli to glutamate receptors throughout the body. However, it is also widely recognized as a “Jekyll and Hyde” amino acid.1,2 When present in protein or released from protein in a regulated fashion through routine digestion, glutamate is vital for normal body function. On the other hand, when present in greater quantity than a healthy human needs for normal body function, it becomes toxic. In that instance, as an “excitotoxic” neurotransmitter, it fires repeatedly, damaging targeted glutamate receptors and/or causing neuronal and non-neuronal death by overexciting the glutamate receptors until their host cells die.3
THE RISE OF FOOD EXCITOTOXINS
In the 1990s, the first edition of the book Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills by Dr. Russell Blaylock drew the public’s attention to neurotoxic food additives, which by then had already been in use for decades. As that book put it, an excitotoxin “literally stimulates neurons to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees.”4
MSG is one of the most well-known excitotoxins. MSG’s ongoing heyday began in 1957, when food scientists shifted from a slow and costly method that called for extraction of free glutamate from a protein source, to bacterial fermentation as a “new and improved” method for the production of free glutamic acid for use in food. From that point forward, the virtually unlimited production of free glutamate was guaranteed.
Following the surge in MSG and free glutamate production, boosted by aggressive advertising, many companies recognized that profits could be increased if they produced their own flavor-enhancing additives. It wasn’t long before competing manufacturers were adding dozens more excitotoxic food additives to the American diet. Companies soon flooded the market with flavor enhancers and protein substitutes containing free glutamate-ingredients such as hydrolyzed pea protein, yeast extracts, maltodextrin and soy protein isolate, as well as MSG.5,6 A further toxic load was added to that list when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the excitotoxin aspartic acid, used beginning in 1974 in aspartame, Equal® and related products.
According to Dr. Blaylock, the amount of MSG added to the food supply has doubled every decade since the late 1940s.7
SETTING THE STAGE FOR NEUROTOXICITY
Although I knew a great deal about the toxic effects of MSG, it was only as people began reporting adverse reactions following ingestion of foods that did not contain MSG that I realized it was the free glutamate in the MSG — and in flavor enhancers other than MSG — that was causing what consumers were calling “MSG reactions.”
There is no question that free glutamate ingestion does cause adverse reactions. Some scientists claim that it elicits transient adverse reactions only in a small subset of people sensitive to the substance. Others maintain, however, that it causes adverse reactions on a broader scale, ranging from simple skin rash to migraine headache,8 heart irregularities, seizures and anaphylactic shock. Despite what is known about adverse reactions and the potential for brain damage, FDA imposes no limits on the amount of either MSG or free glutamate that a single food ingredient may contain.
Research shows that three conditions must be met in order to induce glutamate neurotoxicity. The first important factor is the integrity and health of the brain. Harm is most likely occur when the brain is vulnerable, meaning either immature — such as the fetal or neonate brain — or damaged. A fetus will be even more vulnerable to glutamate insult than a newborn.
Second, a sufficient quantity of free glutamate must be present to enable it to become excitotoxic. Since the 1957 change in the method of MSG production, so many products contain excitotoxic ingredients that it is easy for a consumer to ingest an excess during the course of a day.9-12
Today, there is sufficient excitotoxic free glutamate in processed foods, dietary supplements, snacks, protein powders, protein drinks, protein substitutes, baby formula, enteral care products and pharmaceuticals for a person to consume the quantity necessary for that free glutamate to become excitotoxic.
Third, the excess glutamate must be delivered to the vulnerable brain. In children and adults, delivery of free glutamate to a vulnerable brain can be achieved simply through the person consuming a sufficient quantity of free glutamate to cause it to be excitotoxic. In fetuses and neonates, delivery of excitotoxic free glutamate will be achieved when a pregnant or lactating female passes brain-damaging excess free glutamate through the placenta or in mothers’ milk. There is nothing to prevent ingested glutamate from entering immature brains.
DELIVERY VIA PLACENTA AND BREASTMILK
Pregnant women deliver nourishment (and not so nourishing material) to the fetus in the form of material ingested and passed through the placenta. Studies show that MSG can cross the placenta.13,14 In other words, when glutamate passes to the fetus, the placenta does not filter out the glutamate.13 Research also indicates that MSG can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in an unregulated manner during development; the BBB is not fully developed in either the fetus or the newborn. The BBB is easily damaged not just by ingestion of MSG but also other factors such as fever, stroke, trauma to the head, seizures and the aging process.1,15
MSG can also pass through the five circumventricular organs, specialized structures located along the surface of the brain ventricles.16 The circumventricular organs lie outside the BBB and are leaky at best at any stage of life,17,18 meaning they are not impervious to glutamate-induced brain damage.
