food label ingredients demystified

(NaturalNews) Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP) is one of most common soy-based food "fillers" used to make literally thousands of processed food products. It's found in veggie burgers, gravy mixes, soups and many other grocery products. Last Thursday, one of the largest producers of HVP in the United States, Las Vegas-based Basic Food Flavors Inc., was the subject of an FDA consumer safety warning announcement. Salmonella had been found contaminating the company's HVP production equipment, the FDA said, and a nationwide recall was initiated that now includes products from Trader Joe's, Safeway, McCormick and many other companies.

See the FDA list of recalled products here:
(http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scrip...)

Most Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein isn't purchased directly by consumers; it's used by food production companies as an ingredient in mainstream processed foods. So it shows up in thousands of grocery products -- and most consumers are not aware they're eating this ingredient. In fact, many consumers are, for the first time, asking, "What is HVP?"

Beware of what's in your groceries
I wrote about HVP in my 2004 book, "Grocery Warning," which warned consumers about a dozen potentially hazardous food ingredients. HVP was just one of many ingredients mentioned as a potential source of hidden monosodium glutamate (MSG).

MSG, of course, is a potentially dangerous neurotoxin used to flavor countless processed food products. It's used in soups, salad dressings, processed meats, gravy mixes, flavored snack chips and virtually every popular brand of beef jerky. It is considered an "excitotoxin" by Dr. Russell Blaylock, a neurosurgeon who has written extensively about MSG and its damaging effects on human neurology.

According to Blaylock, MSG can promote eating addictions, obesity, brain cancer, endocrine system disorders, infertility and many serious neurological disorders. That's why it's so disturbing that MSG is hidden in so many natural-sounding ingredients.

In my Grocery Warning book, I warned readers to avoid all ingredients that contain the words "hydrolyzed" or "autolyzed." In addition, Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) can also be a source of hidden MSG.

But the most common source of hidden MSG is yeast extract -- a sneaky little ingredient found in huge numbers of so-called "natural" foods.

The dirty little secret of the "natural" foods industry
HVP, TVP and yeast extract are very common ingredients in the natural / vegetarian food industry. Most of the popular veggie burgers, for example, contain HVP, TVP or yeast extract. And that makes them a suspected source of hidden MSG.

Even the big snack food companies get in on this act: A bag of "Natural Doritos" is made with yeast extract, too. (http://www.naturalnews.com/019355.html)

Also see MSGExposed.com: http://www.msgexposed.com/doritos-e...

As far as veggie burger companies go, I'm going to say this bluntly and boldly: In my opinion, many of the larger corporate foods companies are selling little more than chemical additives and unhealthy fillers while calling them "vegetarian" foods. This is why I personally avoid virtually processed veggie burgers and other vegetarian "meat" alternatives. There are a few exceptions to this -- just read the ingredients labels to see who's using HVP, TVP or yeast extract.

The twisted minds at the FDA...
What's really interesting about this HVP recall is that the FDA only considers HVP dangerous when it's possibly contaminated with salmonella. When HVP is sterile, on the other hand, the FDA considers it "safe."

The FDA is so ignorant about the safety of food additive chemicals that it actually believes aspartame and MSG are safe for human consumption. It's bizarre: While tens of millions of Americans are poisoning their brains with diet sodas, the FDA goes crazy over a virtually miniscule risk of salmonella contamination in TVP -- an ingredient that's usually cooked anyway (which destroys the salmonella).

Why isn't the FDA worried about MSG, aspartame, sodium nitrite (causes cancer) or yeast extract? The FDA's position on food safety boils down to this:

The FDA's philosophy of food safety:

#1) Dead foods are safer than living foods, so KILL IT!

#2) Chemicals are safe, but bacteria are dangerous.

This philosophy explains how the FDA ends up trying to outlaw raw milk while allowing MSG and aspartame on the GRAS list (Generally Recognized As Safe).

Raw milk is dangerous, they say. Why? Because there might be something living in there. You know, probiotics and that kind of thing. Scary! So the FDA wants everything as dead as possible. (Including you, most likely.)

In fact, the FDA describes instant, ready-to-eat food mixes as substances that have not gone through a "validated kill process."

Once the foods are dead, they're presumed safe even if they're loaded with neurotoxic chemicals and cancer-causing substances. So a hot dog made with sodium nitrite (a cancer-causing chemical found in most hot dogs) is considered perfectly safe as long as the hot dog is dead!

