Tag: MSG propaganda

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Who are the ‘Glutes’?

For years, the Truth in Labeling Campaign has been calling them the “Glutes,” a name that many now recognize as being those who make money selling their poisons hidden in food. We gave them a name because we want you to know them and start talking about them, and it’s hard to talk about someone or something if it doesn’t have a name.

The founder and chief operating officer of this loosely knit operation is Ajinomoto, the world’s largest producer of monosodium glutamate. Ajinomoto designs and bankrolls its research, bragging of the millions it’s spending on public relations to “clear MSG’s bad name.” Their goal is to counter the fact that every day more and more people are suffering reactions to MSG and other flavor enhancers that contain MSG’s toxic manufactured free glutamate (MfG) by plastering the world with propaganda that MSG has gotten a bad rap.

Without the researchers who execute their double-blind studies using excitotoxic, brain damaging placebos, without the food technologists who incorporate MfG into thousands of processed foods, without the manufacturers that use MSG in their products so they can skimp on quality — aided by the grocery outlets that sell their products — and without the “public servants” at the FDA who for 50 years have turned their backs on research that clearly demonstrates MSG has toxic potential while endorsing the out and out lie that MSG is safe for use in food, MSG would have long ago been banned. And it can be done. As recently as 2018 the FDA acted to no longer allow the use of seven flavoring substances and flavor enhancers deemed dangerous.

Those are the Glutes: the people who work to keep MSG flowing without mentioning that they work for the producer of MSG when signing off on their work.

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As consumers learn more about the unavoidable dangers of eating MSG, the ‘MSG-is-safe’ story changes

They’ve changed their story again.  Since so many consumers have realized that MSG causes adverse reactions, manufacturers have been forced to give up on claiming that MSG is safe to eat.  The new story is that MSG is safe to eat when consumed in “normal concentrations.”  And it’s not safe for everyone.  Maybe it’s not safe for you, the new story says, but it has no effect on the overwhelming majority of people.

As is true of all “MSG-is-safe” propaganda, only vague, safe-sounding terms are used.  Today in the United States, “normal concentrations” would be the massive amounts contained in ultra-processed food.  All ultra-processed food is loaded with toxic free glutamate, which consumers refer to as MSG.  And “the majority of people” is left conveniently undefined.

Check it out.  Next time you come across something that says that MSG is safe, look for a smattering of the Glutes signature words and phrases: “controversial,” “bad rap,” “xenophobia,” “racist,” “racism,” “a small subset of people,” “anecdotal reports,” “inadequate evidence,” “much-maligned,” “debunked,” “a bad reputation that it doesn’t deserve.”

What change is coming next?  It’s actually an idea that the FDA has been carefully developing for a number of years: use MSG in place of salt (but be sure not to mention the excitotoxic – brain damaging – glutamate in MSG.)

What a way to distract and confuse from the fact that free glutamate (the active component in MSG) is a toxic ingredient.

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Is it news or is it propaganda?

If you have enough money and the right contacts, you too can make up your own ‘news’     

Ajinomoto, the world’s largest manufacturer of monosodium glutamate (MSG), and its PR firm, Edelman Public Relations, have recently joined with CBS to recycle the Glues favorite propaganda pieces disguised as news.

Aired recently on both CBS Mornings and the network’s highly regarded Sunday Morning show led by veteran journalist Jane Pauley, as well as a Bay area affiliate station, the productions are straight out of the Edelman/Ajinomoto playbook.

The often-repeated blueprint goes like this:”

  1. Use a headline that shows there’s controversy, but not to worry because you can trust that this article/video will give you the real facts:

Yes, MSG has a bad reputation but it’s now making a “comeback.”

“Science” has proven that there’s nothing to worry about!

Things need to be “set straight.”

2. Repeat the well-worn fiction that a 55-year-old letter is responsible for consumers considering that MSG might be toxic. Capitalize on its unique name “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.”  Ignore the multitude of studies clearly demonstrating that MSG causes brain damage.

3. Trot out the “Expert,” who talks about “The Letter” and alludes to how it’s been refuted by “decades of research,” without the expert actually citing any.

