MSG Exposed (Monosodium Glutamate)

There was a time when I weighed 40 lbs more than I do today. Back in those days I would drive-thru Jack In The Box several times a week, get two tacos a Jumbo Jack and a big ol’ soda. Sometimes I would switch it up and get some Chicken Strips with BBQ sauce and Bacon and Cheddar Potato Wedges. Looking back at that time, I was destined for disaster. I wasn’t aware of MSG at the time nor was I too concerned with my health or my weight. Times have changed.

Most of my web traffic comes from search engines. Usually from people that are asking the most popular question: “Does Jack In The Box have MSG?” The answer: Yes.

Jack In The Box has been kind enough to give a PDF of their current food ingredients list on their website. You can check it out for yourself, but I’ve done most of the work for you.

The Tacos have MSG

Menu items that contain MSG (in various forms):

• Bacon Ranch Dressing
• Barbecue Dipping Sauce
• Beef Regular Taco
• Buttermilk House Dipping Sauce
• Chicken Fajita Patty
• Grilled Chicken Fillet
• Homestyle Chicken Fillet/Mini Homestyle Fillet
• Chicken Patty
• Spicy Chicken Breast Fillet
• Chicken Strips Grilled
• Creamy Ranch Sauce
• Creamy Southwest Dressing
  

  The Spicy Chicken Sandwich has MSG

• Croutons Gourmet Seasoned
• Egg Rolls
• Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
• Hot Taco Sauce
• Lite Ranch Dressing
• Ranch Dressing
• Sausage Patty
• Seasoned Curly Fries
• Sirloin Beef Patty/Mini Sirloin Beef Patty
• Soy Sauce
• Sun Dried Tomato Sauce
• Taco Sauce
• Teriyaki Dipping Sauce
• Teriyaki Sauce

The Curly Fries have MSG (yeast extract)

The worst offenders are the Chicken Sandwiches, Tacos and Egg Rolls. These items are stacked with various forms of Monosodium Glutamate. Some include Hydrolyzed Soy Protein and Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP),

Almost all of the sauces have MSG in some form or another. It’s actually pretty hard to find sauces anywhere that don’t have MSG of some sort. Fast food is cheap quality food, that’s why you can buy it for .99 cents. The cost is cheap because it’s poor quality food, so they add fillers to it to make it cheaper. This act will then make it not taste very good so then you have to add flavor enhancers such as Monosodium Glutamate and lots of salt to add flavor back.

The problem is the MSG just isn’t good for you, no matter what the main stream media will tell you. They lie. Their advertisers are in the food industry, if the main stream media suddenly started telling you the truth about how harmful MSG is, their advertisers would be severely hurt, loss of revenue.

One of the fillers the food industry uses for fillers is called TVP or Textured Vegetable Protein. Think of it as tofu, pretty bland and tasteless. TVP itself often contains excitotoxins like MSG. You have to mix it in with other things, like MSG or Soy Sauce which has MSG/free glutamates.

The Egg Rolls have MSG

For more info on the dangers of MSG and the link between obesity and MSG. Click here.

Also search for Russell Blaylock M.D., he has several books, one of them is called Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills, the other is Health & Nutrition Secrets  That Can Save Your Life. I own both books and I swear by the information in them. Dr. Blaylock is a board certified neurosurgeon for over 20 years.

Have you heard of Jollibee? It’s a popular Filipino fast food restaurant in the California bay area and many other locations around the globe. When I first ran across one of these restaurants I actually thought it was a joke. The mascot is a giant cartoonish looking bee, something you would imagine a trendy Japanese teen hanging out at (bring your Hello Kitty purse and DOMO backpack).

Jollibee Yum! Burger

Just peering in through the window I could see the food on the menu, Jollibee Yum Burger, Jollibee ChickenJoy, Jollibee Spaghetti, BurgerSteak with Rice, JollyHotdog, Macaroni & Cheese Soup and Tuna Pie, yes, seriously, you read that right TUNA PIE!

To me, none of the food looks appealing in any way what-so-ever. When watching people actually eating this stuff, it looks like it’s microwaved GMO plastic food with likely tons of MSG to doll it up taste-wise just as one would put lipstick and a skirt on a pig. Now I didn’t want to immediately start ripping on this place until I had proof of MSG but I needed to do some investigating regardless.

A while back I wrote Jollibee  to see if I could get a copy of their ingredients list for their menu items (you know how I do).  The following is the email exchange:

Hi Jollibee,

Hi, I was looking around and I can’t find any nutrition facts for your food on your website. Do you have nutrition facts and an ingredients list available? Thank you.

-Mike

Response:

Dear Mike,

I would like to acknowledge your e-mail dated December 7.  Thank you for taking the time to write to Jollibee.