But raw almonds are considered a threat to public health and must now all be chemically fumigated or irradiated in the USA. (http://www.naturalnews.com/022035.html)

Are you getting the picture yet? HVP, TVP, MSG, aspartame, sodium nitrite and other chemical additives are all A-okay with the FDA. They're only scrutinized when they become contaminated with bacteria. It's the bacteria that freaks out the FDA, not the chemicals!

The lesson to the food companies in all this is quite simple: You can stuff practically any hazardous, cancer-causing, brain-damaging chemical you want into processed food products as long as the whole mixture is cooked until its dead. At that point, you may sell it for human consumption, even if it causes cancer.

The FDA's outright failure on food safety
Have you ever seen the FDA take urgent action to ban an unsafe food ingredient used by the big food corporations?

It almost never happens. And the really bizarre part is that many of today's most dangerous food additives were never subjected to safety testing by the FDA or any other agency -- they were simply grandfathered in and labeled safe (GRAS) solely because they had been historically used by the food companies for such a long period of time.

This is how poisons like MSG got into the food supply. Aspartame, of course, is a whole different story of corruption and collusion. But the truth is, there remain hundreds of dangerous chemicals used in food products that are never scrutinized by the FDA. HVP just barely scratches the surface of this story.

Action items: What you can do right now to protect yourself
#1) READ all food ingredients labels.

#2) AVOID foods made with any of the following ingredients:
• Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
• Textured Vegetable Protein
• Yeast Extract
• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
• Aspartame
• Sodium nitrite

#3) PROTECT your nervous system with superfoods and nutritional supplements that support healthy brain function: Omega-3 oils, antioxidants, trace minerals and of course astaxanthin (http://www.naturalnews.com/026325_a...).

#4) SHARE this story with family and friends who need to know the truth about what's really in the foods they buy. Most consumers have no idea what's found in the foods they're eating. Most people don't read food labels, and as a result they end up eating all kinds of chemical ingredients that would shock them if they learned the truth.

#5) LEARN more by reading stories here on NaturalNews about common chemical food additives:

MSG:
http://www.naturalnews.com/MSG.html

Yeast Extract:
http://www.naturalnews.com/yeast_ex...

Aspartame:
http://www.naturalnews.com/aspartam...

Sodium Nitrite:
http://www.naturalnews.com/sodium_n...

Hydrogenated oils:
http://www.naturalnews.com/hydrogen...

Sources for this story include:
Associated Press:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...

CNN:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/...

FDA list of recalled products:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scrip...

(NaturalNews) Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status to sunflower lecithin, opening up the market to an option other than soy lecithin. This year, sunflower lecithin is showing up in all sorts of health foods including food bars, breads, green powders and crackers.

Lecithin is used as an emulsifying agent in many foods to keep them at the proper consistency and texture. Since the only source of lecithin available in the U.S. up until this point has been from soy, it has been difficult to determine whether or not the lecithin contained in many foods has been genetically engineered (GE).

The problem with deriving lecithin from soy is that more than 90 percent of the U.S. soy crop is GE. Back when the USDA first drafted its organic standards for food, it made an exception for soy lecithin which, at the time, was not readily available from non-GE sources. As a result, many organic foods, unless specifically labeled as containing non-GMO (genetically modified organism) soy lecithin, can legally contain GMO soy lecithin and still be labeled organic.

Some manufacturers have made a point of obtaining non-GMO soy lecithin for their products, but many do not specify one way or the other. For several years, the Cornucopia Institute has attempted to put pressure on the USDA to update its organic guidelines to mandate that only non-GMO soy lecithin be used in organic products. Since non-GMO soy lecithin became commercially available in 2004, there is no reason for any organic producers to continue using GMO soy lecithin in their products.

Following a petition given to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), the board agreed to remove liquid soy lecithin from its list but voted against removing the dry version. Because dry lecithin is derived using an acetone solvent, and nobody has found a non-chemical alternative, the board caved to corporate pressures to keep dry GMO lecithin on the organic exemption list.

Besides the GMO element, soy is an ingredient that increasing numbers of people are trying to avoid anyway. Whether to address people's allergy concerns or simply to attract consumers that wish to avoid soy's phytoestrogen characteristics, "soy free" is becoming a popular label on many natural and organic products. With the introduction of sunflower lecithin, manufacturers now have a viable emulsification alternative.

The amazing thing about sunflower lecithin is that, unlike soy lecithin, it can be extracted without harsh chemical solvents like hexane and acetone. Using a cold pressing system similar to what is used to obtain things like olive oil, sunflower lecithin is the only kind of lecithin that can be obtained raw and chemical-free. It is rich in phosphatidylcholine (choline) and essential fatty acids like phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylethanolamine.

