<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

This is response to Lin's post on MSG--

"So companies will often include an amount of msg just under the labeling 
requirement and hide it under labels such as natural flavoring, etc. Thus, not 
another name just a hidden ingredient. "

Lin asked that I post my response to her for the entire listserv and it 
appears below, (minus most of the typos, I hope...)  Bev Lieven, Milwaukee
 
"This can only be done in foods...the USDA changed the regs in the early 
1990s to 
require that hydrolyzed proteins be listed and also sourced...as in 
hydrolyzed milk 
protein, hydrolyzed cereal protein.  Some of that carried over to the food 
manufacturers in that hydrolyzed proteins as ingredients are usually souced, but 
they can still be used as flavoring without identification.  USDA policy does 
not allow that. You can find the USDA regs at 
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/FAQ/flavorings.htm 

As far as the www.truthinlabeling.com site, I have problems with the way 
things are termed. MSG is mono-sodium glutamate...which is its chemical 
composition. Other hydrolyzed proteins, like sodium caseinate, are similar compounds, 
but there are not MSG (glutamates are not caseinates) since they have a 
different molecular structure. It's like calling all birds chickens because all 
chickens are birds. The site would have more credibility it the terms were used 
correctly, but hydrolyzed proteins lacks that public recognition/alarm factor held 
by MSG.

I heard the truth-in-labeling guy speak at the CSA conference in 2000 (in 
Albuquerque).  He said that hydrolyzed proteins are made by treating proteins 
with acid.  If that's the case, we're generating them every time we marinate or 
BBQ meat in a vinegar or lemon based sauce, or make a bean salad. 

CSA/USA has an interesting article on the cover of Lifeline many years ago. 
While MSG can be synthesized, it is also a compound that occurs naturally, more 
in some than others, in meats and vegetables like tomatoes.  Some people are 
bother by it and some are not and the MSG made in the US comes from g.f. 
sources.

The proposed changes in the FDA labeling law would solve many of these 
problems since ir require sourcing of ingredients derived from milk, wheat, and soy, 
the proteins most often hydrolyzed.

Bev in Milwaukee  

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