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Do you buy chicken broth labeled “No MSG” on the tetrapak or can from the store thinking this is a safe and healthy option for homemade soups you make at home?
Maybe you even go to the trouble and expense of buying chicken broth from the healthfood store that is labeled free range and organic believing this is a quality choice for your family.
Let’s dig into the label of these supposedly “no MSG”, “100% Natural” products and see what the real story is.
Are you ready for another Food Label Smackdown like the recent article shredding commercial coconut milk and almond milk in cartons?
Why You Must Avoid MSG
First, let’s take a brief moment to explain to any new readers why you must avoid MSG when you shop.
MSG is a dangerous neurotoxin that must be avoided as much as possible in your food. It kills neurons in the hypothalamus part of the brain stem that most likely never recover and are lost forever. The hypothalamus is the Master Controller of your endocrine system, so if you would like to have a healthy, balanced hormonal system, you must avoid MSG just like you avoid soy and BPA in your foods.
This goes for your children as well.
Mice fed MSG get morbidly obese. I truly believe, although I have not seen any studies on this yet, that the rampant use of MSG in processed foods plays a big role in the epidemic of fat and obese children in our society today.
Food manufacturers insist that MSG is natural because it is found naturally occurring in small amounts in some foods. When MSG is found in whole foods, however, it is bound to another molecule, usually protein and is therefore not able to cause neurological damage like the MSG that is freed from these molecules and present in large amounts in processed foods.
Products Labeled “No MSG” Usually Have MSG in Them
Once you realize just how dangerous MSG is to your neurological system and have resolved to avoid it, the next thing you must get your head around is the incredibly misleading, downright deceptive labeling of monosodium glutamate (MSG) in the United States today and probably elsewhere in the world.
Just because a product is labeled “no MSG” and is certified organic does not mean there is no MSG in it.
Huh? Say what?
Let’s come at this from a different angle and more closely examine the organic chicken broth labeled “No MSG” pictured above. To the right is a picture of the ingredients label.
What is immediately apparent is that this product most definitely contains MSG due to the presence of Yeast Extract.
While the name “yeast extract” seems nonthreatening enough, it in fact always contains MSG and is a hidden source that very effectively fools consumers which is why it is a very popular label with manufacturers.
If you think about it, what in the world is “yeast extract” doing in chicken broth in the first place? Yeast is more used for baked goods, isn’t it? If you make chicken broth yourself at home, you don’t add any yeast. That would be completely ridiculous!
Why else would manufacturers be adding “yeast extract” to chicken broth except to synthetically enhance the flavor?
Another suspect ingredient in the label is “Organic Spices”. Another benign sounding name which most likely contains MSG.
If a spice mix is less than 50% MSG, food manufacturers don’t have to label the MSG at all!
Big Food is apparently allowed to pretend products they manufacture don’t contain any MSG when they very definitely do and even get away with trumpeting “NO MSG” on the front label of the product to catch the eye of wary consumers and fool them into purchasing their goods.
Since all chicken broth from the store, organic or not, contains MSG that I’ve ever seen, it is a MUST to learn how to make bone broth yourself at home. It is not hard to do and will do a world of good for the health of yourself and your family by introducing real nutrition to your homemade soups and sauces rather than synthetic and dangerous flavors and enhancers that will harm your brain and more than likely disrupt your hormones and metabolism.
In a report issued by General Foods in 1947, chemists predicted that the day would come when nearly all flavors, “natural” or not, would be chemically synthesized.
That day has long since arrived, so don’t be fooled by false and misleading advertising of broths, soups, and other goods labeled “No MSG” when the truth is, they are loaded with it.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
More Information
Healthy and Easy Bouillon Cubes Recipe
Bone Broth and MSG: What You Need to Know
Headaches? MSG the Likely Cause
Stock or Broth? Are You Confused?
I wonder why the Native Ads on your blog post about the dangers of MSG are for products of MSG? At first I thought they were for products to replace the MSG, but no. I won’t buy anything with MSG in it. Good post though!