Similar to drugs and alcohol,19 free glutamate can be passed to infants through mothers’ milk. The glutamate in mothers’ milk will be excitotoxic if lactating mothers ingest excessive quantities of free glutamate — quantities sufficient to cause the free glutamate to become excitotoxic. Newborn humans may also receive free glutamate through infant formula, which routinely contains ingredients featuring free glutamic acid and free aspartic acid.20
THE RISE OF OBESITY
In 1969, Dr. John Olney demonstrated that the glutamic acid component of MSG, when administered in high doses to mice, caused brain damage in various parts of the brain, including the arcuate nucleus (AN) of the hypothalamus, one of the circumventricular organs.21 (Recall that the circumventricular organs are outside the blood-brain barrier.) Neurocircuitries in the AN control multiple physiological functions, including regulating food intake and glucose homeostasis, and “disruption of this fine-tuned control leads to an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure as well as deregulation of peripheral metabolism.”22 Given the AN’s critical metabolic role, it is not surprising that Olney’s study went on to find that the glutamate-induced brain lesions led to “marked obesity” when the mice reached adulthood, as well as stunted skeletal development and female sterility.
In the decade that followed, others replicated Olney’s work, confirming that free glutamate fed to infant animals causes brain lesions in the arcuate nucleus, followed by gross obesity.23 In the 1970s, scientists employed by the glutamate industry challenged Olney’s findings, conducting studies that ostensibly failed to replicate glutamate-induced brain damage. However, it soon became apparent that these studies were industry sponsored — designed to guarantee that no traces of glutamate-induced brain damage would be found.
Sometime around 2016, I began thinking about the unexplained obesity epidemic and reading about the adverse effects of ultra- processed foods. I realized that because these highly processed foods were made of cheap ingredients and chemicals, they would necessarily contain flavor enhancers to compensate for the lack of flavor — with all of those flavor enhancers containing excitotoxic free glutamate. I also knew that after the late 1950s, essentially unlimited amounts of free glutamate were at processed food manufacturers’ disposal.
Knowing that glutamate fed in large amounts to animals with immature brains causes brain damage followed by gross obesity, and knowing that the brains of fetuses and neonates are vulnerable to glutamate insult, I reasoned that if glutamate in large amounts could be “fed” to human fetuses and neonates, brain damage and obesity would follow. With the proliferation of processed and ultra-processed foods, there was little doubt in my mind that there is sufficient free glutamate in most pregnant women’s diet to provide the “excess” glutamate needed to cause the glutamate ingested to become excitotoxic (brain-damaging), particularly if more than one glutamate-containing ingredient is consumed during the course of a day. It also occurred to me that if a pregnant woman consumed free glutamate in excess of what she needed for normal body function, the excitotoxic excess would be passed not just to the fetus through the placenta but later to the infant while nursing.
In short, the onset of the modern obesity epidemic can be traced back to the introduction of excessive amounts of free glutamate made available to humans following the modernization of MSG manufacture in 1957. The obesity exhibited in some individuals as they reach maturity can be linked to the excitotoxic amino acids ingested by their mothers when pregnant and lactating.
Once one understands the fact that excitotoxins are readily available to most pregnant women and new mothers, it is easy to grasp how these toxins are transported to the fetus and newborn where they cause brain damage, which in turn causes obesity. Consequently, excitotoxic amino acids delivered to fetuses and neonates by pregnant and nursing women should be recognized as risk factors for obesity.
Acknowledgment of the fact that glutamate-induced brain damage in fetuses and neonates lies at the root of the obesity epidemic should put an end to the shame and blame that have long been associated with obesity and should facilitate appropriate counseling and medical interventions. It should also serve as a valid starting point for new groundbreaking research.
LOOKING THE OTHER WAY
In this article, I have accounted for all five pieces to the puzzle of the obesity epidemic:
Nonetheless, ever since the first suggestion that MSG might have toxic potential, those with a financial interest in promoting MSG as a cheap and valuable flavor enhancer have denied its toxicity, launching well-funded, well-articulated campaigns to promote their products. Industry responses also include rigging studies to come to the foregone conclusion that MSG is a harmless food additive, and securing the active cooperation of regulators as well as the help of medical professionals, many of whom appear to be more than happy to look the other way.24 These actions may explain why the role of MSG and manufactured free glutamate in the obesity epidemic continues to be overlooked.
