# nasty things in my processed food, including Amy's soups



## HappiLeigh (Mar 30, 2005)

Ok, so we try to avoid all processed foods as much as we can, but occasionally canned soup or granola bars just do manage to make their way into my life (gasp!). Lately I've noticed that many products that are marketed as "natural" (such as some granola bars) contain brown rice syrup instead of corn syrup. Can anyone point me in the direction of some information about brown rice syrup that wasn't sponsored by the rice syrup or corn syrup industry? If it's just corn syrup that starts out as a different starch, I want to know.

Also, I'm onto the way that many brands are starting to replace MSG in their canned soups with "yeast extract," which is a sneaky way of still putting MSG in there (MSG being a very tasty byproduct of yeast extract). I like to eat Amy's Kitchen soups every now and then (yes, I know I'm going to sodium hell and that soup isn't that hard to make from scratch...please don't derail my thread to lecture me), and I recently noticed some of the labels list "spices" but don't say what they are. On a can of Chunky Vegetable, all ingredients are listed by name AND the words "no MSG" appear on the label. On a can of Southwest Vegetable, "spices" are not enumerated, and the label doesn't not say anything about not containing MSG.

The Amy's website says:
Q. Do your foods contain MSG?
A. Amy's adds no monosodium glutamate (MSG) flavor enhancer directly to any of our products. If you are extremely sensitive to MSG, you may want to avoid foods and ingredients that naturally contain MSG such as Parmesan cheese, soy sauce, tomatoes, hydrolyzed vegetable protein and other ingredients as recommended by your doctor. All ingredients are listed in the ingredient statements on our packages.

http://www.amyskitchen.com/faq/ask_amys.php#a03















hich, actually, doesn't at all rule out the possibility that "yeast extract" is one of their so-called "spices," and that the soup does contain MSG after all.

Now, I'm a reasonably healthy person who eats mostly good, whole foods. So basically if there is a little MSG in my soup, it's likely not to kill me, but for pete's sake, why are they so sneaky about it? I'd just like to be able to make that choice for myself, kwim? Does anyone have any info on this or at least want to beat their head against the wall with me?


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## mommabear207 (Nov 19, 2007)

i don't get it either! its like the company says oh here is an alternative ingredient that sounds healthy/ natural but actually ISN'T but it fits with our image. Seems like all the companies just want to make a buck. I'm still ranting about Earths Best body products- so much for natural good for you, your baby and the earth!








you would think too that with food products they would have to at least detail ingredients like 'spices' for those who are super sensitive. i try to make as much from scratch as i can but there's a reason they call it convenience food- its convenient!-and you don't have a ton of leftovers for just one person.


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## allnaturalmom (May 31, 2006)

I feel the same way...

I wanted to tell you, though, that we use brown rice syrup. It's the Lundberg Farms Organic Brown Rice Syrup and we think it's top notch.

http://www.lundberg.com/products/syrup/syrup_og.aspx

It doesn't have anything to do w/corn. The ingredients are organic brown rice and pure filtered water. It's a family owned company located in CA. I have already called them w/a question about their products and got a real live, nice, customer-oriented person. She was great, knowledgeabe, and answered my questions on the spot. It was a while ago, but if IIRC, her name was Angela.

Anyway, a big thumbs up for Lundberg BRS.


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## artemis33 (Jan 5, 2006)

Yeah, it is very frustrating. Although I make homemade soup all the time, I do like to keep a can or two of Wolfgang Puck's Organic Chicken and Rice soup in the pantry as backup. It has "organic spices" and "natural flavors" which are probably MSG







:


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## Village Mama (Jul 22, 2004)

Imagine the frustration when you have to avoid gluten if you are celiac or have an allergy or sensitivity to certain ingredients.... there really needs to be a change in regulations when it comes to food labelling.


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