If you eat at KFC, you are eating MSG
by Ask a Healer
Note: Just because the label doesn't say monosodium glutamate, specifically, that doesn't mean the product doesn't contain msg. Manufacturers are not required to list msg as an ingredient in certain cases, and may not necessarily reveal if any products contain free form glutamic acid.
Typically, in this health series, I'm identifying which foods have MSG so that you can choose foods that may not have it or may not have as much of it. However, with Kentucky Fried Chicken, it's safe to assume that every item may contain either msg (in alarming quanity) or an array of other suspect ingredients often containing hidden msg or free glutamic acid.
In addition, I see partially hydrogenated oil as an ingredient, all over the place. Really, KFC? Wow. The msg I understand because it can be hidden and because, well, it makes inferior food taste better. However, with all the negative press about trans fats, how can KFC not realize this is going to hurt sales? It's too well-known now that partially hydrogenated oils are BAD NEWS.
Not only that but there are numerous other unhealthy ingredients in the foods served by the Colonel, including high fructose corn syrup, carrageenan, propylene glycol, sodium nitrate, soybean oil, soy flour, Red Dye 40, Dimethylpolysidoxane, etc. Even without the massive doses of msg, I would never think of KFC as healthy food.
OK, so identifying every food item at KFC that either lists monosodium glutamate by name or that has more than one ingredient that often contains hidden msg, I'll just list some of the suspect ingredients and you can look for those on the allergens guide provided by the KFC website. Link provided below.
Monosodium glutamate by name: The most astonishing dish served by KFC, in terms of msg has to be the Chicken Pot Pie. Monosodium Glutamate is listed 12 times by name -- killer dose here, and I'm not exactly making a joke. That's not a typo or mistake, believe me. KFC would not be listing msg by name a dozen times in one food item unless they had to do it -- unless there were literally 12 different instances of it being added.
Other foods listing msg by name: Colonel's Crispy Strips, KFC Country Fried Steak, Colonel's Sauce, Creamy Ranch Dipping Sauce Cup, KFC Green Beans, KFC Grilled Chicken, Hidden Valley, The Original Ranch Fat Free Dressing, KFC Hot Wings, KFC Original Chicken and Original Recipe Filet, Popcorn Chicken, KFC Potato Wedges, Spicy Crispy Chicken, Tender Roast Filet and Shredded Chicken
KFC Suspect Ingredients List These ingredients, often or always containing either hidden msg or free glutamic acid, are in virtually every product I checked, including those already listing monosodium glutamate by name: Modified Potato Starch Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Natural Flavorings, Maltodextrin, Chicken Flavor, Spice Extractives, Soy Protein Concentrate, Modified Corn Starch, Food Starch Modified, Whey, Spices, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Colonel's Secret Original Recipe Seasoning, Gravy, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Natural Smoke Flavor, Chicken Broth, Modified Tapioca Starch, Yeast Extract, Milk Protein Concentrate, Enzyme Modified Butter, Sodium Caseinate, Soy Protein Concentrate and Modified Cellulose Starch.
This is ONLY a partial list of suspect ingredients which may contain hidden msg or processed glutamic acid, in Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food items. Shocking. Just simply shocking. To research individual allergens more closely per food item, visit the Kentucky Fried Chicken Nutritional Guide. You'll see MSG listed on most items. Most fast food places have it. It's the shocking amount in KFC that really disturbs me.
My Advice? If you are concerned about excitotoxins and msg in your foods, just don't eat at Kentucky Fried Chicken, Ever. Of all the fast food restaurants I've researched so far, and in my opinion, KFC may well be the most unhealthy restaurant food I've ever seen. And I'm not even going into where they get their chicken. That's a whole other story. The practice of either adding arsenic to the chicken feed or injecting chickens with arsenic just before killing them, so that the tissues will swell and plump, is rampant. KFC chicken, while not containing the highest levels of arsenic (that distinction goes to Church's Chicken, from last research I've found online), a bucket of KFC Chicken contains about fifty times the allowable level of arsenic for a single glass of water, according to Dr. Michael McGregor in his article on arsenic levels in broiler chicken flesh.
Where is the FDA? Why the hell is this kind of toxicity being allowed in our foods? The poultry industry says that, because they use organic arsenic, it is ok. However, in addition to finding high levels of organic arsenic, researchers like Dr. McGregor are also finding high levels of non-organic and extremely toxic arsenic in the flesh of broiler chickens. FDA, the fact is that MSG is an excito-toxin - Learn what that means and why you should care that food producers routinely add excitotoxins to your food.
Health Care Disclaimer: Monosodium Glutamate is considered a safe ingredient to consume. Otherwise, the FDA would not allow it in our foods. Restaurants are still not required to list MSG as an allergen although many have started doing so, KFC not among them. As far as I can tell restaurants must list eggs, wheat, peanuts, shellfish, soybeans (but not highly refined soybean oil), tree nuts and fish as allergens but not MSG or any of the many ingredients containing hidden msg.
