http://www.truthinlabeling.org/msgsprayed.htm
MSG: Truth in Labeling Campaign -- http://www.truthinlabeling.org
Monosodium Glutamate, MSG, glutamate, glutamic acid --
separating MSG-fact from MSG-fiction and industry propaganda
MSG is Back in Baby Food - Sprayed Right on Crops as They Grow
In the 1970s, reluctant food processors "voluntarily" took processed
free glutamic acid (MSG) out of baby food. Today it's back, in a
product called AuxiGro WP Plant Metabolic Primer (AuxiGro), being
sprayed on some of the vegetables our children will eat, into the air
our children must breath, and onto the ground from which it can move
into drinking water. Head lettuce, leaf lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes,
and peanuts were among the first crops targeted. There is now no crop
that we know of that has not been approved for such spray by the US
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Use of processed free glutamic acid in plant "growth enhancers" to be
sprayed on all crops has been approved by the EPA. Even California
wine grapes have been approved for spray with AuxiGro. Approval for
use on organic crops has also being requested.
What's wrong with using glutamic acid, an amino acid found in
protein, as a spray on crops?
1. In protein, amino acids are found in balanced combinations.
Use of free glutamic acid as a spray on crops throws the amino
acid balance out of kilter.
2. It's not the glutamic acid found in protein that is being
sprayed on crops, it's a synthetic product. The spray being
used is called AuxiGro. The "free glutamic acid" or so called
"L-glutamic acid" component being used by its manufacturer,
Auxein Corporation, contains L-glutamic acid, an amino acid
found in protein; but it also contains D-glutamic acid,
pyroglutamic acid, and other chemicals referred to as
"contaminants." The free glutamic acid used in AuxiGro is
processed free glutamic acid. It is manufactured -- in
chemical plants -- where certain selected genetically
engineered bacteria -- feeding on a liquid nutrient medium --
excrete free glutamic acid. In contrast, the free glutamic
acid found in protein, and the free glutamic acid involved in
normal human body function, are unprocessed. free glutamic
acid, and contain no contaminants.
3. No one knows what the long term effects of spraying processed
free glutamic acid on crops will be. That there will be
residue left on crops has not been disputed by Auxein
Corporation. But no study of either the amount of that
residue, or the least amount of processed free glutamic acid
needed to cause a reaction in an MSG-sensitive person, has
ever been done. "It should wash off" doesn't mean it will wash
off. "It seems unlikely that such a small amount would cause a
reactions" doesn't mean that a small amount will not cause a
reaction or have long term health effects.
Free glutamic acid is known to be toxic to the nervous system.
But the neurotoxic effects that processed free glutamic acid
will have on animals that consume the plants on which it is
sprayed - effects over and above any effects caused by
external glutamic acid residue - have never been evaluated.
Neither are there data on the effects that spraying processed
free glutamic acid will have on drinking water.
Consider, also, that children are most at risk from the
effects of processed free glutamic acid. Their undeveloped
blood-brain barriers leave them most at risk from exposure to
processed free glutamic acid. It has been repeatedly
demonstrated that infant animals fed processed free glutamic
acid when young, develop neuroendocrine problems such as gross
obesity, stunted growth, and reproductive disorders later in
life, and that they also develop learning disabilities. Auxein
Corporation did not address that particular safety issue in
its application to the EPA.
4. No one knows how little glutamic acid is needed to kill a
single brain cell or to trigger an adverse reaction.
5. Free glutamic acid is a neurotransmitter. It causes nerves to
fire, carrying nerve impulses throughout the nervous system.
6. Free glutamic acid is a neurotoxin. Under certain
circumstances, free glutamic acid will cause nerves to fire
repeatedly, until they die.
7. Processed free glutamic acid kills brain cells. The free
glutamic acid ingested by laboratory animals that caused brain
lesions and neuroendocrine disorders was very often given in
the form of the food ingredient "monosodium glutamate."
"Monosodium glutamate" is the name of a particular food
additive. Processed free glutamic acid is the reactive
component in "monosodium glutamate," just as processed free
glutamic acid is a reactive component in AuxiGro.
The glutamate industry research done in the 1970s that was
submitted to the EPA by the Auxein Corporation, that pretended
to find that processed free glutamic acid is "safe," was later
refuted by independent scientists. Indeed, at the present
time, neuroscientists attempting to develop drugs to block the
toxic effects of free glutamic acid are using processed free
glutamic acid to selectively kill certain kinds of brain cells.
8. Processed free glutamic acid causes neuroendocrine disorders
in maturing animals that ingest processed free glutamic acid
early in life.
9. Processed free glutamic acid causes learning disorders in
maturing animals that ingest processed free glutamic acid
early in life.
10. Processed free glutamic acid crosses the placental barrier and
causes learning disabilities in animal offspring of dams that
ingest it.