I don’t have any control over those ads … they pop up based on what is discussed in the article. So, if the article is a warning, it will give examples of things to avoid. If it is a positive article about a nutrient or food, then examples of what to buy are shown. Use your discretion obviously! 🙂
I have suffered migraine headaches and major intestinal issues due to MSG years ago I found a doctor in Michigan he has a site that is called truth in labeling.Org. The most informative site I have ever been on and I’ve been using this for over 20 years
I would add that food containing any portion of celery also causes migraines (at least for me). When celery or celery seed is heated or cooked, it creates nitrates, the natural preservative found in a number of products. These nitrates are what cause my migraines just as if u were consuming MSG.
Sarah, if you need another topic to write about, please investigate the preserving properties of celery additives to food as a natural preservative. I first put these thoughts to a painful test after I read about celery in a food periodical (Cooks Illustrated).
Thanks!
Sarah, Thank-you for the great information.
Would you recommend this product?
I do not recommend Kettle and Fire bone broth due to the toxic packaging.The bone broth is poured into the plastic lined aseptic cartons when boiling hot. ANY type of plastic will leach toxins when heated to that temperature even so called “nonleaching plastic”. I recommend this bone broth packaged in glass jars: https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/go/epic-bone-broth/
In the past I had gotten such horrible migraines from MSG “poisoning” that I’d been hospitalized. In the late 90’s I’d gone from specialist to specialist for help. Back then no one realized it was from consuming MSG. After living like this for over a decade, my new husband figured out the link after keeping a food journal. We seldom use processed foods. HOWEVER, MSG has snuck by a few times.
Then, I read something last year that sounded too good to be true; a women posted on another site about drinking 1/3 tsp of Cream of Tarter to 1/2 cup of warm water, stir, and drink immediately after realizing you’ve ingested MSG (within the hour) and that it somehow counteracts the poisoning. It works! I couldn’t believe it. I now carry a labeled container of it with me just in case and I tell everyone I can about this. However, I wouldn’t purposely eat MSG and use it. I don’t know if one can build up a tolerance.
I hope this helps at least one person!
I recently bought Swanson’s organic, blah blah chicken broth. I usually use Trader Joe’s but had forgot to buy it. Low and behold I started getting headaches so googled it! Honestly…so annoyed. And now I have a week’s worth of turkey stew to eat or toss. Thanks for your site and confirming the hidden MSG and that’s why I’m getting headaches. Ah, well, live and learn AGAIN. Back to TJ’s :o)
Hi Sarah,
Does the Tostitos Scoops USDA Organic Tortilla Chips does not contain MSG? It has NON GMO Project VERIFIED on the bag. It also claims the product is Gluten Free, no Artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. The ingredients list Organic Expeller Pressed Sunflower Oil, and Sea Salt.
Thanks
Did you read the article? Your answer is there.
He said all of contain msg. Natural Flavors ingredient is used to hide MSG.As he suggested, make your own, freeze it. MSG,vegetable oil, BPA,silver mercury fillings and deodorant with aluminum must be avoided. Search youtube or google for all these people: Russell Blaylock, Barbara O’Neill, Terry Wahls, Paul Jaminet, Jerry Tennant, Mary Newport, Bruce Fife, Josh Axe, Sebi, Walter Kempner, J W Armstrong,Shivambu, Mark Davis, Ge Hong, Robert O. Becker, Hal Huggins, Paul Becker, Arnold Ehret, Johanna Brandt, Johanna Budwig, Madison Cauvanaugh, Max Gerson, Dr Shui Yin Lo, Richard Hansler, Michael Holick, Thomas Levy, Sidney Bush, Garry Gordon, Sally Pacholok, Tom Paladino, Mark Sircus, Carolyn Dean, John Ellis, MJ Pangman, Gerald Pollack, David Olszewski,
Do Saffron Road broths also contain MSG? It’s ingredient list says:
“Chicken Stock, Celery Stock, Carrot Stock, Onion Stock, Sea Salt, Natural Flavor, Spices.”
Yes, it has MSG … the aliases are “natural flavor” and “spices”.