I recieved an e-mail today that contained the following info forwarded from someone else. I personally try to avoid MSG, but it has been used for centuries. All of the traditional Asian cookbooks I own are filled with recipes containing MSG, and Asian countries don't seem to have obesity problems, at least not until they start eating more "Western" diets. I'm inclined to think that most of this is rubbish. I'm not sure if it could be considered addictive. It is a flavor enhancer (like salt), but I don't know that wanting something that is flavorful (or salty) is the same as being addicted to something. I just thought it would be interesting to see what y'all make of this. Here is the e-mail:

Subject: Fw: MSG...a slow poison

Some of us have known for a long time that MSG is not "good" for us

because of reactions we have from ingesting it. Makes you wonder about theincredible increase in dementia (all kinds) and cancer, as well as other afflictions.

Read to the end please.

MSG (a slow

poison)

MSG

The

food additive MSG (Mono-Sodium Glutamate) is a slow poison. MSG hides

behind 25 or more names, such as Natural Flavoring.' MSG is even in your

favorite coffee from Tim Horton's and Starbucks coffee shops!

I wondered if there could be an actual chemical causing the massive obesity epidemic, and so did a friend of mine, John Erb. He was a research assistant at the University of

Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, and spent years working

for the government. He made an amazing discovery while going through scientific journals for a book he was writing called The Slow Poisoning of

America.

In hundreds of studies around the world, scientists were

creating obese mice and rats to use in diet or diabetes test studies. No strain of rat or mice is naturally obese, so scientists have to create them. They make these

creatures morbidly obese by injecting them with MSG when they are first

born.

The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates, causing rats (and perhaps humans) to become obese. They even have a name for the fat rodents they create: 'MSG-Treated Rats.'

When I heard this, I was shocked. I went into my kitchen and checked the cupboards and the refrigerator. MSG was in everything -- the Campbell's soups, the Hostess Doritos, the Lays flavored potato chips, Top Ramen, Betty Crocker

Hamburger Helper, Heinz canned gravy, Swanson frozen prepared meals, and Kraft salad dressings, especially the 'healthy low-fat' ones.

The items that didn't have MSG marked on the product label had something called 'Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein,' which is just another name for Monosodium Glutamate.

It was shocking to see just how many of the

foods we feed our children everyday are filled with this stuff. MSG is hidden under many different names in order to fool those who read the ingredient list, so that they don't catch on. (Other names for MSG are 'Accent, 'Aginomoto, ''Natural Meat Tenderizer,' etc.)

But it didn't stop there. When our family went out to eat, we started asking at the restaurants what menu items contained MSG. Many employees, even the managers, swore they didn't use MSG. But when we ask for the

ingredient list, which they grudgingly provided, sure enough, MSG and Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein were everywhere.

Burger King, McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, every restaurant -- even the sit-down eateries like TGIF, Chili's, Applebee's, and Denny's -- use

MSG in abundance. Kentucky Fried Chicken seemed to be the WORST offender: MSG was in every chicken dish, salad dressing. and gravy. No wonder I loved to eat

that coating on the skin -- their secret spice was MSG!

So why is MSG in so many of the foods we eat? Is it a preservative, or a vitamin? Not according to my friend John Erb. In his book The Slow Poisoning of

America, he said that MSG is added to food for the addictive effect it has on the human body.

Even the propaganda website sponsored by the

food manufacturers lobby group supporting MSG explains that the reason they add it to food is to make people eat more.

A study of the elderly showed that older people eat more of the foods that it is added to. The Glutamate Association lobbying group says eating more is a benefit

to the elderly, but what does it do to the rest of

us?

'Betcha can't eat [just] one,' takes on a whole new

meaning where MSG is concerned! And we wonder why the nation is overweight!

MSG manufacturers themselves admit that it addicts

people to their products. It makes people choose their product over others, and makes people eat more of it than they would if MSG wasn't added.

Not only is MSG scientifically proven to cause obesity, it

is an addictive substance. Since its introduction into the American food supply fifty years ago, MSG has been added in larger and larger doses to the pre-packaged meals, soups, snacks, and fast foods we are tempted to

eat every day.

