xanthium gum in Gluten free items

   Well it's been a little while since I've posted.  This week I was brought back to reality of
my MSG problems by eating too many Gluten Free items in one day that all contained xanthium gum.
Unfortunately this is one of the ingredients used in breads, cookies and cakes to make a soft GF baked good.  I'm okay if I only have, say a sandwich, or a cookie but yesterday I made the mistake of having a sandwich, a cookie and a glass of soda with either natural flavorings or citric acid.  I can't remember which pepsi has in it.  Anyway the cumulative effect of all those items got to me.
   Just so you know xanthium gum is also in almost any salad dressing you pick up because it keeps the ingredients all mixed together so you don't have to go through the huge effort of shaking the bottle before pouring it onto your salad.  So if you are trying to keep MSG out of your daily foods keep in mind a little here and a little there can really add up to a night of not feeling so good.
   And if you are lucky enough to not feel sick from MSG but still want to avoid it as much as possible keep that in mind as well.
   On a happy note I just bought a soda streamer.  You can pick them up at your co-op or online.  It takes a few tries to get the mix just right but I love it.  I didn't buy any of the flavoring since they all had natural flavorings in them but just a dash of organic lemon juice and a little stevia and it makes a really refreshing drink for a lot less money  than buying the sparkling mineral water from germany without any natural flavorings.  Plus you don't have bottles you need to recycle.  The kids love it too, they call it grandma pop
   until next time, happy shopping,
Pame

MSG in Restaurants

All I can say is wow.  It's really hard to avoid MSG when eating out.  Nearly any fast food place uses some form of MSG in their food to make you want it more.  The problem is if one uses it and another doesn't then peoples taste buds tell them that the one that does tastes better so they are losing business if they don't use it too.   It's safer to eat at a sit down restaurant where you can at least ask about the ingredients and they are a bit more willing to tell you what is in their food but they are still learning and maybe not all that eager to share it all with us.

Usually if it's spicy and really tasty you can figure it has MSG in it sadly.  I try to avoid the sauces since they have gluten in them most of the time and I can't have that but they also have MSG in them.   Also a lot of the seasonings contain MSG.  Seems a little boring to avoid all that but if it makes you sick or you simply don't want to put that in your body that's what you have to do.  You find out what you can and can't have and then those are your choices.  I've even gotten used to no salad dressing on salads since most of the dressings either have gluten and or MSG in them.  Now I actually enjoy the flavors of the fresh vegetables in the salad instead of covering it all up with salad dressing.

Our food co-op is good about putting on their labeling in the deli what exactly is in it and that way you can know if you need to avoid it or not.  I wish restaurants were that accommodating.

You can't just ask a restaurant if they use MSG because they will probably tell you no since it's more likely they use the ingredients with flavorings, autolyzed yeast etc. and wouldn't even know that they use MSG.  OF course MSG in full force as Monosodium Glutinate is still used as well.

Well that's my thoughts for this week on MSG.  Hope that helps.
Happy Shopping and eating
Pame

Medications and Supplements with hidden MSG

If you are trying to avoid MSG there are hidden sources you may not have thought of.  Here is some information I got from  Truth in Labeling after I asked them what things to look for when buying medicines, supplements and vitamins.


MSG that will be found in medications including supplements. Processed free glutamic acid (MSG) is mainly found in the binders and fillers used in pharmaceuticals. The most common MSG containing ingredients to be avoided in pharmaceuticals are starch, maltodextrin, dextrose, gelatin (including capsules), and citric acid (citrate). You will find these ingredients listed on product inserts, identified as "inactive ingredients" or "other ingredients." The same ingredients should be looked for in supplements. You should also look for individual amino acids that may be chelated to minerals contained in some supplements. Examples would be magnesium aspartate, magnesium glutamate, and calcium citrate. Also, be aware that some supplement producers now place an asterick (*) following some or all minerals used, with an explanation following the ingredient list that indicates that the mineral is chelated with "a hydrolyzed protein" or "with an an amino acid." All of these are examples of hiding places for MSG. Another source of MSG related to health care would be enteral care products. Enteral care products, used for tube feeding, are typically products in which the protein is hydrolyzed for improved absorption of amino acids. Any protein that is hydrolyzed will have free amino acids, including glutamic acid and aspartic acid." 
   Hope this helps you to rid your shelves of MSG.
Happy Shopping
Pame

Have you noticed

   So have you noticed lately that salad dressings stay mixed up and cream doesn't separate like it used to/
That is because of msg aka xanthium gum in salad dressings and carageenan in creams.  Just another way to get your daily dose of msg and not even know it.
   Ice creams also have msg in them often to help them remain soft.  Have you noticed lately you don't have to take your ice cream out early to soften it up?  Breyers recently added natural flavorings to their ingredient list on their once thought to be safe from msg ice creams so I won't be buying that anymore.
Back to making my own and then I know what goes into it.
   I am noticing that it is harder and harder to avoid msg, it is in everything in small doses and it adds up to a huge doe of MSG at the end of the day if you aren't careful.
   Basically if it has one of those ingredients on it I don't buy it
Below is the list of items from the truth in labeling website for you
I keep this list with me for grocery shopping as well as on my fridge just in case, it's so easy to buy something and miss one of these ingredients or in my case get so caught up in the gluten thing that I miss the MSG thing.
Until next week,
Happy shopping