11. Processed free glutamic acid has access to the brain through
the blood-brain barrier, which is not impervious to the
unregulated flow of processed free glutamic acid. The
blood-brain barrier is immature at birth and continues to
develop up to puberty. In certain areas called the
circumventricular organs, the blood barrier is never
impervious to the unregulated flow of free glutamic acid. In
addition, the blood-brain barrier is easily damaged by such
events as high fever, a blow to the head, drug use, stroke,
ingestion of processed free glutamic acid, and the normal
process of aging.
12. The National Institutes of Health recognize glutamic acid as
being associated with addiction, stroke, epilepsy,
degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease,
Parkinson's disease, and ALS, brain trauma, neuropathic pain,
schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression.
13. For years, free glutamic acid has been produced and used in
food additives with names such as monosodium glutamate, sodium
caseinate, and hydrolyzed soy protein. In some people, the
processed free glutamic acid in food additives causes adverse
reactions that include migraine headache, asthma, arrhythmia,
tachycardia, nausea and vomiting, depression, and
disorientation. The processed free glutamic acid in
prescription and non-prescription drugs, food supplements, and
cosmetics also causes adverse reactions.
There are badly flawed industry-sponsored studies that have
pretended to find that processed free glutamic acid does not
cause adverse reactions. Inappropriate procedures used by the
glutamate industry have included limiting subjects to people
virtually guaranteed not to be sensitive to processed free
glutamic acid, and/or using processed free glutamic acid or
other similarly reactive substances in placebos as well as in
test material. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has
based its claim that processed free glutamic acid causes only
mild and transitory reactions on those badly flawed
industry-sponsored studies.
14. According to the EPA, the food additive called "monosodium
glutamate" causes adverse reactions.
15. According to the FDA, the food additive "monosodium glutamate"
contains processed free glutamic acid.
16. According to the FDA, consumers refer to all free glutamic
acid as "MSG."
17. In reviewing the application of Auxein Corporation for use of
processed free glutamic acid in a spray to be applied to crops
as they grow, the EPA failed to conform to the requirements of
the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which require, in
part, that the EPA review any proposed action for validity,
completeness, reliability, and relationship to human risk. The
EPA also ignored Executive Order 13045 which requires
government agencies to consider available information
concerning the variability of the sensitivities of major
identifiable subgroups of consumers, including infants and
children. For example, Auxein Corporation sent the EPA 14
industry-sponsored toxicological studies from the literature,
all done in the 1970's, but failed to mention hundreds of
studies in the literature that refuted those 14 studies. For
example, although processed free glutamic acid causes brain
lesions and neuroendocrine disorders in infant animals, this
special hazard faced by infants was ignored by Auxein
Corporation. It would appear that Auxein Corporation
restricted its consideration of "available information" to
information made available by the glutamate industry; and the
EPA, even after having been sent abstracts from other
"available information," has not challenged the Auxein
Corporation applications. A more complete discussion of the
shortcomings of the EPA approvals granted to Auxein
Corporation has been submitted to the EPA.
18. Questions about the safety of spraying processed free glutamic
acid on plants and into the environment have been raised by
the Truth in Labeling Campaign and by individual consumers.
The EPA has refused to address those concerns. The EPA, and,
in particular, EPA spokesperson Dr. Janet Andersen, has failed
to respond to allegations that in approving the spraying of
processed free glutamic acid, the EPA failed to consider the
reliability, validity, and completeness of the Auxein
Corporation application or comply with Executive Order 13045
entitled Protection of Children from Environmental Health
Risks and Safety Risks, except to say that the EPA had
complied with executive order 13045. Moreover, while
responding to letters that asked direct questions of the EPA,
Andersen failed to respond to most, if not all, of the direct
questions contained in those letters.
How, then, does Andersen excuse the fact that the EPA approved
processed free glutamic acid for use in an EPA approved spray? First,
says Andersen, the free glutamic acid used in the spray is naturally
occurring, and it's 99.3 per cent pure pharmaceutical grade
L-glutamic acid. But it would seem that in admitting that the free
glutamic acid in AuxiGro is not 100 per cent pure L-glutamic acid,
and that it is pharmaceutical grade, Andersen has contradicted
herself, and actually made the point that 1) if the free glutamic
acid used in AuxiGro were truly natural, it wouldn't be
"pharmaceutical grade;" and 2) if the free glutamic acid used in
AuxiGro were truly natural it would be 100 per cent, not 99.3 per
cent pure L-glutamic acid.
Andersen says something else very interesting. She says that the EPA
is well aware of the fact that MSG causes adverse reactions. However,
when Andersen uses the term "MSG" she is referring to the one food
ingredient called "monosodium glutamate," and not to the free
glutamic acid in "monosodium glutamate" that causes adverse reactions.