4. Bring on the “Chefs,” who will be shown cooking up a storm of delicious food sprinkled with MSG and give some to the reporter to taste. “Yum!”

5. Introduce the xenophobic zinger. This is indeed the perfect example of the diabolical genius of the folks at Edelman PR, filling the airwaves with the concept that avoidance of MSG isn’t based on science, but is actually nothing more than anti-Asian hate speech in disguise.

“Ajinomoto established that deep-rooted xenophobia is at the center of MSG’s complicated history in the U.S.” Edelman stated in a 2019 press release. That seemingly crazy concept has caught on so well that even a book I co-authored about food additives was targeted by a “reader review” that claimed it’s “not cool to promote myths rooted in racism.”

The Edelman team works long and hard at selling the product they’ve been paid to sell. And they have the media connections to make it happen. But despite the constant use of such expensive and wide-spread propaganda, recognition that MSG is harmful continues to be acknowledged by consumers. It looks like growing numbers of consumers are realizing that they are getting sick following meals that include MSG or some other ingredient that contains its processed free glutamate, and that the more consumers know the harder Ajinomoto and Edelman will work to sell us its disinformation.  Remember that currently the only consumer group to reveal what’s going on with MSG is the Truth in Labeling Campaign.

Interesting thing about CBS, the network also makes itself available to spin news on behalf of Big Pharma.  A January 60 Minutes program was identified as “an unlawful weight loss drug ad” for the med Wegovy by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. “The 60 Minutes program looked like a news story, but it was effectively a drug ad,” the group Committee said in a press release. PCRM also stated that Novo Nordisk, which makes Wegovy, paid over $100,000 to the doctors CBS interviewed for the segment.

The blog links below (click on the headlines) will give you an idea of how extensive glutamate marketing is, and should leave you wondering whenever you read an article or watch a program: is it news or is it propaganda?

Linda Bonvie

Even the New Yorker parrots the propaganda of the glutamate industry’s pernicious PR campaign with no regrets
WUI: Writing under the influence
Another MSG YouTube propaganda video
Giving credit where credit is due: Writers engaged in spreading the Glutes’ propaganda and the outlets that enable them
Is this propaganda hiding in the business section of your newspaper?
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The slow, steady, thought-altering drip of propaganda

A tip sheet to help fight back when you encounter the glutes’ ‘mishmash’ of altered facts

Effective propaganda doesn’t just hit once and disappear. It works best as a steady stream, most effectively coming at you from all directions. It puts a grain of sand in your oyster of belief, slowly eroding what you thought to be true.

One of the best propaganda campaigns currently out there is being hosted by Ajinomoto, the world’s largest manufacturer of monosodium glutamate. We’ve seen videos, blogs and “news” stories touting the safety of MSG. We’ve been told that avoiding this brain-damaging additive is somehow “racist.” We’ve been informed that it all started with a 1968 letter sent to the New England Journal of Medicine, and that any idea that this toxic substance is dangerous has been debunked by decades of scientific testing. All this disinformation being orchestrated by those in the glutamate industry who don’t mind spending multi-millions to keep generating their ill-gotten billions.

For that reason, we have prepared the following tip sheet for you. Since most of what is circulating is amazingly similar, you can use it for practically any glute hype that comes your way – and that includes articles in newspapers and magazines, Youtube videos and most especially talks on MSG by celebrity chefs and famous foodies.

Tip sheet to cut through the toxic fog of glutamate fiction

Fiction: MSG is made from corn, wheat, and beets

Truth: Since 1957 monosodium glutamate has been manufactured by using genetically modified bacteria to synthesize glutamic acid outside of their cell membranes and excrete it into a medium to accumulate. This “reinvention” has allowed for huge amounts of the additive to be made and used in previously unheard-of amounts in processed foods of all kinds.

Fiction: Avoiding MSG is somehow racist because of the term “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”

Truth: As you likely know, Chinese Restaurant Syndrome was the title given to a letter written by a physician and sent to the New England Journal of Medicine seeking information about reactions suffered after eating in a Chinese restaurant in the U.S. Why would avoiding this additive – generally done because of personal experiences such as migraines, asthma, depression, heart-rhythm abnormalities, pain, and even seizures – smack of racism?

Fiction: MSG is known to be perfectly safe – “nobody has come up with any science that says there is a problem with it.”

Truth: The studies cited by the Glutes as evidence of MSG safety are ones in which MSG was fed to volunteers who were given test material containing MSG at one time, and at another time given a placebo that contained (without disclosure) an excitotoxic amino acid — one that would trigger the exact same reactions as those caused by MSG. When subjects reacted to both test material and placebo, researchers claimed to have again failed to demonstrate MSG toxicity. More on this subject can be found here.

Ever vigilant in promoting its views, the glutamate industry has declared that both the FDA and regulators around the world have found monosodium glutamate to be safe. In fact, however, neither independent scientists nor independent regulators have found monosodium glutamate to be safe. FDA studies, which were actually reviews, always have been staffed by persons with ties to the glutamate industry. The regulators and/or authoritative bodies referred to by the glutamate industry did no research of their own. And studies to be reviewed were delivered by industry agents. Studies of MSG-induced brain damage were never shown to these authoritative bodies. It’s known that MSG when fed to very young laboratory animals kills brain cells in the area of the hypothalamus, and, through that damage, causes a number of endocrine disorders. One of those disorders is gross obesity. Another is infertility.

Fiction: The glutamate that naturally occurs in many foods and the glutamate in monosodium glutamate are exactly the same

Truth: The glutamate found in unprocessed, unadulterated and unfermented protein is L-glutamate only. The MSG used in cosmetics, drugs, vaccines, dietary supplements and processed food is manufactured, and always contains L-glutamate plus D-glutamate and pyroglutamate (unwanted byproducts of L-glutamate production) plus other unwanted by-products of production all 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.

Only manufactured glutamic acid causes brain damage and adverse reaction when ingested or otherwise used. Glutamate contained in unprocessed, unadulterated and unfermented protein, no matter in what quantities, will not cause reactions in MSG-sensitive people.

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Propaganda. More powerful than research.

Glutamate-industry propaganda is based on industry’s Six Big Fat Lies; on extensive repetition of praise for monosodium glutamate; on disparagement of people who question the safety of monosodium glutamate – all bound up in beautifully wrapped consumer-friendly rhetoric.

The “facts” found in glutamate-industry propaganda come from their Six Big Fat Lies. Use of a particular lie depends on the point that industry is attempting to make, and the audience it’s addressing:

THE SIX BIG FAT LIES:

1) The glutamate contained in MSG is identical to the glutamate in the human body.

2) MSG is very well researched and found to be safe.

3) It must be safe since the FDA has said so.

4) MSG has been used for over a century without adverse reactions.

5) MSG is naturally made, similar to yogurt, vinegar and wine.

6) Monosodium glutamate occurs naturally in food.

Want to know the truth? Go here for answers.

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‘Backed by science?’

It’s repeated over and over and over again in glutamate-industry propaganda: “backed by science.” The current meaningless feel-good phrase designed to con you into thinking monosodium glutamate is good for you. 

The only science that the Glutes use is rigged to guarantee to conclude that MSG is both “safe” and a good thing to eat.  Rigged?  Yes, “rigged.” The details are spelled out for you in a little post called “designed for deception.”  But if you don’t care to read all the details, just remember that the placebos they have been using in their double-blind studies since 1978 all produce the same reactions that are caused by MSG, and it’s on that basis they make their claim that MSG is harmless.

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New Year’s resolution: Let it be a truly healthy new year

Although spring is still some weeks away, here at the Truth in Labeling Campaign we’re not waiting to do our spring cleaning.

The first thing that needs to be cleaned up and tossed out is the idea that the safety of MSG is controversial.  

Like everything else the “Glutes” put out to deceive you into believing that MSG is “safe,” claiming that the safety of MSG is controversial is part of their basic con.

The only “controversy” here is that the Glutes continue to say MSG is “safe” despite clear and copious data demonstrating MSG is toxic.

