MSG and Chick-fil-A

MSG in Chick-fil-A?! I was shocked when my friend told me that Chick-fil-A, yes indeed, has MSG. I love Chick-fil-A! How could this be? I thought their chicken was all natural and a better place to eat on-the-go. I love their sandwiches but I will not be eating their breaded chicken again. Even their chicken nuggets contain this harmful chemical. Chick-fil-A has been one of my favorite fast food restaurants and I fully support for what they stand for. But MSG? Not so much!

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is a harmful flavor enhancer. It makes your food taste yummy! But little do people know that this yummy flavor enhancer is harmful to their health. MSG is known to cause nerve damage and severe allergic reactions. A fellow flight attendant friend of mine is extremely allergic to this chemical. Her face and neck swell up causing her to have difficulty breathing. In fact, this happened to her when she was at an airport after eating Chinese and had to go straight to the hospital. You would think that restaurants would get a clue and stop using it in their food!

Chick-fil-A along with other restaurants use MSG in their food. I read a good article from Dr. Mercola about MSG and why it’s so bad for your health. He states that it caused eye damage in lab rats. He also states that infant soy formula contains MSG and other food products contain a hidden source of MSG. Dr. Mercola states that if you find any of these ingredients listed on the nutrition facts label, they contain MSG:

• Glutamate Glutamic acid Monosodium glutamate
• Textured protein Hydrolyzed protein Monopotassium glutamate
• Calcium caseinate Sodium caseinate Gelatin
• Yeast extract Yeast food Autolyzed yeast

This is a bit scary. What else are they putting in our food that we don’t know about? The FDA considers MSG as “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) even though it causes health problems. FDA says, “Over the years, FDA has received reports of symptoms such as headache and nausea after eating foods containing MSG. However, we were never able to confirm that the MSG caused the reported effects.” Um, yes, you can prove that it causes health problems! Multiple people have reported that it caused health issues and what about the lab rats that had vision loss? So with that being said, the FDA can approve whatever they want but we can make our own decisions. I am going to read the book, Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills as soon as I’m done reading, Eat Right 4 Your Type which should be arriving in the mail shortly! Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills is written by a neurosurgeon that addresses the hazards of food additives and as well as years of scientific studies. I’ll let you all know what I think when I finish the book.

So now that you know MSG is in your fast food what are you going to do about it? To avoid MSG, the best solution is to eat at home and make your own food. I know this isn’t realistic for those that travel and live busy lives. I am a flight attendant and I’m rarely at home so only eating at home isn’t realistic for me. So educating myself about which foods have it and which foods don’t is a start. Also, I MUST invest more time in my kitchen and freeze more meals to take with me to work. My next project, how to eat healthier when I travel! I wonder what else I've been eating that has MSG in it. Time to reevaluate where I choose to eat...

Posted in: Chick-fil-A, Flavor Enhancer, Food Additives, MSG

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