MSG Exposed (Monosodium Glutamate)

Many Popular McDonalds food items contain MSG (free glutamate) from various sources.

A quick look at the McDonalds ingredient list on their website makes it absolutely clear to the MSG informed. McDonalds food contains MSG (free glutamate) in many of their most popular food items. Do you eat Chicken McNuggets or Premium Chicken Breast Strips because you think they may be healthier than other things at McDonalds? If you understand at all what MSG (free glutamate) does to your body (obesity), brain, endocrine system, then you’ll want to know what to stay away from food-wise. I can’t recommend people not eat at McDonalds at all because that’s not my place, but it’s fast food and you know it’s not health food. The list following are food items on the McDonalds menu that contain MSG (free glutamate) from various sources. The ingredients listed are known to contain or are typically suspected to contain MSG (free glutamic acid) unless noted otherwise. The underlined ingredients are huge give-aways and Always contain MSG (free glutamate/glutamic acid). Also see our list of Hidden Sources of MSG on Food Labels.

Big Mac® Sauce:

• Vegetable Protein (hydrolyzed corn, soy and wheat)

Chicken Selects® Premium Breast Strip:

• Seasoning (Autolyzed Yeast Extract, maltodextrin, chicken broth, natural flavor)

Grilled Chicken Breast Filet:

• Seasoning (maltodextrin, spices, autolyzed yeast extract, hydrolyzed (corn gluten, soy, wheat gluten), chicken broth, natural flavors

Southern Style Crispy Chicken Breast Filet:

• Yeast Extract, Carrageenan***, maltodextrin, natural flavors

Chicken McNuggets contain MSG (free glutamate).

French Fries

• Natural Beef Flavor CONTAINS: WHEAT AND MILK (Natural beef flavor contains hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk as starting ingredients)

Chicken McNuggets®:

• Chicken Flavor (Autolyzed Yeast Extract, natural flavoring)

Barbeque Sauce:

• Soy Sauce

Sweet ‘N Sour Sauce:

• Soy Sauce

Creamy Ranch Sauce:

• Monosodium glutamate,

Yes the fries have MSG. It's beef flavoring that is hydrolyzed.

Chili Lime Tortilla Strips:

• Autolyzed Yeast Extract, maltodextrin, citric acid

Grilled Chicken Breast Filet:

• Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Hydrolyzed (corn gluten, soy, wheat gluten) proteins, chicken broth, natural flavors

Newman’s Own® Low Fat Family Recipe Italian Dressing:

• Hydrolyzed soy protein, citric acid

Sausage Patty:

• Whey protein concentrate, monosodium glutamate, citric acid, BHA and BHT** Note: BHA & BHT do not contain MSG but there are other health risks. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, consider BHA to be possibly carcinogenic to humans, and the State of California has listed it as a carcinogen. Some studies show the same cancer causing possibilities for BHT

Southern Style Chicken Sandwich has MSG (free glutamate)

Hash Browns:

• Natural Beef Flavor (wheat and milk derivatives) Note: Natural beef flavor contains hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk as starting ingredients.
  

Sausage & Scrambled Egg Mix:

• Monosodium Glutamate

Southern Style Crispy Breakfast Chicken Breast:

• Yeast Extract, carrageenan***, maltodextrin, natural flavor

***A Note About Carrageenan

“Carrageenan increases free radicals. It is a polysaccharide made from a seaweed, the substance is known to produce intense inflammatory reactions when injected into tissues. In fact, the intense reaction is so reproducible it is used when researchers want to study inflammation. Inflammation is strongly associated with intense free-radical production within tissues. It also may promote accelerated bowel cancer growth.” Carrageenan is used as a thickener. When even small amounts of carrageenan are injected near developing tumors in animals, tumor growth, and eventual metastasis, increases dramatically¹.”
-Source: Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills by Russell Blaylock M.D.

1.) Raz A, Levine G, Khomiak Y. Acute local inflammation potentiates tumor growth in mice. Cancer Letters 148(2000): 115-120

I really like jerky, be it beef, turkey or any other kind of dehydrated meat. The problem is just about all of the major brands are flavored with free glutamic acid (MSG) in various forms. In fact, I personally haven’t found any packaged jerky that doesn’t contain MSG. Here we’ll take a look at the big boys of Beef Jerky.

Oberto Natural Style Beef Jerky

Ingredients:
Beef, brown sugar, dextrose, sugar, salt, hydrolyzed corn and soy protein, natural hickory smoke flavor, corn syrup solids, water, vinegar, flavorings, molasses, sodium erythorbate, caramel color, citric acid, sodium nitrite.

At the supermarket I looked at just about all of the flavors and from what I saw they just about all had MSG in some form. I would not recommend Oberto Beef Jerky if you are concerned about consuming MSG (free glutamic acid/glutamate). Soy Sauce was a key component in many brands of beef jerky and turkey jerky that I found. As you should know, soy sauce is very high in free glutamate. Soy sauce also makes the label look “cleaner” as it doesn’t have to list monosodium glutamate.

Pemmican Premium Cut Beef Jerky

Teriyaki Flavor Ingredients:
Beef, Sugar, Water, Soy Sauce (Water, Wheat, Soybeans, Salt), Salt, less than 2% of Monosodium Glutamate,, Wine, Vinegar, Flavoring, Brown Sugar, Succinic Acid, Maltodextrin, Corn Syrup Solids, Sodium Nitrite, Lemon Juice Solids, Soy Lecithin. Contains Wheat and Soy

Pemmican doesn’t even hide “monosodium glutamate” in this product.  But as you can see, where there is MSG on a label there is often multiple forms of it, they in a sense piggy-back or stack multiple forms of free glutamate (MSG) in their product and thus the label typically reflects that. The jerky typically tastes very good but that’s exactly why, the monosodium glutamate (MSG) makes it very tasty, but has many health problems at the same time including neurodegenerative disease, obesity and intense food cravings.

Jack Links Beef Jerky

Organic Jack Links Beef Jerky Ingredients:
Beef, water, evaporated cane juice, soy sauce powder (wheat, soybeans, salt, maltodextrin), corn syrup solids, salt, black pepper, garlic, onion.

I listed the organic version of Jack Links Beef Jerky on purpose, we know the regular line has MSG but the “Organic” label can tend to make people think that there is no bad ingredients in the food, and that’s simply not true. As we mentioned earlier in this article there is high amounts of free glutamate in soy sauce and that tends to be why manufacturers love to include it in their products. Soy sauce has a great taste (which is the MSG (free glutamic acid or Umami as the glutamate industry tries to tell us) so that’s why they add it. The regular versions of the Jack Link jerky products contain other forms of MSG (free glutamate) than soy sauce. Typically hydrolyzed corn or soy protein or other forms of hydrolyzed proteins.

Walmart Great Value Beef Jerky

Ingredients:
Beef, Water, Salt, Brown Sugar, Corn Syrup Solids, Hydrolyzed Soy & Corn Protein, Flavoring, Monosodium Glutamate, Maltodextrin, Smoke Flavor, Spice, Sodium Nitrate

Walmart also doesn’t hide the MSG in their beef jerky. They also piggyback on their label by adding even more MSG in the form of Hydrolyzed Soy & Corn Protein. Bad, bad, bad, naughty no-no! The best way to enjoy your Beef of Turkey jerky is to make it yourself. You can buy a food dehydrator on the internet or amazon for much cheaper than in a big-box store. Make your own marinades without sauces that contain MSG. You can do it, there are recipes out there that have MSG free ingredients. Use our handy list at Hidden Sources of MSG on Food Labels for a guide to ingredients to stay away from.