Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP) recall leaves food consumers wondering: What is this stuff?

 NaturalNews

Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP) is one of most common soy-based food “fillers” used to make literally thousands of processed food products. It’s found in veggie burgers, gravy mixes, soups and many other grocery products. Last Thursday, one of the largest producers of HVP in the United States, Las Vegas-based Basic Food Flavors Inc., was the subject of an FDA consumer safety warning announcement. Salmonella had been found contaminating the company’s HVP production equipment, the FDA said, and a nationwide recall was initiated that now includes products from Trader Joe’s, Safeway, McCormick and many other companies.

See the FDA list of recalled products here:
(http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scrip…)

Most Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein isn’t purchased directly by consumers; it’s used by food production companies as an ingredient in mainstream processed foods. So it shows up in thousands of grocery products — and most consumers are not aware they’re eating this ingredient. In fact, many consumers are, for the first time, asking, “What is HVP?”

Beware of what’s in your groceries

I wrote about HVP in my 2004 book, “Grocery Warning,” which warned consumers about a dozen potentially hazardous food ingredients. HVP was just one of many ingredients mentioned as a potential source of hidden monosodium glutamate (MSG).

MSG, of course, is a potentially dangerous neurotoxin used to flavor countless processed food products. It’s used in soups, salad dressings, processed meats, gravy mixes, flavored snack chips and virtually every popular brand of beef jerky. It is considered an “excitotoxin” by Dr. Russell Blaylock, a neurosurgeon who has written extensively about MSG and its damaging effects on human neurology.

According to Blaylock, MSG can promote eating addictions, obesity, brain cancer, endocrine system disorders, infertility and many serious neurological disorders. That’s why it’s so disturbing that MSG is hidden in so many natural-sounding ingredients.

In my Grocery Warning book, I warned readers to avoid all ingredients that contain the words “hydrolyzed” or “autolyzed.” In addition, Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) can also be a source of hidden MSG.

But the most common source of hidden MSG is yeast extract — a sneaky little ingredient found in huge numbers of so-called “natural” foods.

The dirty little secret of the “natural” foods industry

HVP, TVP and yeast extract are very common ingredients in the natural / vegetarian food industry. Most of the popular veggie burgers, for example, contain HVP, TVP or yeast extract. And that makes them a suspected source of hidden MSG.

Even the big snack food companies get in on this act: A bag of “Natural Doritos” is made with yeast extract, too. (http://www.naturalnews.com/019355.html)

Also see MSGExposed.com: http://www.msgexposed.com/doritos-e…

As far as veggie burger companies go, I’m going to say this bluntly and boldly: In my opinion, many of the larger corporate foods companies are selling little more than chemical additives and unhealthy fillers while calling them “vegetarian” foods. This is why I personally avoid virtually processed veggie burgers and other vegetarian “meat” alternatives. There are a few exceptions to this — just read the ingredients labels to see who’s using HVP, TVP or yeast extract.

The twisted minds at the FDA…

What’s really interesting about this HVP recall is that the FDA only considers HVP dangerous when it’s possibly contaminated with salmonella. When HVP is sterile, on the other hand, the FDA considers it “safe.”

The FDA is so ignorant about the safety of food additive chemicals that it actually believes aspartame and MSG are safe for human consumption. It’s bizarre: While tens of millions of Americans are poisoning their brains with diet sodas, the FDA goes crazy over a virtually miniscule risk of salmonella contamination in TVP — an ingredient that’s usually cooked anyway (which destroys the salmonella).

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