In 1950, Americans consumed about one million pounds of MSG; today, that number is three hundred million pounds. Given that almost all processed food and fast food contains MSG (usually not labeled),6 the food industry certainly knows that the additive they use to make their food taste good is a major cause of the current obesity epidemic. The message to consumers is clear: to lose weight, it’s important to avoid all processed food, and certainly not add MSG to the foods you prepare at home.
Adrienne Samuels, PhD is an experimental psychologist by training and educational psychologist by degree. Her interest in MSG’s toxic effects can be traced to the day she realized that her husband Jack went into anaphylactic shock after eating a meal containing MSG. Over the course of thirty years, Adrienne has monitored the MSG-related activities of the FDA, testified before the FDA and its agents, co-founded the Truth in Labeling Campaign and website (truthinlabeling.org), met with members of Congress, initiated and served as a plaintiff in a lawsuit over FDA’s failure to identify the toxic free glutamate in processed foods, filed Citizen Petitions requesting that FDA revoke the “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) status of MSG and L-glutamic acid for any use in human food, and written numerous papers and journal articles. Adrienne continues to broaden her understanding of the toxic effects of MSG and its excitotoxic free glutamate component, sharing her findings with regulators, health care professionals and consumers. She can be contacted at questionsaboutMSG AT gmail.com.
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MSG PROPAGANDA
In August 2021, the Washington Post published a puff piece on MSG, claiming that we have nothing to fear from the artificial flavoring that adds umami “spark” to many dishes.25 The author, Aaron Hutcherson, marginalized headaches and allergic reactions as minor symptoms in a few hypersensitive people. Said Hutcherson: “In addition to soup and eggs, MSG can be added to salad dressings, bread, tomato sauce, meat, popcorn, ‘an absolutely filthy martini,’ you name it. MSG is a great way to add flavor to just about anything except sweets. It’s particularly great with vegetables, too.”
He made no mention of the real problem with MSG: weight gain. If you search “msg-induced obesity” at PubMed, you will come up with almost one hundred citations. Most of the citations are animal studies, not human trials. This is because it’s hard to get research animals to overeat and become obese — in order to study obesity — so scientists feed rats, mice and hamsters MSG to make them eat more and put on weight. The food industry has argued that the amount of MSG given to these animals is way more, as a function of body weight, than humans would ever eat. or, they say, the association with weight gain and MSG is really an association of weight gain and processed foods, since MSG is in almost all processed foods.
What happens when we consume small amounts of MSG as a flavoring day after day after day? A 2008 study published in the journal Obesity provides confirmation that MSG indeed causes weight gain in humans, and not because of its inclusion in processed foods.26 In this well-designed trial, researchers at the University of north Carolina at Chapel Hill studied seven hundred fifty Chinese men and women, ages 40 to 59, living in three rural Chinese villages. Most of the study subjects prepared their meals at home without commercial processed foods, and about 82 percent used MSG. Those participants who used the highest amounts of MSG had nearly three times the incidence of overweight as those who did not use MSG, even when the researchers accounted for physical activity and caloric intake.
What about the argument, made by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and quoted by Hutcherson in the Washington Post article, that “The glutamate in MSG is chemically indistinguishable from [the essential amino acid] glutamate present in food proteins”? This sentence is true, but the FDA’s and Hutcherson’s second assertion — that “our bodies ultimately metabolize both sources of glutamate in the same way” is false. The glutamic acid in foods like meat is attached to various peptides and other compounds that release it when required and prevent it from overstimulating the nervous and endocrine systems; the glutamic acid in MSG, in contrast, is “naked,” highly reactive and unmitigated by its milieu.
