My husband is a chef and he often lets me know about kitchen practices that make me cringe. Where he works is upscale and very clean but I don’t think many of us realize the shortcuts many restaurants use to save time and money.
Gluten and MSG Hidden in Your Favorite Restaurant Dish!
This is a beef stock product is used in soups, stews, sauces and gravies. This beef base is a broth/stock substitute and could really be used for anything in a busy kitchen where the cooks are looking to get flavor into a dish quickly.
Hidden Gluten and MSG
A closer look at the ingredients:
Did you know this is used in many restaurant dishes!
Hydrolized Soy Protein: is produced by boiling soy, corn, or wheat, in hydrochloric acid which forms the flavor enhancer MSG. MSG has been only been used for the past 100 years as a food additive and gives many people immediate adverse reactions such as brain fog, migraines, diarrhea mood swings, and asthma.
Autolyzed Yeast Extract: is an ingredient that requires special labeling in the Europe and is associated with obesity. This ingredient causes excitotoxicity which leads to brain damage over time.
Carmel Color: is labeled in California as “known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.” It is also commonly derived from wheat, a very common food allergen.
Maltodextrin: is a genetically modified (where viruses are inserted into the DNA of a plant to make it resistant to pesticides) sugar derived from corn. Maltodextrin can be made from wheat in Europe.
Disodium Guanylate: a cheaper cousin of MSG and the two are almost always used together in processed foods.
Natural Flavors: are made by “flavorists” in a labs by combining natural or synthetic chemicals (that does not sound good to me). This term has a very loose definition and these flavors can be derived from anything approved safe as a food, which can include gluten and MSG.
Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil: is made through a process of adding hydrogen to vegetable oil for longer shelf life. This trans-fat raises dangerous LDL cholesterol and lowers healthy HDL ratios because it is hard to digest which causes excess inflammation.
Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil: is a cheap ingredient that was used to replace butter fat during war time. A great deal of refining, bleaching and deodorization is needed to reduce a natural insecticide found in the cottonseed before it can be safely consumed. Cottonseed oil come from the 3rd largest genetically modified crop on earth.
Consumer Beware: I have a gluten intolerance associated with my autoimmune disease and it makes me very nervous that restaurants would use this type of garbage. The key here is to ask a lot of questions and educate yourself about how and when gluten and msg hidden in your favorite restaurant dish. Try to go to a restaurant that uses farm-to-table cooking methods where they make things from scratch. The scary thing is that servers/staff may not even know these ingredients are being used or that they contain gluten/MSG. It is up to smart patrons to do some research before going out to eat. Choosing restaurants with gluten free menu’s may help and also asking to speak with the chef about the cooking methods. Cook at home and shop from farmer’s market’s as much as possible to avoid hidden gluten and MSG ingredients.
Sources:
Wikepedia.com
Livestrong.com
If you are looking for a great guide for cooking and eating real food to reclaim your health and lose weight.
Look no further!!