Jollibee Tuna Pie

In response to your query, we regret to inform you that we do not have the data of nutritional content of each product that Jollibee has. But rest assured that we serve the highest quality products that provide basic nutritional value through a variety of food choices depending on customer needs.

Nevertheless, I have forwarded your concerns to our Research and Development Department.

Hope I was able to address your needs. Again, thank you for keeping Jollibee in mind.

Best regards,

Kathy Manganti
Customer Care

My response:

Hi Kathy,

Thank you for the prompt reply. Could you at least tell me if there is MSG (monosodium glutamate) in any of your products? Thank you.

-Mike

No reply back to date.

2 weeks later I write another email to Jollibee:

Hi Jollibee,

I wrote back on December 9th inquiring if your food contains monosodium glutamate (MSG) but I haven’t received a reply regarding this issue. I understand you don’t release your nutrition or ingredient facts, that’s okay, but as a person that has a sensitivity for MSG I really need to know if you add it to your food. If you could please reply back it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

-Mike

It’s been 6 months and I’ve never received a response back other than their initial blanket statement of just “trust us” we use the highest quality of ingredients, oh but don’t ask us about MSG, we won’t answer questions on that.

If a company didn’t use MSG and added glutamates in their food they should have no problem at all clearly stating so. At the very least they could release their ingredient list so that their patrons could know what in the hell they are eating. In my opinion, this practice doesn’t sound very honest to me. We are living in an increasingly health conscious world so it’s natural that folks are going to ask “what’s in your food, dude?”

In my opinion, I can speculate that there are several things that will most definitely contain MSG: Gravy/Mushroom Sauce, the crispy coating on the Chicken, the meat on the burgers, virtually any sauce they use and possibly the tuna pie (can we say yuck?).  And you can be assured that just about everything is going to be genetically modified with gobs of preservatives, emulsifiers, artificial colors/flavors, thickeners (probably Carrageenan) and other assorted hydrogenated oils/trans fats etc. Who wants to eat all of that garbage anyways? This is fast food!

This of course is all my own speculation based on my research and experience with MSG. But believe me, I’m right.

Cheetos brand cheese curls have been around since 1948 which creator Charles Elmer Doolin developed for Fritos. They are created by blending together water and corn, pressure extruded through a die and dried with hot air to develop their unique form. The cheesy orange coating is where the MSG comes into play. Chip manufacturers love to add Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) to chips to give them an addicting quality.

Many years ago before educating myself on healthy eating I would devour almost an entire bag of chips like these,  as most typical Americans can probably identify with. Cheetos comes in many flavors and even in “natural” and “baked” versions which would give you the impression that they are somewhat more healthier, but as you will soon learn, it’s all marketing hype.

Cheetos Flamin’ Hot Ingredients with free Glutamate (MSG):

• Monosodium Glutamate, Autolyzed yeast extract, Hydrolyzed soy protein, Sodium caseinate

Natural Cheetos White Cheddar Puffs Ingredients with free Glutamate (MSG):

• Torula yeast*, Maltodextrin

Baked Cheetos Ingredients with free Glutamate (MSG):

• Monosodium Glutamate, Maltodextrin, Whey Protein Concentrate

Cheetos Crunchy Cheese Flavor Ingredients with free Glutamate (MSG):

• Monosodium Glutamate, Maltodextrin, Whey

*Torula Yeast contains free glutamate (MSG), it’s in the same family as Autolyzed Yeast Extract. It just sounds more “natural” and makes the label look clean. For those trying to avoid MSG they will think this product is okay, but it’s deceptive. Why would they hide it on the label if there wasn’t anything wrong with it? To Fool you! Don’t be fooled. Research and read this website to educate yourself. Also check out “Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills” by Russell Blaylock M.D.

Starving college kids will recognize this one. The portable noodle treat in a styrofoam cup. Just pour hot water, chomp, slurp and feel those brain neurons wither away. MSG loves destroying brain cells as much as you love eating it. It can only do what it was designed to do, make your food taste great at the expense of your health. I used to eat these a lot when I was younger, but I know better now. Nissin Cup O Noodles come in many flavors but unfortunately they all include monosodium glutamate (MSG).

For a list of Hidden Sources of MSG

Shrimp flavored chips have been around for a long time, unfortunately so has the MSG that they are liberally laced with. These shrimp flavored chips are manufactured by Calbee.  The MSG in this product isn’t hiding in any obscure ingredient name, it’s just out in the open. Clean labels? We don’t need no stinking clean labels!

Ingredients:
Wheat flour, canola oil, modified food starch, shrimp, salt, monosodium glutamate.

