The Glutamate Assoication's Response to the "Soup Wars"

[Sassafras]

Glutamate Association joins ‘Soup Wars’
By Gavin Kermack, 22-Oct-2008

Related topics: Food safety and labeling

Competing claims by food companies over the removal of MSG from their products are a marketing gimmick which will simply confuse customers and make them think that a perfectly safe product poses a health risk, according to the USA’s Glutamate Association (GA).

The association was apparently referring to moves by rival firms Progresso and Campbell to make all their soups free of monosodium glutamate (MSG).

It claims that with each company making the absence of MSG in their products a point of promotion, consumers will assume that there is some reason for them to avoid it in their diet. There is no substance to this belief, says the GA, as MSG has been proven a safe food additive.

Moreover, Campbell recently ran an advertising campaign in which, according to Progresso, it made “unflattering comparisons” to those Progresso products which still contained MSG.

Progresso was in the process of reformulating all its soups as MSG-free but announced the move ahead of time as a direct response to Campbell’s campaign.

The GA, an industry body of manufacturers and marketers which endorses the use of MSG, said that such actions “miss the point”.

“It is a disservice to consumers to imply that the inclusion of MSG in canned soup is a detriment, when in fact, the use of MSG in canned soups has long been recognized as a safe, effective way to provide consumers with exactly what they want – a soup that tastes good,” said Brendan Naulty, president of the GA.

Taste and cost

The GA points out that MSG, an additive most frequently used as a flavor enhancer in savory foods such as soups, ready meals, fish and meat, has been a popular ingredient for 100 years because of the richer flavor it can provide to dishes. It says that “research conducted over the past decade has only reinforced the role of monosodium glutamate as a safe and useful ingredient in the diet… time and again consumer research has shown that American shoppers’ top food product concerns are taste and cost”.

A separate 2002 study at the University of Otago in New Zealand suggested that while consumers’ perception of MSG was generally negative, taste was the main factor to be taken into consideration when choosing products.

Health concerns

There have been some concerns, though, regarding the health risks from MSG. In 1992, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) assigned the independent Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) to examine the available data on glutamate safety. FASEB reported back that consumption of MSG at usual levels did not pose a health risk.

However, it did identify symptoms which occurred amongst some people after consuming MSG-treated food, such as chest pain, headache, nausea, rapid heartbeat and drowsiness, but noted that these tended to be suffered after consuming (abnormally) large quantities of MSG.

MSG has been classified as ‘generally recognized as safe’ (GRAS) by the FDA since 1959, although the FDA does require it to be acknowledged in the ingredients listing of foods in which it is present.

This classification has since been backed up by various bodies including the World Health Organization and the European Scientific Committee for Foods.

Source:  http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Product-Categories/Food-safety-and-labeling/Glutamate-Association-joins-Soup-Wars

[Sassafras]

This article, even though it is still disheartening to the health and well-being of the American people, actually made me smile for a moment.  In my first impressions, I pictured The Glutamate Association quaking in their shoes - well, the secret society of GA members which are "an industry body of manufacturers and marketers which endorses the use of MSG".  I literally pictured these people all scared, calling their lawyers and bosses and such, frantically trying to figure out what to do about the "Soup Wars" that possibly will be jeopardizing their careers.  Then, I thought about the soup companies, themselves, who have condoned the use of MSG and who are members of the very secret society - The Glutamate Association.  That's right!  They make up a small part of the GA.

What I am saying, is that The Glutamate Association has APPROVED the "Soup Wars".  They started it!!  That means, The Glutamate Association is not "quaking in their shoes", they are not "calling their lawyers,... frantically trying to figure out" ANYTHING.  They were the ones who decided to address the MSG controversy.

And WHY have they decided to do this?  That is a good question.  The article above addresses "taste".  Campbell's has come out with a commercial about the "taste" of their soup - "Taste is good", "The taste of taste" - whatever it is, "taste" is something people can relate to.  And this is how companies are able to sell their products more or better than another company - they produce a product which is more tastier than the next guy.

The reason for "taste".  The "taste" that Campbell's and other companies are referring to is associated to MSG and other excitotoxins.  These "other excitotoxins" are what we, the public, are going to have to be aware of in the present and future.  These excitotoxins are as dangerous or more dangerous than MSG.  From my research, I have come to the conclusion that these excitotoxins are created in similar ways as the synthesized MSG we eat today.  This version of MSG is the dangerous kind.

Here's a little run down of the simple version of synthesized MSG.  Any ingredient which has gone through a "process" of "hydrolysis" or "autolysis" produces MSG.  The synthesized process of MSG was created in the 1950's.

The safe version of "Glutamate" is "free glutamate" which THIS is "naturally" created.  The use of the word "naturally" when referring to the processes of "hydrolysis" or "autolysis" are false and misleading.  Please make note of this wordage.

So, the public announcement that MSG is being taken out of Campbell's and Progresso soups is only a distraction tactic.  There still is MSG in the soups.  MSG is in ingredients which have been hydrolyzed and autolyzed.  Even those ingredients which are in "concentration" form are questionable.



Well, that's my view!!
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