Vegetable Enzymes mean MSG on your Food Label
Enzymes are another way to add MSG (free glutamic acid) to foods and make it sound more natural. The food manufacturers don’t need to list “Monosodium Glutamate” or anything else that might sound scary to the consumer. Don’t “Enzymes” and “Vegetable Enzymes” sound innocent and natural? That’s exactly why some natural food manufacturers like WholeFoods and Trader Joes have started to use these forms of MSG (free glutamate/glutamic acid) in their products.
What are Enzymes?
Enzymes are biomolecules that catalyze chemical reactions. Almost all enzymes are proteins. Enzymes are used for protein modifications and protein hydrolysis of animal or vegetable raw materials, e.g. whey, casein, soy etc. at neutral and alkaline pH values. High degrees of hydrolysis can be achieved without bitter taste formation in foods processed with enzymes.
How are Enzymes used to create MSG?
Enzymes are added to proteins (vegetable or animal) during the food manufacturing process to hydrolyze and break down the proteins, releasing the amino acids from their peptide binding creating free amino acids, including Glutamate (MSG). Glutamate when bound by peptides in protein are called L-Glutamate which is the harmless version of glutamate, your body processes it slowly and naturally. When the proteins are broken down during food processing it is broken from it’s natural protein and it then called D-Glutamate, this is the bad version which is called MSG (free glutamate/free glutamic acid and better known as monosodium glutamate without the added sodium molecule anyway).
Also related: Hidden Sources of MSG on Food Labels
I think Trader Joe’s is putting a lot of msg in their products. My friend works there and she said they don’t use any msg but so many of their products contain “spices”, and “autolyzed yeast”. It really annoys me..why don’t they just fess up!
The newest thing in this charade of selling glutamate laces foods is the newest (clean label worthy) “wheat culture” or cultured wheat. Same old amino acid, free glutamate. A “clean label” btw is what the food technologists are all striving for, it doesn’t mean the food is clean, it means the MSG (Oh sorry! The Savory Umami brain addling non-taste) is kept hidden, and the label on the box is, hence, kept clean from the consumer knowing what’s in the box.
Also, the US is paying 140 billion dollars for obesity. MSG has been known for 30 years to increase, when added to any food in the half a gram amount of so, not a terrific amount, the amount consumed at one sitting BY 150%~ Ouch!
I noticed this as well. A lot of their chips contain “Torula Yeast” which is very annoying. When they put this stuff in their food they don’t get my money. Once enough people do the same, the food manufacturers will have to comply, just like the organic food movement a few years back. That was accomplished by public demand.