I thought I would expound on the soup wars that are currently going on. Progresso and Campbell Soup Company are currently trying to outdo each other on making an MSG free soup. Their labels claim that they their soups are MSG free and then with an asterisk, they note that it may contain autolyzed yeast that may contain some MSG. Oh, the humanity of it all. This is how it is described in a news article at Foodnavigator-USA.com,

"However, the company points out that some of the soups contain yeast extract, a natural ingredient with a small amount of naturally occurring monosodium glutamate."

Don't you just love this type of talk? They used the word natural twice in the same sentence. They first said that yeast extract was natural. If you ever wondered what evil looks like, then simply go to the Glutamate Association...What does that mean? Can we go to our garden and pick some yeast extract? Or maybe out to the barn? Yeast extract is the result of a process that is done to produce excitotoxins. That's it. That is the only reason that it exists.

Then they finish this sentence with "a small amount of naturally occurring monosodium glutamate." Again, the use of natural. Naturally occurring MSG, such as you find in tomatoes, does not affect humans. It seems to only be the processed excitotoxins that cause symptoms. So, explain to me how you can get "naturally occurring" excitotoxins from a manmade process to autolyzed yeast? Studies have even suggested that autolyzing yeast and hydrolyzing proteins may be more harmful to humans than MSG.

Now comes the best part of this commentary. Glutamate Association quickly took umbrage and said, according to the article in Foodnavigator-USA.com,

"It claims that with each company making the absence of MSG in their products a point of promotion, consumers will assume that there is some reason for them to avoid it in their diet. There is no substance to this belief, says the GA, as MSG has been proven a safe food additive."

Did you get that? The GA says that MSG is a proven safe food additive. That is why they exist and that is their only mantra. They are always willing to cite studies that they created or supported or designed to prove this mantra as well. If you ever wondered what evil looks like, then simply go to the Glutamate Association and look at the individuals that work there. Nobody could do this job without a willingness to give up all that most of us value in life, such as honesty, integrity, and concern for our fellow man and no wish to do them harm.

So to conclude, the soup companies are warring over which of them are better at eliminating an additive that, according to the Glutamate Association and the FDA, is safe for us to eat. And they are both willing to also put on their labels that they are substituting a compound called autolyzed yeast for the MSG, even though autolyzed yeast is believed to be more harmful to us than MSG. This is quite a war, and as in all wars, everybody gets hurt in the end.

The news article I read that caused me to write this can be found at Foodnavigator-USA.com.