Some health brands that have begun using sunflower lecithin include Greens Plus, Betty Lou's, Source Naturals, Happy Baby, Divine Chocolate, Panda, Ciao Bella, and Natural Factors.

Some companies continue to use non-GMO soy lecithin and they indicate it on their ingredient lists. Particularly in the case of companies that produce green powders, some actually highlight the fact that their products contain no lecithin "fillers". Whatever the case, it is important to be informed about the various types of lecithin in use and to encourage your favorite brands to use the best forms if they choose to use it in their products.

The Natural News Store also carries raw sunflower lecithin butter that helps to digest fat and is suitable for vegans.

NaturalNews) It is rather alarming that MSG, a known neurotoxin, is found in the most unlikely foods disguised or euphemistically labeled as innocent or yummy sounding food ingredients.

Recently, through the internet, in a book called In Bad Taste: The MSG Symptom by Dr. George Schwartz, and various references to MSG by Dr. Russell Blaylock, you would be shocked and dismayed by what you read.

Before getting into this, consider this information to better put MSG into proper perspective.

There are two kinds of MSG, natural (if you can believe that) and synthetic.

Natural MSG is known as L-glutamic acid, an amino acid that is found in plants and animals and is harmless. It is harmless because our digestive process slowly breaks down this natural or "bound" glutamic acid and through a bodily function it is delivered to receptors in the body and brain. Stay with me and wake up now, as the technical stuff is almost done. Even though harmless, eating too many foods high in glutamate will eventually reach the bloodstream. These foods include tomatoes, mushrooms, dairy products, corn, molasses, wheat, and even tobacco.

Here we go... in a factory, the "bound" glutamic acid in these foods is broken down or made "free" by various processes referred to as hydrolyzed, autolyzed, modified, textureized, or fermented, and is refined to a white crystal that resembles sugar. It is then mixed with salt and used as a flavor enhancer for those manufacturers too lame to put out a product with natural, harmless ingredients. It is affectionately known as monosodium glutamate or the "Darth Vader" of the free world.

Now, let`s cut to the chase. YOU MUST READ LABELS!!! If is says, autolyzed yeast, yeast extract, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydrolyzed protein, or textureized vegetable protein, IT IS MSG.

If it says, maltodextrin, barley malt, whey protein, soy protein isolate (or words to that nature), IT IS MSG.

Gelatin (used in vitamin capsules) contains MSG.

Most smoke flavor or "flavorings" contain MSG.

Soy sauce, made from the fermentation of soy beans contains MSG and pure MSG powder can be added to cheaper brands of soy sauce to enhance its flavor.

Confirmed with Fearn Foods, the manufacturer of Spike, Spike contains MSG.

It is in vegetarian meat analogs, "hot dog analogs", soup broths, bouillon, and products using the words containing protein fortified, enzyme modified, rice syrup, brown rice syrup, citric acid, milk powder, dry milk solids, annatto, spice, carrageenan, guar gum, and lecithin (if from hydrolyzed soy products).
But wait, there`s more!

Candy, drinks, gum, packaged salads with citric acid, low fat milk, stevia (if coupled with maltodextrin), Accent, Lawry`s Seasoning Salt, Torula Yeast, Adobo salt, Chinese Seasonings, and believe it or not, internal feeding materials and some fluids administered intravenously in hospitals.

So, what is one to do?

Learn to cook and eat naturally, forget fast foods, processed foods, animal products and dairy products and eat an organic vegan plant based diet that is as much organic as possible.

Let your spices be natural from foods and herbs. And above all, before you buy anything packaged and/or processed, YOU MUST READ LABELS.

One more thing, politicians that receive campaign contributions from large food companies have made it so that legislation has been passed to NOT list MSG as an ingredient but to euphemistically use the words mentioned above.

Aloha!

About the author
Hesh Goldstein: Vegetarian since 1975, vegan since 1990. Moderator of a weekly radio show in Honolulu called, "Health Talk" since 1981. Obtained a Master's degree in Nutrition, in 2007, to silence the so-called "doctors" that called in on my weekly radio show asking for my "credentials". At 70, I am in perfect health, have no illnesses, take no meds, play 4 on 4 half court hoops 2 hours a week, body surf, race walk, do various cardio and weight exercises and teach women's self defense classes based upon 30 years of Wing Chun training .
To obtain a state of good health, if it had a face or a mother or if man made it, don't eat it.
For more information: www.healthtalkhawaii.com
Hesh is also the distributor of Organic Sulfur Crystals, an incredible healing nutrient. For more information on this go to his website and click on Products.