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MSG has many different disguises. The table below lists ingredients that always contain MSG, often contain MSG or create MSG during processing.
| Always contains MSG | Often contains MSG — | or creates MSG |
| Autolyzed yeast | Anything enzyme-modified | Malt flavoring |
| Calcium caseinate | Anything protein-fortified | Maltodextrin |
| Geletin | Anything ultra-pasteurized | Natural flavors or flavorings |
| Glutamate | Barley malt | natural beef/chicken/pork flavoring |
| Glutamic acid | Bouillon | Pectin |
| Hydrolyzed vegetable protein | Broth | Powdered milk |
| Monopotassium glutamate | Carageenan | Protease |
| Sodium caseinate | Citric acid | Seasonings |
| Textured protein | Cornstarch | Soy protein |
| Whey protein | Enymes | Soy protein isolate |
| Yeast extract | Flavors or flavorings | Soy sauce |
| Yeast food | Malt extract | Stock |
| Whey protein |
Source: Louisa L. Williams, Radical Medicine: Profound Intervention in a Profoundly Toxic Age (2nd edition). San Francisco: International Medical Arts Publishing, 2007.
REFERENCES
Free glutamic acid, a.k.a. free glutamate (FG), the brain-damaging component of MSG can be used (and hidden) in processed foods, dietary supplements, cosmetics, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, and the food that is given to pets and other animals. It can be used in waxes applied to fresh fruits and vegetables. It can be used in ingredients used in pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers, and plant growth enhancers — remaining in the edible portion of the plant or on the edible portion of the plant when its leaves, fruits, nuts, grains, seeds, and other edible parts are brought to market.
There are over 60 food ingredients besides “monosodium glutamate” that contain processed free glutamic acid (FG). Each, according to the FDA, must be called by its own, unique, “common or usual name.” “Autolyzed yeast,” “maltodextrin,” “hydrolyzed pea protein,” and “sodium caseinate” are the common or usual names of some ingredients that contain FG. Unlike the ingredient called “monosodium glutamate,” they give the consumer no clue to the fact that there is FG in the ingredient.
In addition to ingredients that contain FG, some acids and enzymes when combined with a food that contains protein will produce FG. The words “enzyme” and “protease” (which is a type of enzyme) signal the presence of enzymes capable of causing the production of FG.
– Low fat and no fat milk products often contain milk solids that contain FG. Other dairy products often contain guar gum and/or locust bean gum. Low fat and no fat versions of ice-cream and cheese may not be as obvious as yogurt, milk, cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese, etc., but they are not exceptions.
– Protein powders and protein drinks contain FG, and the FG in the protein powders and drinks will always be processed (manufactured), i.e., will always contain processed FG. Individual amino acids are not always listed on labels of protein powders and drinks.
– When this was written, there was an FDA requirement to give the name of the protein source when listing hydrolyzed protein products on labels of processed foods. Examples are hydrolyzed soy protein, hydrolyzed wheat protein, hydrolyzed pea protein, hydrolyzed whey protein, hydrolyzed, corn protein. If a tomato, for example, were whole, it would be identified as a tomato. Naming an ingredient “tomato protein” indicates that the tomato has been hydrolyzed, at least in part, and that processed FG is present.
– At one time, and maybe still, the FDA required disclosure of ingredients labeled “monosodium glutamate” and “hydrolyzed…protein” when, as ingredients, they are used in “flavor” or “flavoring” (whether or not the “flavor” or “flavoring” is preceded by the words “natural” or “artificial”). However, “flavors” and “flavorings” can contain FG in ingredients other than “monosodium glutamate” and “hydrolyzed…protein” without the name of the FG-containing ingredient being disclosed.
– Disodium guanylate and disodium inosinate are relatively expensive food additives that work synergistically with inexpensive FG. We believe they would only be used if there was already FG in the product.
– FG will be found in some soaps, shampoos, hair conditioners, and cosmetics, where FG is hidden in ingredients, often with names that include the words “hydrolyzed,” “amino acids,” and/or “protein.”
– Binders and fillers for prescription and non-prescription medications, nutrients, and supplements, may contain FG.
– Enteral feeding materials, and some fluids administered intravenously in hospitals, may contain FG.
– According to the manufacturer, as this was written, Varivax–Merck chicken pox vaccine (Varicella Virus Live), contained L-monosodium glutamate and hydrolyzed gelatin, both of which contain FG. It would appear that most, if not all, live virus vaccines contain some ingredient(s) that contain(s) FG.
– There are a number of ingredients identified as organic that, organic or not, will contain FG. Autolyzed yeast, yeast extract, textured soy protein, and anything hydrolyzed are examples of ingredients that may be made from organic produce but will never-the-less contain FG.
