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” . . .How to Avoid MSG

So, what can you do if you want to avoid consuming excessive quantities of MSG but still plan to continue eating?

It is useless to check the label for “No added MSG” or “No MSG,” because while there may be no MSG in the product, there will usually be some toxic free glutamate in ingredients like hydrolyzed proteins.

Occasionally a manufacturer who eliminates MSG to advertise “No MSG” will compensate by adding more salt.

The MSG problem can even begin on the farm. Certain fertilizers, fungicides, pesticides, and other products used to aid in faster plant growth can contain MSG. When these crops are brought to market, the crops may contain MSG residue. This is more common with foods grown outside the US.

Best solution: Eat unprocessed, natural, organic foods.
The Confusing Bottom Line on MSG

In all my research, I’ve never seen so much conflicting information on a topic. There are scientists and studies on all sides of the issue. As always, you have to take a hard look at who paid for the study. The Truth in Labeling Campaign claims to have traced all the MSG-related research and found everything that claims to show that MSG is safe to be badly flawed (https://www.truthinlabeling.org/assets/designed_for_deception_short.pdf).
MSG Sensitivity

MSG sensitivity isn’t technically an allergy, although the symptoms are similar. One person might react to a relatively small amount of MSG while someone else does not react to a larger dose.

Diagnosing MSG sensitivity is very difficult. There is no standard test to say conclusively that someone is intolerant of or sensitive to MSG. Because the reaction to MSG is a reaction to a poison, the only way to test for it is to feed various amounts of MSG to a person and observe him or her for the next 48 hours.

Diagnostic procedures for MSG sensitivity include:

Giving patients specific doses of MSG and monitoring for up to 48 hours, watching for delayed reactions.
Asking patients to keep accurate food diaries.
Asking patients to eat only unprocessed food and drinks for several weeks and then watching for symptoms as other foods are reintroduced one at a time. As you can imagine, this can be an extremely frustrating process.” . . .