THE FDA SAYS THAT MSG IS "SAFE"
                                  
       ANYONE WHO READS THE ENTIRE FASEB REPORT KNOWS IT ISN'T
                                  
                                  
The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)
Report  on  the safety of MSG is a deceptive and misleading document,
clearly designed by the FDA to provide ammunition for its refusal  to
label all MSG in all processed food.

In  the Report, FASEB admits that there are people who react to  MSG,
but  FASEB  minimizes  their numbers and  the  seriousness  of  their
problems.

The  Report  is  being  used  by the  FDA  as  evidence  that  it  is
unnecessary to label all of the MSG that occurs in processed food.

     According  to  the  FDA's Talk Paper of August  31,  1995,  "The
     report  reaffirms the safety of MSG at normally consumed  levels
     for the general population and found no evidence linking MSG  to
     any   serious,  long-term  medical  problems  in   the   general
     population."
     
     However, the Talk Paper continues, there is evidence to  suggest
     that "certain people may develop short-term reactions...[burning
     sensation...,  facial pressure/tightness, chest pain,  headache,
     nausea,  numbness...,  tingling...,  bronchospasm  (observed  in
     asthmatics only), drowsiness, and weakness]...when they  consume
     large  doses (approximately 3 grams or more per meal) of MSG  or
     other  free glutamates.  No evidence was found linking  the  MSG
     Symptom Complex to the consumption of low levels of glutamate."
     
     In  addition,  the  Talk Paper goes on to  say,  there  is  also
     evidence that a small group of people with severe asthma may  be
     adversely affected by ingestion of MSG.

     "Based  on a preliminary review of the FASEB report, the  agency
     believes that the report provides the basis to require glutamate
     labeling.   FDA  will propose that foods containing  significant
     amounts of free glutamate declare glutamate as an ingredient  on
     the  label.   This would allow consumers to distinguish  between
     foods  with  insignificant free glutamate levels and those  that
     might contribute to a reaction."  (Emphasis added.)
     
The  FASEB Report responded, in part, to a set of 18 questions  posed
by  the FDA in its contract.  That contract virtually guaranteed that
FASEB could only conclude that no determination of the safety of  MSG
could be made without further study, or that MSG was "safe."

The  Report was prepared with the help of an eight man Expert  Panel.
That Panel consisted of at least four men with conflicts of interest.

The  original  study  was  advertised as  an  independent  review  of
existing literature that might pertain to the safety of MSG in  food.
However,  some data of some independent scientists were omitted,  and
other data were distorted.

The  Report  was  divided into two sections.  The first  section,  an
Executive Summary, contains "the responses of an ad hoc Expert  Panel
to 18 questions posed by FDA...;" and the body of the report contains
corroborative data.  In actuality, the Executive Summary consists  of
a  series  of half truths and manipulation of data wherein  pertinent
information is withheld; and conclusions are drawn that do  not  even
necessarily follow from the data found in the body of the report.

The  FDA asked: "What are the symptoms and signs of acute, temporary,
and   'self-limited'  adverse  reactions..."   FASEB   answered   the
question, listing a few relatively mild reactions while ignoring  the
many  debilitating and life-threatening reactions that have also been
reported.   Thus, readers are given the impression that the reactions
to MSG include only a few rather benign reactions, when, indeed, that
is not true.

Similarly, readers are given the impression that there is evidence to
suggest that MSG-sensitive people:

     -  1)  Respond within one hour of exposure to MSG (but not after
     that time);
     -  2) React to an oral bolus of 3 grams of MSG or more (but  not
     less than three grams); and
     -  3)  React to 3 grams of MSG or more, only when given  in  the
     absence of food.
     
and those statements are not true.

Sometimes  statements  aren't  true, or  even  half-true.   Sometimes
pertinent information is simply omitted.

In  1969 FDA Commissioner Ley presented evidence to the Senate Select
Committee  on  Nutrition  and Health showing  that  MSG  was  "safe."
However,  two of the studies he cited were incomplete and  the  other
two  did not exist.  The Report released on August 31, is simply  the
latest   illustration,  in  almost  three  decades  of  FDA/glutamate
industry "cooperation," of promoting the fiction that MSG is "safe."

Addressing  the Report, addresses the larger issues of  personal  and
corporate  greed, lack of scientific integrity, and man's  inhumanity
to  man.   To  hide a neurotoxic and potentially debilitating  and/or
life threatening additive in food, is immoral.

On  August  29,  1995, the Truth in Labeling Campaign  (TLC)  and  29
independent citizens filed suit in Federal Court, asking the court to
intercede  on their behalf and require that all MSG in all  processed
foods be labeled.

For  further  information  or to express support  for  the  Truth  in
Labeling Campaign, write TLC, P.O. Box 2532, Darien, IL  60561