– Drinks, candy, and chewing gum are potential sources of hidden FG. They may also contain aspartame, neotame, Equal, or AminoSweet (one of the newer names for aspartame). We mention aspartame, neotame, and AminoSweet here because they, like MSG, contain a neurotoxic amino acid, and can cause the same reactions that MSG causes.
– Aspartame will be found in some medications, including children’s medications.
– Some waxes used on fruits and vegetables contain FG.
– Anything that breaks down the protein in a product can produce FG as it breaks down that protein. There have been reports of people reacting to meat wrapped in Cryovac.
Cryovac is a registered trademark for a thick plastic in which meat is sealed with the air removed by a vacuum pump. The word Cryovac is also used for the thermoplastic resin wrapping film which can be heat-shrunk onto foods.
– Produce may have been produced using fertilizer or pesticide products that contain FG. Some of these fertilizers may be organic. It is impossible to know from looking at produce whether or not it has been treated with an FG containing fertilizer or pesticide product that leaves residue in or on the produce.
– Some non-organic waxes used on some fruits and vegetables contain FG.
– Additional sources of FG include infant formula, kosher food, enteral feeding products (tube feeding products), dietary supplements, pharmaceuticals, protein drinks often recommended for seniors, protein bars and protein powders, vaccines, personal care products, protein powders sold in health food stores, food that is labeled “organic,” wine, food with labels that say “No Added MSG,” “No MSG Added,” or “No MSG,” food that is falsely advertised as containing no MSG, and in food whose manufacturers claim, in response to questions, that their products contain no MSG.
– FG can be hidden by restaurateurs who claim that the food they serve contains no MSG.
Where MSG is concerned, “organic” doesn’t mean “safe.” Ingredients like organic autolyzed yeast and organic natural flavoring have just as much FG in them as those not called “organic.” Following are two products labeled “organic” that were brought to our attention as containing FG. There are others.
Product: Vegetable Bouillon
By: Morga
Ingredients include: Yeast extract; Maltodextrin
Product: Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
By: Simply Organic
Ingredients include: Natural flavors; Autolyzed yeast extract
Also listed as organic are fertilizer products that contain hydrolyzed fish protein and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. All hydrolyzed ingredients contain FG.
Health food stores are mine fields for FG. Protein powders are generally nothing more or less than hydrolyzed proteins – and will contain all three manufactured neurotoxic amino acids: glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and L-cysteine. Food labeled “organic” cannot legitimately contain monosodium glutamate, but can contain other ingredients that contain FG. Dietary supplements will often contain individual amino acids (because they can be absorbed by the body more quickly than amino acids found in protein which have to be digested before they can be absorbed); and if dietary supplements contain individual amino acids, those amino acids may be neurotoxic glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and/or L-cysteine, all manufactured in food and/or chemical plants.
These are the names of some of the FG-containing ingredients often found in Health Food stores:
amino acids (They almost invariably contain glutamic acid.)
autolyzed yeast
citric acid
glutamate
glutamic acid
hydrolyzed protein
monopotassium glutamate
monosodium glutamate
protein
whey protein concentrate
There are also chelates. Minerals found individually and in some multi-vitamins, are usually joined to amino acids for better absorption, i.e., the minerals or multi-vitamins are chelated. The following are names used for chelates that will contain FG and/or aspartic acid and phenylalanine which are two of the main ingredients in MSG’s toxic cousin aspartame:
amino acid chelate (chelated with amino acids)
potassium (or any other mineral) citrate
potassium (or any other mineral) aspartate
potassium (or any other mineral) glutamate
chelated with hydrolyzed protein,
chelated with protein
chelated with amino acids
Some supplement manufacturers place asterisks after the names of minerals. Below the list of ingredients, the asterisk is often followed by a note that explains that the mineral is “chelated with hydrolyzed protein,” “chelated with protein,” or “chelated with amino acids.”
Protein powders are all the rage for body builders and older people. The main ingredient is typically a hydrolyzed protein — and hydrolyzed proteins contain FG, excitotoxic aspartic acid (found in aspartame), and excitotoxic L-cysteine (found in some dough conditioners). We have concern for anyone who ingests any form of FG in his or her diet. We have extreme concern for athletes who ingest FG just prior to, just following, or in the course of vigorous exercise, because there is evidence that the adverse effects of FG may be intensified by vigorous exercise. Heart irregularities have been known to be caused by ingestion of FG and/or aspartame. Heart irregularities can result in cardiac arrest.