The FDA has set no limits on how much of it can be

added to food. They claim it's safe to eat in any amount. But how can they claim it's safe when there are hundreds of scientific studies with titles like these:

'The monosodium glutamate (MSG) obese rat as a model for the study ofexercise in obesity.' Gobatto CA, Mello MA,

Souza CT,

Ribeiro IA. Res

Commun Mol Pathol

Pharmacol. 2002.

'Adrenalectomy abolishes the food-induced

hypothalamic serotonin release in both normal and monosodium

glutamate-obese rats.' Guimaraes RB, Telles MM, Coelho VB, Mori C,

Nascimento CM, Ribeiro. Brain Res Bull. 2002 Aug.

'Obesity induced

by neonatal monosodium glutamate treatment in spontaneously hypertensive

rats: An animal model of multiple risk factors.' Iwase M, Yamamoto M, Iino

K, Ichikawa K, Shinohara N, Yoshinari

Fujishima. Hypertens Res. 1998 Mar.

'Hypothalamic lesion induced by

injection of monosodium glutamate in suckling period and subsequent

development of obesity.' Tanaka K, Shimada M, Nakao K Kusunoki. Exp

Neurol. 1978 Oct.

No, the date of that last study was not a typo;

it was published in 1978. Both the 'medical research community' and 'food manufacturers' have known about the side effects of MSG for decades.

Many more of the studies mentioned in John Erb's

book link MSG to diabetes, migraines and headaches, autism, ADHD, and even Alzheimer's.

So what can we do to stop the food manufactures from

dumping this fattening and addictive MSG into our food supply and causing

the obesity epidemic we now see?

Several months ago, John Erb took his book and his concerns to one of the highest government health

officials in Canada .While he was sitting in the government office, the official told him, 'Sure, I know how bad MSG is. I wouldn't touch the stuff.' But this top-level government official refuses to tell the public what he knows.

The big media doesn't want to tell the public either, fearing issues with their advertisers. It seems that the fallout on the fast food industry may hurt their profit margin. The food producers and restaurants have been

addicting us to their products for years, and now we are paying the price for it. Our children should not be cursed with obesity caused by an addictive food additive.

But what can I do about it? I'm just one voice! What can I do to stop the poisoning of our children, while our

governments are insuring financial protection for the industry that is poisoning us?

This message is going out to everyone I know in an

attempt to tell you the truth that the corporate-owned politicians and media won't tell you. The best way you can help to save yourself and your children from this drug-induced epidemic is to forward this article to

everyone. With any luck, it will circle the globe before politicians can pass the legislation protecting those who are poisoning us.

The food industry learned a lot from the tobacco industry. Imagine if big tobacco had a bill like this in place before someone blew the whistle on nicotine?

If you are one of the few who can still believe that MSG is good for us and you don't believe what John Erb has to say, see for yourself. Go to the National Library of Medicine at www.pubmed.com Type in thewords 'MSG Obese' and read a few of the 115 medical studies that appear.

We the public do not want to be rats in one giant experiment, and we do not approve of food that makes us into a nation of obese, lethargic, addicted

sheep, feeding the food industry's bottom line while waiting for the heart transplant, the diabetic-induced amputation, blindness, or other obesity-induced, life-threatening disorders.

With your help we can put an end to this poison. Do your part in sending this message out by word of mouth, e-mail, or by distribution of this printout to your friends

all over the world and stop this 'Slow Poisoning of Mankind' by the packaged food industry.

Blowing the whistle on MSG is our responsibility, so get the word out.

Opinions? Personally, I can't help but think if all you eat is processed food and fast food, you will probably have a weight problem. But I don't know that MSG alone is to blame. I had to laugh when I saw the list of food Items the author was shocked to find MSG in... Doritos, potato chips, hamburger helper, ramen noodles, frozen prepaired meals, canned gravy, not to mention McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Dennys, KFC... this does not sound like a healthy diet with or without MSG. Somehow I don't think removing MSG alone from these foods will make them that much healthier. Yes, I do eat some of these foods occasionally, but certainly not on a regular basis! I do wonder that there is MSG in Starbucks coffee? That sounds a bit odd and I'm off to the company website to check out ingredients.

Joanne