There really is nothing to debate.  But being that selling MSG is their business, they work very hard on twisting the truth. Here are the facts of the matter: 

1. The opinion that free glutamic acid (the active component in MSG) causes brain damage, is based on data amassed between 1969 and 2021 by neuroscientists studying the brain.

2. No data demonstrating anything to the contrary exist.  Those who manufacture and sell MSG say that MSG is harmless or “safe” by pointing to studies that failed to find toxicity. That’s a big difference.

Here’s how it works:

  • They claimed to have replicated studies of glutamate induced toxicity from the 1970s without finding toxicity, but they were not true replications.  Rather, the methods and materials used in setting up studies and analyzing results prevented identifying evidence of MSG toxicity.
  • From the 1980s until it was made public that they were using placebos in their double-blind studies that caused reactions identical to those caused by MSG test material, their claims of “safety” were based on studies that were rigged to exclude the possibility that MSG was anything but “safe.”
  • Since being exposed, claims of safety now come from what’s called consensus meetings. These are meetings organized and paid for by the U.S. manufacturer of MSG or their agents where participants discuss the safety of MSG and publish the conclusion that they find it to be “safe.”

MSG is a toxic ingredient.  There should be no question about the truth of the matter.  In that sense, there really is no controversy.

The second thing that needs to be tossed is the notion that the FDA protects consumers.

With our interest in the toxicity of MSG, it is not surprising that we know a fair amount about industry/FDA collusion (https://www.truthinlabeling.org/assets/industrys_fda_final.pdf).

But industry’s control of the FDA reaches far beyond that.  An opinion piece in the September 2, 2021 New York Times titled “America Desperately Needs a Much Better F.D.A.” gives some detail.

New year’s resolutions

1. Start thinking MfG

MSG is toxic as ever and you don’t want to forget that.  But you need to also know that the poison in MSG is manufactured free glutamic acid (MfG).  And MfG can be found in dozens of other ingredients, not just MSG. (https://www.truthinlabeling.org/assets/names_ingredients_linkedin.pdf).

If this seems confusing remember that the U.S. manufacturer of MSG has spent millions of dollars trying to confuse you and everyone else – and has been quite successful.

We’ve written about how that works previously.

2. Realize that you are not alone in reacting to MSG and MfG.  Besides possibly suffering reactions, everyone is vulnerable to brain damage from ingesting MSG and MfG.

It’s likely that you, along with millions of others, have been conned into thinking that there’s something mentally wrong with you. You’re not just told that no one is sensitive to MSG.  The big con is to get you – personally — to doubt yourself.  You’re told that:

  • if you were truly reacting to the glutamate in MSG, you’d also be reacting to the glutamate and beef and chicken and mushrooms and tomatoes. Here’s why that’s one of the big scams the Glutes push to make consumers doubt themselves. The glutamate in MSG is free glutamate.  The glutamate in unadulterated beef, chicken, mushrooms and tomatoes is not free.  It’s bound, tied in chains to other amino acids.  Bound glutamate does not cause either brain damage or adverse reactions.
  • If you think you are reacting to MSG, get tested by an allergist. That’s another one of their big scams. The reaction to MSG/MfG is not an allergic reaction.  It’s a reaction to a poison, and an allergy test will be negative.

Not so personal is the alleged “evidence” that MSG is safe.  Put simply, the U.S. manufacturer of MSG designs and executes studies that couldn’t possibly find anything wrong with MSG. Basic to getting that job done is setting up double-blind studies where the placebo causes reactions identical to reactions caused by the MSG test material. “Designed for deception” has the details. https://www.truthinlabeling.org/deception_web.html

3. If you are overweight consider that your obesity may have been preset when your pregnant mother consumed large amounts of MfG, which would have destroyed that part of the brain needed for weight regulation – leaving you without the ability to use diet and exercise to control you weight.

“Dose dependent toxicity of glutamic acid: a review,” published in the International Journal of Food Properties, explains.  

Adrienne Samuels (2020) Dose dependent toxicity of glutamic acid: a review, International Journal of Food Properties, 23:1, 412-419, DOI: 10.1080/10942912.2020.1733016

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