What Andersen has done is very clever. What she has said makes no
sense at all. No one has ever claimed that the processed free
glutamic acid in AuxiGro comes out of a box labeled "monosodium
glutamate." So for her to say it doesn't, is meaningless. On the
other hand, the claim has been made that the free glutamic acid in
AuxiGro will cause the same brain lesions, neuroendocrine disorders,
adverse reactions and other diverse disease conditions that are
caused by the free glutamic acid in "monosodium glutamate" and the
other food additives that contain processed free glutamic acid. That
claim is true, but Andersen does not address it. How do you refute
someone who ignores legitimate questions and spews out irrelevant
statements as though they pertained to your legitimate questions? You
don't. The EPA defense of its approval of use of processed free
glutamic acid in plant "growth enhancers" and its registration of
AuxiGro has two parts to it: 1) ignoring those who question EPA
actions, and 2) making the irrelevant statement that AuxiGro does not
contain MSG (monosodium glutamate).
Andersen has never addressed the criticism that approvals given to
allow the use of free glutamic acid and the product AuxiGro by the
EPA were inappropriate. The EPA won't discuss it. The media won't
mention it. And uninformed or irresponsible farmers may use the
product.
The EPA, which approved the used of processed free glutamic acid in
plant "growth enhancers," made a grievous error. But instead of
recognizing and remedying that error once it was pointed out to them,
the EPA began a cover-up. That cover-up included use of ambiguous
words and phrases, half-truths, and downright lies told to consumers.
The cover-up continued (and continues still) with a variation of
those ambiguous words and phrases, half-truths, and downright lies
told to legislators who inquire about spraying MSG into the
environment. For detail, see EPA lies to the legislature
AuxiGro, the first plant "growth enhancer" to hit the market, has
been approved for spraying on every crop we know of. Even before
consumers had an inkling that crops were being sprayed, the Truth in
Labeling Campaign received reports that MSG-sensitive consumers had
gotten sick from head lettuce and potatoes.
Federal Register notices chronicling the application and approval of
processed free glutamic acid are available on the Web via GPO Access,
the Federal Register, through:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html Application was
made to the EPA in 1997 and testing of the product was approved in
that year, also. Glutamic acid was granted an exemption from
establishment of a tolerance limit in January, 1998. AuxiGro was also
approved for use on a number of crops in January, 1998, and approved
for use on other crops later, but no announcement was made in the
Federal Register.
Sales literature promoting AuxiGro will be found at
http://www.auxein.com While Federal Register notices included the
fact that there is processed free glutamic acid (MSG) in AuxiGro, the
sales literature from Auxein Corporation did not mention the fact
that their product contains free glutamic acid until the Truth in
Labeling Campaign began to broadcast that information. Now (November,
1999), Auxein has added deceptive, misleading, and untrue statements
in an elaboration of its Product Page, wherein they essentially make
the untrue assertion that the glutamic acid used in AuxiGro is
chemically and biologically identical to that found in plants and
animals.
If you think you might be reacting to AuxiGro sprayed on crops,
contact Auxein Corporation and the EPA at the addresses that follow.
The Truth in Labeling Campaign would appreciate receiving copies of
your letters.
John L. Mclntyre, Ph.D.
President & CEO
Auxein Corporation
3125 Sovereign Drive, Ste. B
Lansing, MI 48911-4240
Phone: (888) 828-9346
Fax: (517) 882-7521
E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(From time to time, their web page, http://www.auxein.com
can be accessed by password only.)
Carol Browner
Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
401 M. Street SW
Room 1200 West Tower
Washington, DC 20460
202/307-7400
www.epa.gov
It would be much appreciated if you would copy and distribute this
material, including our Web address for those who might be interested.
Truth in Labeling Campaign, P.O. Box 2532, Darien, IL 60561
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 858/481-9333 http://www.truthinlabeling.org
This page was last updated on January 8, 2000
Links:
The Truth in Labeling Campaign -- Getting Involved -- If You're
Thinking of Suing...
Rapunzel Pure Organics hiding MSG -- MSG Hidden in Processed Food --
MSG Hidden in Infant Formula -- MSG Sprayed on Growing Fruits and
Vegetables -- MSG Sprayed on California Grapes / Wines -- MSG
Proposed for Spray on Organic Crops and for Use in Organic Food
Are you sensitive to MSG? -- Adverse Reactions to MSG -- Reports of
MSG Reactions to Produce -- Research Says the MSG Places Humans at
Risk -- MSG and Neuroendocrine Disorders -- MSG and Retinal
Deterioration -- MSG and Learning Disorders -- The Role of MSG in
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Basic Facts about MSG -- Truly Natural Glutamic Acid Does Not Contain
Contaminants
FDA Asked to Name Ingredients that Contain MSG -- Detailed Review of
Current Regulations for Labeling MSG -- Regulations for Labeling MSG
(Condensed) -- The FDA's Next Move
Defenders of the Safety of MSG -- The MSG-industry's Most Visible
Spokesperson -- Misleading Use of the "No MSG" Label -- Other
Deceptive Industry Practices -- Glutamate-Industry Expose
.
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths,
misdirections
and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and
minor
effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said,
CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
<A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