The most common sources of FG in hospitals, nursing homes, and extended care facilities will be:
-Soups – even if the institution purchases soups and/or soup bases that claim to be MSG-free
-Protein drinks such as Boost and Ensure
-Enteral care products – used when tube feeding
-Gelatin
-Gravies
-Salad dressings
-Intravenous solutions. Reactions have been reported to saline solution and solutions containing dextrose. Ringers solution appears to be (or at one time appeared to be) FG-free.
-Anything no fat or low fat
-Anything made with a sugar substitute likely contains neurotoxic aspartame, Equal, or AminoSweet.
People with extreme intolerance to FG have difficulty with pharmaceuticals that contain FG in the binders and/or fillers. They may also react to the starch on powdered gloves and/or the contacts that are glued to a patient’s chest for heart monitoring. The contact points that touch the body may contain guar gum which, after several days’ exposure, may cause adverse reactions.
It’s not only humans that have problems with FG. The first evidence of FG toxicity came from animal studies, some of which demonstrated that animals suffered brain lesions and endocrine disorders when fed monosodium glutamate. The possibility that your animal is sensitive to FG is certainly worth considering. We have received the following from consumers:
Subj: Pet Food & MSG
Date: 8/17/2004 1.48:20 AM Central Standard Time
Dear Folks, would you consider adding an article on MSG in our Pet Food. Just about all the grocery store dog food and most of the canned cat food has various products with an msg base. What can we do about this??? Our pets are much smaller than we are and surely this is extremely bad for their small frame. God help us all. Also, how about my favorite ice cream which is Haagen Daz. I eat the simple flavors, Vanilla, Chocolate, Butter Pecan. I eat it because the original flavors are cream, skim milk, vanilla, chocolate. Anyways, thank you for being here. God Bless your work. M.D.
_______________________
From: D
To: adandjack@aol.com
Sent: 1/24/2009 2:07:06 P.M. Central Standard Time
Subj: MSG
Our bichpoo dog (6 yrs) ate some sweet & sour pork (left over from Chinese take out). Almost immediately he began to exhibit hyperness, running& jumping, and almost seemed to be “high” on something. He seemed disoriented and didn’t settle down for almost six hours. The vet said he had never seen a dog show these symptoms from eating food. Could he be extremely sensitive to MSG or have you ever heard of this in an animal? Obviously no more people food for Buster. Thanks
People who are sensitive to processed free glutamic acid (MSG), or those who simply would choose to avoid ingestion of toxic amino acids, need to know that there are two other neurotoxic amino acids commonly used in food: aspartic acid and L-cysteine. Aspartic acid is found in the sugar substitutes called “neotame,” “aspartame,” “AminoSweet,” “NutraSweet,” and “Equal.” L-cysteine is identified as L-cysteine and is most often found in dough conditioners.
As scientists struggle to find cures for autism, depression schizophrenia and neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s disease, Big Food continues to pour more and more excitotoxic – brain damaging — free glutamate into flavor enhancers, fake proteins, infant formula and processed food.
References
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37521872/
A new article by Dr. Joseph Mercola reports that California lawmakers are hoping to ban five toxic chemicals used in the manufacture of many processed foods. Combined, the chemicals damage the central nervous system, disrupt the gut microbiome and are linked to hyperactivity in children.
While it’s always a good idea to focus on cleaning up our food supply, why did California stop there? Sure, banning five toxic chemicals used in the manufacture of processed food is great. But what about banning excitotoxic – brain damaging — manufactured free glutamate? Scientists have known since 1969 that monosodium glutamate contains brain-damaging free glutamate (1). And now we know that brain-damaging free glutamate is responsible for both the obesity epidemic and the infertility crisis (2). Shouldn’t monosodium glutamate be included in the list of toxic chemicals to be banned instead of being added without restriction to processed food with the blessings of the FDA?
It’s a question we have repeatedly asked the FDA without getting so much as a response. Our research has demonstrated that for over a half-a-century the FDA has served as a pawn of the glutamate industry (3). The fiction of the safety of MSG and its manufactured free glutamate component was written by the United States manufacturer of MSG, and has been parroted by the FDA to consumers, healthcare professionals, journalists, legislators, foreign health care agencies, the media and those who write “MSG is safe to eat” propaganda, without any one of them raising a question.
