I think most of us know not to put this stuff in our bodies by now ...
A piece of spammy mail I got:
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 everyday.
>
> 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
> of
> exercise 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 [
http://www.pubmed.com/> ]www.pubmed.com. Type in the
> words '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.
, and quacks like a 