Names of ingredients that always contain processed free glutamic acid: Glutamic acid (E 620)2,  Glutamate (E 620) Monosodium glutamate (E 621) Monopotassium glutamate (E 622) Calcium glutamate (E 623) Monoammonium glutamate (E 624) Magnesium glutamate (E 625) Natrium glutamate Yeast extract Anything “hydrolyzed” Any “hydrolyzed protein” Calcium caseinate,  Sodium caseinate Yeast food, Yeast nutrient Autolyzed yeast Gelatin Textured protein Soy protein, soy protein concentrate Soy protein isolate Whey protein, whey protein concentrate Whey protein isolate Anything “…protein” Vetsin Ajinomoto

Names of ingredients that often contain or produce processed free glutamic acid: Carrageenan (E 407) Bouillon and broth Stock Any “flavors” or “flavoring” Maltodextrin Citric acid, Citrate (E 330) Anything “ultra-pasteurized” Barley malt Pectin (E 440) Protease Anything “enzyme modified” Anything containing “enzymes” Malt extract Soy sauce Soy sauce extract Anything “protein fortified” Anything “fermented” Seasonings (1) Glutamic acid found in unadulterated protein does not cause adverse reactions.  To cause adverse reactions, the glutamic acid must have been processed/manufactured or come from protein that has been fermented.

The following are ingredients suspected of containing or creating sufficient processed free glutamic acid to serve as MSG-reaction triggers in HIGHLY SENSITIVE people: Corn starch  Corn syrup  Modified food starch  Lipolyzed butter fat  Dextrose Rice syrup Brown rice syrup  Milk powder Reduced fat milk (skim; 1%; 2%)   most things low fat or no fat  anything Enriched anything Vitamin enriched  (2) E numbers are use in Europe in place of food additive names.

Some food to buy, some to avoid

In my usual fashion I guess I should say the foods I found to avoid this week. 

    One is the new kraft mac and cheese with the noodles already cooked, it's in a box.  Amazingly it has monosodium glutinate as an ingredient as well as a couple other names for it.  

   Another is the Muir Glenn Spaghetti Sauce, this is an organic sauce but it has citric acid and sea salt (sadly a new company has added msg to sea salt so you need to call the manufacturer to be sure that their sea salt is not from senomyx)  I am not sure if the sea salt is a problem but I know the sauce effected me.

   On the happy note the thing I found this week Organic Ville Pasta Sauce, no msg that I could find, hurrah.

    If you are looking for more info and input check out truth in labeling on facebook or their website.

Until next week

Happy Shopping

Pame

MSG-Four good rules of thumb for finding MSG in your food

Four good rules of thumb are:

• The more salty a processed food is, the more likely it is to contain MSG or free glutamate. 
• The more processed a food is, the more likely it is to contain MSG or free glutamate:  powdered stuff that used to be food is likely to have added MSG because the original flavor has been degraded, AND processing concentrates and frees glutamate already bound and present.
• The more ingredients in a packaged food, the more likely MSG is present.  Read labels carefully . Time is money.  If a food has more than five ingredients and you don't have half an hour to read one ingredient label - put it back on the shelf - you'll be better off.
• Do not trust something simply because it is in a health food store and the label states it is natural or even organic. The US allows "natural flavors" to include protein hydrolysates which can contain up to 20% MSG by weight.  A distinction without a difference.

   Sadly I just read a post about teas with MSG so I went to my pantry and found several Celestial Seasonings with natural flavors that did not specify what they were.  I sent an email to them but so far have not heard anything.  Is it MSG?  I don't know but if you can't state what your ingredient is and feel it necessary to use obscure ingredients like spices and flavoring etc. I will simply avoid them.  

   On an actions note I sent an email and letter to President Obama asking that labels on our food be made clear for the consumers benefit not the benefit of food producers.  I am challenging anyone who is interested in knowing what is really in their foods to do the same.  Truth in labeling also put forth that challenge for me on their facebook page, thanks.

Until next time

Happy shopping

Pame

MSG -Surprise!!!

Twice this past week I have been duped.
   First I went to a new vietnamese restaurant.  The food was really tasty, then when I got home I was sick.  Oh yeah forgot to worry about MSG, too busy worrying about Gluten (my other food worry)  I had had some of their food at meetings I have attended so I wasn't really worrying about it but guess I had just been lucky before.  Not this time.  I had even told my husband that maybe we should switch to this restaurant because the food was so good, that should have been my first clue. If it's soooo yummy it's probably MSG.
   Then tonight I used my hot stir fry oil I had in the cupboard to stir fry some mushrooms and onions.  Hadn't checked the label on that.  Who would think.  Anyway,  natural flavoring was the culprit.  I had many of the usual symptoms, so I threw that one away.
   Just another lesson in how vigilant we have to be in paying attention to our food ingredients.
On the upside my niece told me of a place in St Louis Park that has good food and no MSG so I am looking forward to trying it out soon.
Happy shopping and eating
Pame