Read Dr. Mercola’s article: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/california-law-toxic-chemicals-processed-foods-cola/
Other things in which you might be interested include:
Olney, J. W. Brain Lesions, Obesity, and Other Disturbances in Mice Treated with Monosodium Glutamate. Science. 1969, 164(3880), 719–721. DOI: 10.1126/science.164.3880.719.
Samuels, A. There are seven lines of evidence leading to the conclusion that the manufactured free glutamate (MfG) in monosodium glutamate is toxic. https://www.truthinlabeling.org/assets/seven_lines.pdf
Samuels, A. Industry’s FDA https://www.truthinlabeling.org/assets/industrys_fda_final.pdf
Citizens Petitions to the FDA (click the “download” buttons to view each petition) and please leave a comment at the FDA site!
https://www.regulations.gov/document/FDA-2021-P-0035-0001
https://www.regulations.gov/document/FDA-2021-P-0267-0001
https://www.regulations.gov/document/FDA-2021-P-0301-0001
Samuels, A. (2020) Dose dependent toxicity of glutamic acid: a review, International Journal of Food Properties, 23:1, 412-419, DOI: 10.1080/10942912.2020.1733016
Samuels, A. The Toxicity/safety of Processed Free Glutamic Acid (MSG): A Study in Suppression of Information. Accountability Res. 1999, 6. http://www.truthinlabeling.org/l-manuscript.html Accessed Jan/19/2020. 259–310. doi:10.1080/08989629908573933.
Samuels, A “Glutamic acid: initiator of the obesity epidemic” https://www.truthinlabeling.org/assets/obesity_review_shortened_final_with_reference.pdf
Excitotoxic free glutamate eaten by pregnant women and passed to fetuses is responsible for the obesity epidemic. The Perfect Poison tells it all. Available in both paperback and Kindle editions.
Samuels, A. The Perfect Poison https://www.truthinlabeling.org/perfect_poison.html
References
Say “no” to brain damage caused by manufactured free glutamate. Check out the names of ingredients that contain it: https://www.truthinlabeling.org/names.html
It is common knowledge that glutamic acid is an excitatory amino acid, causing brain damage when accumulate in substantial amounts (often referred to as “excess” by neuroscientists).
It is not common knowledge that excitotoxic glutamic acid is found in abundance in American food, pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, enteral care products, protein powders, animal feed, and infant formula.
Check it out. Compare the names of ingredients that contain manufactured free glutamic acid found in the attached table to the names of ingredients listed on labels of processed foods.
Yeast DOES contain the same toxic amino acid that’s found in MSG — excitotoxic glutamic acid. That’s why Big Food loves yeast so much. They can add as much of this noxious flavor enhancer as they want and not be required to mention MSG on the label despite what these two additives have in common.
A recent yeast industry (yes, there’s a yeast industry) market report tells some of the secrets of why it’s so popular.
“By product type, the global yeast ingredients market can be categorized into yeast extract, yeast autolysates, dry yeast, yeast flavor, and ‘others’. The yeast extracts market is high, as yeast extracts act as a replacement for monosodium glutamate, and consumers highly inclined towards natural ingredients and health concerns. Yeast extracts also offer a unique aromatic taste, which is important in low-salt-content foodstuffs…” Zenit News: “Yeast and yeast ingredients market 2020 research reports, industry size, in-depth qualitative insights, explosive growth opportunity, regional analysis by 360 market updates”
The basics
To understand the toxicity of yeast extract, you have first to understand the basics of toxic glutamate found in food.
Glutamate must be free to be harmful, meaning it can’t exist as part of a protein. And toxic free glutamate found in food will always have been manufactured.
You can make/produce free glutamate (glutamate outside of protein) using carefully selected genetically modified bacteria. Feed the bacteria on some starchy stuff like sugar, and they secrete glutamate through their cell walls. That’s pretty much how the glutamate in MSG is made in Ajinomoto’s plant in Eddyville Iowa.
You can also free glutamate from protein. Begin with something that contains protein — almost any meat, grain, diary product, fruit or vegetable will contain at least some small amount of glutamate. Then, choose your method: 1) extract glutamate from protein, 2) use hydrolysis, autolysis, enzymes, acids or fermentation to break protein into individual amino acids (which would include glutamate), or apply high heat to protein.
