MSG-free: Avoiding the hidden sources

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MSG-free: Avoiding the hidden sources

July 23, 1999

Web posted at: 11:27 AM EDT (1527 GMT)

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-In this story:

 

What is MSG toxicity syndrome?

Symptoms that MSG can bring on

What the future may hold for the players in the MSG debate

 

RELATEDS

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(WebMD)

-- Sufferers of monosodium glutamate (MSG) toxicity syndromes have

long been dismissed by the makers of glutamate and food additives

and by the FDA, whose labeling standards for foods containing the

controversial flavor enhancer are fairly lax. For many of these MSG

sufferers, the experience of coping with the ambiguities of food

labeling leaves them feeling like Han Solo navigating his way

through an asteroid field. Not only is it confusing -- it can be

very dangerous.

 

What is MSG toxicity syndrome?

 

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) toxicity syndrome occurs in response to

free-glutamic acid, which is a breakdown product of protein after it

has been processed by a food manufacturer.

 

While all protein has glutamic acid bound in it, it is only the

glutamic acid that has been freed from the protein before it is

consumed that causes the reactions.

Growing numbers of patients and physicians and some scientists are

convinced that the ingestion of this processed free-glutamic acid

can cause adverse reactions in one or more organs of the body. In

1969, H. H.

Schaumburg, an MSG researcher who helped educate the public and the

medical industry about the dangers of MSG, concluded that up to 30

percent of the population had sensitivity reactions from the MSG in

an ordinary diet.

 

Symptoms that MSG can bring on

 

Reported MSG reactions, which can occur as a result of consuming

even small amounts (much less than the 1/2 gram the FDA considers to

be low),

include migraines; hives; mouth eruptions; numbness; tingling;

swelling of mucous membranes in the oral, gastrointestinal or

reproductive tract; asthma; runny nose; insomnia; seizures; mood

swings; panic attacks;

diarrhea; and cardiac irregularities.

 

Sufferers of MSG's effects are not experiencing an " allergy. "

 

Instead, they are experiencing the results of direct nerve

stimulation and possible nerve damage, although the latter has not

been verified in humans.

 

Emergency room physician George R. Schwartz, author of " In Bad

Taste: The MSG Symptom Complex, " says MSG is a " neurotoxin, " a

substance

that actually induces nerve changes and possible nerve damage.

 

Despite the fact that MSG causes known toxic reactions, and despite

the fact that some labeling does exist, MSG-sensitive individuals

are still

at risk for becoming severely ill from food they buy at the store or

order off a menu.

 

1. Most processed foods contain MSG. Kathleen Schwartz, president of

NoMSG, a New Mexico-based nonprofit group, explains that MSG is

deceptively represented as a " natural " additive on many containers

and

in some natural-food departments as well. " Anything that tastes

good ...

all of the fast foods, flavored chips, most of the condiments, most

salad dressings, most processed lunch meats, most sausages, soups

off the grocery shelf, " she says, are likely to contain MSG.

 

2. Seasonings and basic food staples contain MSG. Adrienne Samuels,

Ph.D., co-director and founder of the Truth in Labeling Campaign

(TLC),

a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote " full and clear

labeling " of all food, says that the unwary consumer is quite

vulnerable to the unintended ingestion of MSG. In doing research for

a TLC report,

Samuels found that the glutamate and food-additive industry is adept

at disguising the presence of MSG in foods.

 

" Bouillon, stock, broth, malt flavoring, barley malt, seasonings,

carrageenan, soy sauce, soy protein,

whey protein and anything enzyme-modified, " she writes, " always

contain MSG. "

 

3. MSG by any other name is just the same. Samuels notes that the

FDA has demonstrated a curious relaxation of its usual standards for

product labeling. " With some exceptions, " she writes, " the FDA

requires that

ingredients -- MSG-containing ingredients included -- must be called

by their common or usual names. "

 

The FDA uses the term " monosodium glutamate " for ingredients that

are a 99 percent pure combination of

glutamic acid and sodium. However, most of the MSG-containing foods

that cause MSG syndrome are not 99 percent pure and are allowed to

be labeled obscurely: " monopotassium glutamate, " " autolyzed

yeast, " " hydrolyzed soy

protein " and " sodium caseinate " are examples of ingredients that

always contain MSG.

 

4. The FDA won't tighten its standards. In 1994 TLC attempted

through a petition to pressure the FDA " to require that processed

free-glutamic

acid be clearly labeled when used in food. " That petition -- and a

subsequent lawsuit -- were not successful. The court ruled that the

FDA, being a food-industry expert, did not have to disclose the

basis of its conclusion that current labeling standards adequately

protected the public.

 

What the future may hold for the players in the MSG debate

 

MSG proponents are currently facing a new battle -- one with

potentially far-reaching legal repercussions. In a recent, well-

publicized legal

case, a California man, Mr. Livingston, initially lost a suit that

was recently reversed on appeal and set for retrial. Livingston's

complaint

is against a restaurant that had served him a vegetable soup that

had been made with a beef base containing MSG.

 

After consuming it, he suffered an asthma attack and cardiac

arrest. " The restaurant had a

'duty to warn' this man of the dangers of the MSG content of the

food, " says attorney Howard Goldstein, who represented Livingston

and who

likens the case to the current tobacco industry lawsuits.

 

Goldstein says he is more aware of the dangers of MSG as a result of

his involvement with this case. A member of his own family suffered

from MSG

sensitivity. " At a time when we were eating a lot of foods

containing MSG, " he says, " during the meal she would start having

vision changes, cramping and asthma.

 

At least once or twice a year for a dozen or so years we would be

making emergency room visits, usually on the Friday or

Saturday night after eating out, to get to respiratory therapy. "

Goldstein says that after getting involved in the Livingston case

and

learning to eliminate MSG from the family diet, the trips to the

emergency room have not occurred for five years.

 

But until relief arrives, consumers must navigate on their own.