I used to eat Doritos when I was younger, crazy good flavors and addicting as hell. After growing up a bit and educating myself on the dangers of MSG (monosodium glutamate), now I know why they are so damn addicting. Virtually all flavored Doritos contain MSG (no, it’s not just in Chinese food, contrary to popular belief). MSG is also linked to obesity in laboratory rodents. All one needs to do is turn your products over and read the ingredients list. Today many food items contain various forms of MSG hidden in other “harmless sounding” ingredients such as Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Autolyzed Yeast Extract or Sodium Caseinate. Please see our more complete list of hidden sources of MSG.

EXTREME MSG Dude!! Can you handle the dangerously bold brain neuron death?

List of Doritos Flavors that contain MSG:

• DORITOS® Blazin’ Buffalo & Ranch Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® COLLISIONS® Hot Wings and Blue Cheese Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® COLLISIONS® Pizza Cravers and Ranch Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® COLLISIONS® Zesty Taco and Chipotle Ranch Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® COOL RANCH® Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Diablo Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Last Call Jalapeno Popper Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® NACHO CHEESE® Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Reduced Fat COOL RANCH® Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Reduced Fat NACHO CHEESE® Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Salsa Verde Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Spicy Nacho Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Spicy Sweet Chili Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Taco Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Tacos at Midnight Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Toro Habanero Flavored Tortilla Chips

• BAKED! DORITOS® NACHO CHEESE® Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® NACHO CHEESE® 100 Calorie Mini Bites Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® NACHO CHEESE® Flavored Tortilla Chips 6 Count Singles

• DORITOS® NACHO CHEESE® Flavored Tortilla Chips 12 Count Singles

List of Doritos Chips that do not contain MSG:

• DORITOS® Toasted Corn Tortilla Chips

As you can see, I only found one Doritos Chips products without MSG, those are the plain ol’ regular corn chips. Which is about the only way you can avoid MSG if you want to eat chips. In virtually 99% of flavored chips, there is MSG, even in the organic and “natural” products. Some will contain Torula Yeast or Yeast Extract, which sounds very natural and harmless, but if you do your research you will know that Tah-Dah! There is MSG in those ingredients as well. If you want to enjoy some chips nowdays, you are usually safer to eat unflavored chips, be it corn, potato, flax seed etc. A tip: buy the unflavored chips and add your own seasonings that you Know does not have MSG, like cayanne pepper, chili powder, garlic, hot sauce or dip them in a mixture of basamic vinegar and olive oil.

Almost all of the flavors that contain MSG are in the form of straight up “Monosodium Glutamate”, however there is one flavor that I saw that did not contain Monosodium glutamate persay, but does contain MSG in the form of Sodium Caseinate, that is the Last Call Jalapeno Popper Flavored Tortilla Chips. Yes, this contains MSG as well, it’s just in a different form. If you care about the dangerous health effects of MSG you may want to avoid eating these products that contain it. As always: Read the Ingredient Label!

Studies showed MSG fed rodents became Grossly Obese

In 1969 Dr. John Olney was conducting experiments on mice using MSG (monosodium glutamate). (Mice are frequently used as test animals because they react most like humans to MSG). He was studying the microscopic changes in the brains of these mice when his assistant noticed that all of the mice given MSG had become grossly obese. They first thought it was a fluke but as the experiments continued he noticed that indeed all of the mice that were fed MSG became grossly obese.

Studies on laboratory animals fed MSG soon after birth also showed that they preferred foods that were high in carbohydrates and low in nutritional value^.1 Researchers also found that this fat could not be exercised off and was extremely difficult to remove through dieting, no matter how stringent.² Research shows that out of all mammals, humans are the most sensitive to the physical damage from ingested MSG. Humans possess a sensitivity five times greater than the mouse and twenty times greater than the rhesus monkey.³ Other studies have also confirmed that MSG causes gross obesity in animals.⁴ Taking into consideration that most of these laboratory experiments with MSG involve rodents, you can see how humans are much more susceptible to the damages of MSG laced food additives in our diet, not to mention the gross obesity linked to MSG consumption.

References:

1. Kanarek RB, Marks-Kaufman R. Increased carbohydrate consumption induced by neonatal administration of monosodium glutamate to rats. Neurobehavioral Toxicology Teratology 3(1981): 343-350
2. Nikoletseas MM. Obesity in exercising, hypophagic rats treated with monosodium glutamate. Physiology & Behavior 19(1977): 767-773
3. Blaylock R. M.D., Food Additives That Can Kill, Health & Nutrition Secrets that can Save your Life. (2002): 179
4. Bunyan J, Elspeth A, Murrell A, Shah PP. The induction of obesity in rodents by means of monosodium glutamate. British Journal of Nutrition 35(1976): 25-39

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.