MSG can impact your body in a variety of ways – headaches, flushing, sweating, numbness, chest pain, nausea and more.
To help you avoid MSG, I have written this article to show you how to spot MSG on food labels. MSG (Monosodium glutamate) is used as a flavor enhancer. It can be worse for you than nicotine and alcohol when it comes to your health.
MSG
Companies that produce foods using MSGs have caught on to the fact that people are reading labels and have come up with clever ways to disguise the fact that their food still contains the chemical that could cause a lot of harm.
Today I’m going to share with you some different names that companies will use for MSGs. This will help you learn how to spot MSG on food labels.
The worst part about this is that the FDA does not require manufacturers to put MSGs in their list of ingredients unless the product they are using is 99% pure MSG. No need to worry, I am here to tell you they are not so sneaky after all.
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
Alternate names for this ingredient include: HVP, Hydrolyzed Protein, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, TVP, Texturized Vegetable Protein, and finally, Hydrolyzed Whey Protein.
HVP can be found in soup, broth, bouillon cubes, seasonings, spices, chips, beef products, flavorings, veggie burgers, gravy and MANY others.
Textured Vegetable Protein
The most common place you will find textured vegetable protein is in veggie burgers. Textured vegetable protein is made from defatted soy flour that is then cooked under high pressure at extreme heats and then dried out.
The end product looks nothing like soybeans and is almost always loaded with MSG as a flavor enhancer. What makes this ingredient so dangerous is that it’s found in almost every vegan protein staple.
Yeast Extract and Autolyzed Yeast
Yeast is a cheap and an easy way to add flavor to just about any food. Yeast extract is usually especially high in MSG content. Some of the places that you are most likely to find yeast extract is in food products such as most breads, some condiments, soups, broths, frozen foods, and surprisingly some natural foods can have it too!
MSG is not good for you health for many reasons. Knowing that the FDA has loopholes that allow manufacturers label their products with different ingredients to avoid using MSG on their nutritional facts is scary.
Know what to look for, and hopefully I have helped you learn how to spot MSG on food labels.