{"id":1663,"date":"2021-07-03T13:51:06","date_gmt":"2021-07-03T13:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.truthinlabeling.org\/blog\/?p=1663"},"modified":"2021-07-03T13:51:06","modified_gmt":"2021-07-03T13:51:06","slug":"warning-about-the-hazards-of-msg-can-be-hazardous-to-your-reputation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/truthinlabeling.org\/blog\/2021\/07\/03\/warning-about-the-hazards-of-msg-can-be-hazardous-to-your-reputation\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning about the hazards of MSG can be hazardous to your reputation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Linda and Bill Bonvie<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being accused of racism these days is no small matter. And those of Asian descent have seen an increase in incidents of racism targeting them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, when a reader review at Amazon.com appeared about our book, \u201cA Consumer\u2019s Guide to Toxic Food Additives<\/a><\/strong>,\u201d accusing us of \u201cpromoting myths rooted in racism,\u201d it was a bit of a shock, to say the least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This reviewer, whose comment is called the \u201ctop\u201d one from the U.S. (also somehow bumping any other reviews into obscurity), was in fact simply parroting information gleaned from various \u201cnews\u201d stories appearing across the web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may sound crazy, but just by including warnings about consuming MSG in that book, we now were being accused of spreading a \u201cmyth deeply rooted in xenophobia.\u201d In effect, consumer protection had somehow become redefined as ethnic bigotry directed specifically at Asian Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may be wondering, as we were, just where such a bizarre idea could have originated, and the answer is one that clearly shows how much influence PR agencies \u2013 especially large, well- connected ones \u2013 have over media of all sizes these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It stands to reason that manufacturers of questionable additives would attempt to counter warnings about their products with whatever industry-sponsored hype they could devise. But never did charges of \u201cracism\u201d enter into it until the \u201cglobal communications\u201d firm Edelman Public Relations entered the scene. They are being paid millions of dollars by Ajinomoto, the world\u2019s largest manufacturer of monosodium glutamate, to conjure up the concept that legitimate concerns about the safety of MSG were nothing but racist myths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking a cue from the removal of \u201cmisinformed historical symbols,\u201d according to an Edelman press release, the Ajinomoto creative team apparently had an \u2018aha moment\u2019 when it coined \u201cxenophobia-born misinformation\u201d in an attempt to divert attention away from any negative science and adverse reactions associated with MSG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has it worked? If you go by the amount of media coverage received, such as this headline at CNN saying, MSG in Chinese food isn\u2019t unhealthy \u2013 you\u2019re just racist, activists say<\/em>, this imaginary imagery seems to have taken hold, even filtering down to that \u201creader review\u201d of our book. But Edelman, despite its ability to have media lists at its beck and call to run articles on how the term \u201cNo MSG,\u201d constitutes racism, can\u2019t seem to even monitor its own client list for conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A question sent to the Del Monte press office about its College Inn broth product, for example, took a surprising turn with a return email from an Edelman representative speaking on the company\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Being that the College Inn product sports a rather large \u201cNo MSG\u201d symbol on the package front, we asked our Edelman contact if, according to their own high-profile campaign, that would constitute the same type of \u201cracism\u201d and \u201cxenophobia\u201d that we were accused of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But despite several attempts to elicit an answer, Edelman has now gone dark on us. (We wondered if Del Monte would be looking for another PR firm should its executives connect the dots.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which only goes to show how even the best-intentioned causes, such as shining a spotlight on racism, can be distorted and manipulated by industry shills to cast other good causes, such as consumer protection, in a bad light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only in this case, the fact remains that keeping MSG out of your diet is no more \u201cracist\u201d than avoiding apple pie sweetened with HFCS is \u201cun-American.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


If you have questions or comments, we\u2019d love to hear from you.\u00a0 And if you have hints for others on how to avoid exposure to MfG, send them along, too, we\u2019ll put them up on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>.\u00a0 You can also reach us at questionsaboutmsg@gmail.com and follow us on\u00a0Twitter\u00a0<\/a>@truthlabeling<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Linda and Bill Bonvie Being accused of racism these days is no small matter. And those of Asian descent have seen an increase in incidents of racism targeting them. So, when a reader review at Amazon.com appeared about our book, \u201cA Consumer\u2019s Guide to Toxic Food Additives,\u201d accusing us of \u201cpromoting myths rooted in … <\/p>\n

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