All glutamate made/produced by man plus that which has been fermented contains D-glutamate, pyroglutamate and other unwanted by-products of manufacture (impurities which industry has been unable to remove) as well as the desired L-glutamate. In contrast, the glutamate in unadulterated fruits, grains, vegetables, and in the human body, which wouldn’t be manufactured, is L-glutamate only.
To be toxic, free glutamate has to 1) be present in excess – more than the healthy body needs for normal body function, or 2) act as a neurotransmitter, overstimulating and damaging glutamate receptors for some weak area in an individual’s body, the heart, lungs, or stomach for example.
Yeast extract contains toxic free glutamate
Yeast extract contributes to accumulation of toxic free glutamate in two ways. First, yeast extract itself will contain toxic free glutamate. Moreover, yeast and yeast extract can also interact with other ingredients, causing the protein in those other ingredients to break down and release glutamate.
The way that the yeast extract is produced will vary from one manufacturer to another, but all break the protein found in yeast into free amino acids – one of which will be glutamate. Following are various descriptions of how that’s done:
1: Food Navigator-asia.com: https://www.foodnavigator-asia.com/Article/2019/09/25/Clean-label-less-sodium-and-vegan-Yeast-extract-specialist-company-Angel-Yeast-names-three-mega-trends-driving-the-industry#
“Angel Yeast’s yeast extract products are obtained from molasses-cultured yeast, which are autolyzed to obtain the extract and made into pastes or powders.”
2: European Association for Specialty Yeast Products:
http://www.yeastextract.info/yeast-extract/how-it-s-made
“Yeast extract is … made from natural bakers’ or brewers’ yeast. First sugar is added so that the yeast can multiply. Then enzymes in the yeast break down the proteins present in the yeast into smaller components and make the cell walls permeable. Finally the components present in the yeast cell – the yeast extract – are separated from the surrounding wall and dried.”
3: Biospringer: https://biospringer.com/en/explore-yeast-extract/yeast-extract/production-process/
“Yeast is a microscopic unicellular fungus that has been living on Earth for millions of years. Like any other cell, yeast is made of proteins, amino acids, vitamins and minerals gathered within the cell walls.”
“Yeast extract is simply the yeast content without the cell wall, making it a natural origin ingredient. Its production consists of 3 main steps:
Fermentation
Breaking of the yeast cell (also known as autolysis)
Separation”
4: By Elea Carey for Healthline: https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/is-yeast-extract-bad-for-me#1
“There are two kinds of yeast extract, autolyzed and hydrolyzed. In both, the cell walls are discarded and the contents of the cell are combined. In autolyzed yeast, the enzymes found in the yeast itself are used to break down the proteins. In hydrolyzed yeast, these enzymes are added to the yeast.”
Does yeast extract contain enough free glutamate to cause brain damage or adverse reactions?
If yeast extract was the only source of free glutamate ingested, toxicity would depend on the amount of free glutamate in the particular product ingested, and the sensitivity of the person ingesting it. There are glutamate-sensitive people who react to yeast extract.
But in real life one helping of yeast extract isn’t going to be ingested in isolation. Combined with other sources of glutamate in the diet, yeast extract increases the likelihood of brain damage and adverse reactions.
A marvelous presentation of the science behind MSG and MfG toxicity, by a man who refused to be intimidated by Big Food and Big Pharma.
Hey Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and National Public Radio, why aren’t you talking about this?
“Nowadays, the lifeline of urban population has been formed by commercial foods due to industrialization, urbanization, and rapid increase in working class. Commercial foods are time and energy saving foods but it compromising the nutritional value of foods. The term adulteration refers to the deliberate addition of compound which is usually not present in food. These compounds are known as food additives or food adulterant. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is one of the most common food additives. Several studies revealed that MSG has toxic effect on fetal development/fetus, children’s, adolescent, and adults. Physiological complication associated with MSG toxicity are hypertension, obesity, gastrointestinal tract troubles, and impairment of function of brain, nervous system, reproductive, and endocrine system. The effect of MSG depends upon its dose, route of administration and exposure time. Public awareness may play a major role in controlling the food adulteration by working in collaboration with National testing facilities to scrutinize each commercial food article from time to time. The aim of this review article is to highlight the deleterious impact of MSG on human health.”
–Chakraborty SP. Patho-physiological and toxicological aspects of monosodium glutamate. Toxicol Mech Methods. 2019 Jul;29(6):389-396. doi: 10.1080/15376516.2018.1528649. Epub 2019 May 6. PMID: 30273089.