TRUTH IN LABELING CAMPAIGN

NOW IS THE TIME TO TAKE ACTION

On March 13, 2009, President Obama stated, in part, that the nation’s decades-old food safety system is a “hazard to public health.” While nominating Margaret Hamburg, M.D., the former New York Health Commissioner, for the position of FDA commissioner, he also indicated that he would be creating a Food Safety Working Group to coordinate food safety laws throughout government and to advise him on how to update them.

Over time, many people have asked us what they could do to have all free glutamic acid disclosed on product labels. This Obama initiative provides us with an unusual opportunity to accomplish that goal by submitting, in large numbers, our concerns to the highest level in our land, the office of the president.

The Truth in Labeling Campaign asks that you contact President Obama through http://www.whitehouse.gov (click on "contact us," then fill out the e-mail form) or by calling the WhiteHouse (Comments: 202-456-1111; Switchboard: 202-456-1414) to request that action be taken to allow people to protect themselves from all free glutamic acid through full disclosure on consumer products; and that the FDA be ordered to take immediate action against companies such as Campbell’s Soups that knowingly market products that contain free glutamic acid in food ingredients other than  “monosodium glutamate,” and state “No MSG” on the product labels. If you or a loved one experience adverse reactions from MSG, briefly state in your message the adverse reactions you experience from MSG, and indicate that since the problem is a sensitivity to a toxic substance, disclosure should not allow any tolerance for non-disclosure. If you have had the experience, you might also want to indicate that food companies do not properly respond to questions addressed to them regarding MSG.

Please ask that your friends, relatives, fellow workers, and fellow church members write the president. With an MSG sensitivity problem that the literature indicates affects more than 25% of our country, we should certainly be able to generate enough E-mails to force resolution of one of the major health problems in our country.

It is, in our opinion, reasonable to request that the food ingredient “monosodium glutamate” be banned, but since an ever increasing number of products contain the reactive component of the food ingredient “monosodium glutamate,” full disclosure of all free glutamic acid is necessary.

There are four corrective actions that the government needs to take to protect its citizens. They are:

1. The FDA must require full disclosure of “free glutamic acid” on the labels of all processed foods, with the amount stated in milligrams.

2. The FDA must take corrective action against companies with mislabeled products, claiming “No MSG” or “No MSG added” when the product contains free glutamic acid.

3. The USDA must stop allowing food companies to state “No MSG added” on the labels of processed foods the USDA regulates that contain “free glutamic acid.”

4. The EPA must rescind its exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for “free glutamic acid” on agricultural crops.  This exemption allows unrestricted amounts of processed free glutamic acid (MSG) residue to remain in and on any and all MSG treated food crops.

Following is the basic message that the Truth in Labeling Campaign feels needs to be expressed to the president:

All existing processed foods, dietary supplements, and pharmaceuticals must be analyzed for “free glutamic acid.” Subsequently, when a new product is introduced or a formulation is changed, the product must be analyzed for “free glutamic acid.” If “free glutamic acid” is present in a product, it must be disclosed as “MSG,” with the amount stated in milligrams, on the labels of processed foods and dietary supplements, and on the product inserts of pharmaceuticals.”

IF MSG ISN'T HARMFUL, WHY IS IT HIDDEN?