In our last post, we saw how MSG is one of processed food’s great pretenders. Like a character in a spy novel, it travels with multiple passports, and slips unnoticed into wholly unexpected places.
The natural foods store is one of those places. As NaturalNews.com reports:
“A loophole is provided by the legislated labeling laws. It’s within a section that says if the free glutamate or glutamic acid is less than 78% of an additive, it doesn’t have to be labeled MSG. So if you’re getting a flavoring ingredient that’s 75% glutamic acid, it can be labeled solely by whatever form in which it appears.”
Often that form is yeast extract. “The name yeast extract is so food-like it is confidently marked on the labels of many ‘natural’ processed foods, some of which are sold in health food stores. Ingredients such as ‘yeast extract,’ or ‘autolyzed yeast,’ and ‘hydrolyzed yeast’ all contain a percentage of free glutamates or glutamic acids.”
Writing on the Livestrong.com site, Dr. Francine Juhasz describes how extensive MSG use has become across a wide range of processed food lines:
“Canned and frozen soups contain yeast extracts to enhance their taste and highlight the flavor of meaty or cheesy ingredients. It is a practice widespread throughout the food industry, and yeast extracts can also be found on the ingredient labels of processed soups proclaimed natural and without MSG, including those sold in nature food stores.”
“In its powder form, it is used in the dough of cakes, doughnuts, muffins, rolls and croissants or dusted on the surface, to make the taste of the goods stronger and more appealing and the flavors more well-rounded.”
“Processed meat and fish preparations contain yeast extract. Preformed frozen hamburgers, brand-name turkeys and chickens, lunch meats and even veggie burgers list yeast extract on their labels. Bacon, ham, canned tuna, canned salmon and other canned fish are processed containing the extract . . . Most snack foods, including crackers and pretzels, depend on yeast extract for their enticing flavors.”
“Cheese, including cottage cheese and yogurt, contains yeast extract. The European Association for Specialty Yeast Products reports that yeast extract is widely used both in Europe and the United States to highlight the cheesy notes of dairy products, and although it is an additive, the FDA considers it a natural flavor.”
More here, and in our next post: