My lovely OS homecooked food is full of MSG! -what does it do to you?

pudding06

I use the kallo one too, the gluten free and vegan one. I find that the marigold one doesnt state both gluten free and vegan so wont use it.

pudds

Fivenations

I use Knorr stock cubes regularly (Italian ones though - especially wild mushroom flavour ones) and have no problem with any side effects so please dont worry unduly, unless you know for sure that it brings on a migraine headache. From what I have read it can be taken in moderation by most people - in fact as already noted by lil_me it is naturally present in many foods that you may already be eating. This list came as a surprise.
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/psychology/health_psychology/msg.htm

I also have chinese friends who regularly add MSG to their food with no side effects - perhaps it's the quantity used in readt meade food that is the problem.

I get headaches from drinking even one glass of cheap wine and also cheap instant coffee.

Herbaholic

recovering_spendaholic wrote: »

Does anyone know if Bovril has msg in it?

Yup it does, so does Marmite and Soy Sauce apparently, although it's 'naturally occuring glutamate' which means in some products its there anyway, because of this it may not turn up on the list of ingrediants!! All About MSG be warned though that site is done by the msg makers of Australia trying to make people think it's okay to consume MSG because it's a natural product!

It's in Bisto gravy granules as well, labelled as E621 as Thriftlady pointed out it gets labelled, so they don't have to use the dreaded MSG words! Until this thread I hadn't considered looking at food additives, just stuck the oxos in etc. I've been suffering with headaches and other problems for a while, but it never occured to me to look at the additives doh! I'm off to hunt for my old copy of E for Additives now, although since that was printed in the 80's they'd probs developed a load of new ones I'm not aware of :eek:

I just started hearing the marmite tune in my head but my brain substitutued the words "My mate glutamate" :rotfl:

Just found a list of other names for MSG if a product you have contains any items on the list below it WILL contain MSG!

Gelatin
Calcium Caseinate
Monosodium glutamate
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP)
Textured Protein
Monopotassium glutamate
Hydrolyzed Plant Protein (HPP)
Yeast Extract
Glutamate
Autolyzed Plant Protein
Yeast food or nutrient
Glutamic Acid
Sodium Caseinate
Autolyzed Yeast

Check out the Hidden Names For MSG page for the E numbers it gets known as etc.

lil_me

One of those things where you can think you aren't adding MSG to food because it isn't on the label, but you have to read between the lines, just because the product itself isn't added directly, doesn't mean it isn't in it. Happens a lot with food unfortunately.

flourgirl

my DH had an allergic reaction to MSG in a chinese takeaway curry. He was unwell for 3 days, it came over him within about 2hours of eating it. It started with sweating, feeling really sick, bad headache followed by the runs. As for stock cubes the best ones are Kallo or marigold powder, if you like beef, the liquid bovril doesn't contain msg but the cubes do

lil_me

flourgirl wrote: »

As for stock cubes the best ones are Kallo or marigold powder, if you like beef, the liquid bovril doesn't contain msg but the cubes do

If you read the posts above you will see both contain MSG, well the varieties I checked have, just isn't a listed ingredient.

Marigold contains Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP) which contains MSG

Kalloo contains Yeast Extract which contains MSG

rosieben

I've been using Marigold since Delia recommended it years ago and never had a bad reaction (whereas I get a really bad reaction from chinese food, palpitations etc.) so I shall carry on using it but this thread has certainly made me more aware of need to understand labels and aliases for additives etc.

furndire

I read somewhere that Parmasin cheese is a natural source of MSG ~ anyone else seen the same?

mutley74

A little tangent to OP but I have noticed MSG in most Doritos and the Walker special range (sort forgot the exact range name). So on one hand they are claiming to decrease salt and fat levels but bump it up with nasty extras such as MSG.

lil_me

Natural in parmesan cheese, chicken, tomatoes other foods aswell

Hence why there is so much questioning on intolerance in people of MSG as it occurs naturally in so many things that the people who claim intolerances to are ok with. Ok adding vast amounts to food will mean there is of course more present in the food.

Glutamate, sodium and water, the glutamate is about 80% I think the rest is salt and water in MSG. Glutamate is found in most proteins naturally.

People say things like 'horrible MSG' when they see it as an addetive, but would it stop you eating chicken, tomatoes etc ?

That was part of what my friends research was about.

No intention in getting into arguements over this of course, just pointing out the facts side of it. Unfortunately when you look to find the horror stories parts you don't notice the other facts around it. Up to everyone what they give their children.