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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?
There is a brand of broth that you can buy at the store called Kitchen Basics.
They make beef and vegetable broths as well. The package claims that they do not use or produce MSG in there products.
The ingredient list for the chicken broth is- Chicken stock, chicken flavor, sea salt, vegetable stocks(carrot, onion, mushroom, celery), honey, bay, thyme, pepper.
Hi! 🙂 I’ve started looking at labels recently. Especially the ingredients list. My husband and I always heard that MSG is bad for you. It’s really scary to see other words that are the same as MSG in the ingredients. I can’t believe food manufacturers can get away with labeling no MSG on their labels, when in fact there is! That’s being deceitful to the general public! Also, I was diagnosed with MS 2 years ago; I should read all food labels. It’s a shame most foods have MSG.
I came across your website by accident and read the MSG article. I love your website! 🙂 Very interesting.
I’m a little late posting, but better late than never. I just located your blog about a week ago and I’m totally engrossed with all you have to say. BUT, this post is wonderful and backs up what I’ve been preaching for over 30 years…avoiding MSG (et al)!
I suffered horrible migraines when I was in my early 40’s, and after seeing two separate doctors, I still got no relief. During a casual conversation with my sister, she mentioned having what she called “The China Syndrome” and i asked what she meant. At the time, I was using “Accent” in many foods, especially gravies. After she described her difficulties using MSG, everything fell into place. I began avoiding MSG and my headaches disappeared…what a relief!!! I had also suffered from severe depression and this avoidance cleared up that difficulty as well.
I now carry the list of hidden MSG’s with me at all times, but I very, very seldom buy anything processed these days and only do IF the product passes “my test”. Eating out also has its difficulties. So much of the foods served these days contain one form of it or another. Even one meal order may have 2 to 3 separate foods that contain a form of MSG…i.e., the salad dressing, the seasoning on the meat, and a flavoring added to a vegetable. If I order from a restaurant, I have to order “bare bones” or it’s “headache and depression time” for me.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR WONDERFUL BLOG!!!
What about “natural flavors” in the organic Cascadian Farms oj? Just saw it and wasn’t too happy about it!
Now, I’m just offering this comment mostly as an observation. I have not read a lot of research but this is just something that I’ve noticed. I’m half-Vietnamese and I grew up with food that had MSG in it. In fact, a lot of Asian food has MSG in it, as I’m sure you already know. However, I’ve never heard of Asians complaining of the ailments that others do around the world and they attribute it to MSG. I’ve also not suffered from these ailments. I actually don’t go out of my way to add it but I know that it’s added to most food products in some form. We eat mostly whole foods so I don’t worry about it too much.
I also read this article and found it interesting.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2005/jul/10/foodanddrink.features3
Just some fodder for discussion!
Hi Sarah – These are the ingredients on a foil package of tuna: Light tuna, sunflower oil, water, vegetable broth, salt. Then says: Contains Fish, Soy. Ugh, soy, but do you think it contains msg also?
Anyone have any good ideas on how to get broth into a meal besides soup or as the liquid to make rice? My family tires of soup and we try to limit rice. No one but me will just drink broth. I appreciate anyone’s ideas!
Thanks Sarah for another great post!