"No MSG added" is a lie

Its illegal, but not regulated, to state "No MSG" on a label for foods that contain hidden MSG. If it is suspected that MSG is in a product that says "No MSG," the producer may be contacted directly, or the FDA has a number to call: (800)332-4010. For meat, the USDA is (800)535-4555. If it feels like the company is lying about claims of no MSG, the Federal Trade Comission's number is (800)872-8723.

In preparing for my years' supply of food storage, which is a task I've looked more deeply into this year, I thought maybe I'd look into the quality of my items. I knew in the back of my mind I probably shouldn't be using cream of chicken soup; I mean the slimy mess that comes out of the can can't be all that good for you. I'm not sure exactly what it was I was cautious of; BPA in the can, hydrogenated fats, I don't know. (I'm also looking into getting a good chili recipe and canning my own chili to avoid BPA.)

I found this great food storage recipe to replace cream of chicken soup that's got to be so much healthier (click here) at foodstoragemadeeasy.net. The three ingredients to this recipe are white bean flour, water, and chicken bouillon, and viola! Use it in place of cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, and milk in recipes. I don't have a grinder so I just cook and mash my beans kind of like refried beans and then mix it in.

So, I figured we'd up our fiber and reduce our monosodium glutamate intake by using this bean recipe; except, the brand of bouillon I had bought also has monosodium glutamate in it. Uggh! Maybe I'd have to make a special trip to the Food Co-op to go get it MSG free.

But, no! Lo and behold, we had No MSG added Herbox Chicken Bouillon right at WinCo. I was so happy, and snatched it up and figured the cost of throwing away my old contaminated one would be well worth the health benefits.

Come to find out, on the day of cooking: I had googled MSG and researched it and I was making my first MSG-free Shepherd's pie, and I read the back of my MSG-free Herbox, and find it has "hydrolyzed corn protein, autolyzed yeast extract, whey powder, disodium isonate, and disodium guanylate", which all mean MSG. They can still advertise there's no MSG added under the FDA. I was devastated, but put in my own ingredients from its safe ingredient list (dehydrated onion, garlic powder and salt) and the Shepherd's Pie turned out fine.

It doesn't stop there, though. My kids went to grandma's for a week (yea!) which meant more time for foodstorage planning and cleaning the house (yea for me, boo for Ben). They came home and my daughter says "chicken noodle soup is yummy." We're all glad when our kids like eating something, right, so I go to the store and stock up on four cans. Then I read the back and notice it has monosodium glutamate right in it. I went back into the store for a second round of groceries including a bag of flour and four cans of soup. I read all the labels, and Campbell's, Hy-top, everyone was full of monosodium glutamate. :(. Then, music starts singing and a light shines from heaven and I see Progresso soup. Huge advertisement right on the label that this soup is safe.

It threw me for a loop when it says in small print "*Except that which occurs naturally in yeast extract and hydrolyzed vegetable protein" I tried to comprehend. "'Naturally'... They've got to know what they're talking about. It must be okay. They say right on the can NO MSG." But as you'll learn from the truth in labeling campaign and this list here (click here), hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and yeast extract are MSG. I know it may be a little confusing at this point, but its just one of the biggest food scams ever that the FDA is mistakenly causing.