MSG - I am basically spoon feeding it to my toddler and didn't know!

[winniethepug]

Help. My mum recently sent me an article on food additives and MSG, flavour enhancers etc. While it scared the life out of me, it also prompted me to sift through the pantry and read the ingredients list on everything, including my trusty MSG laden OXO stock cubes. I have realised that my freezer is packed full of 'healthy', home-made casseroles for my son which I naively thought were far superior to anything jar/packet bought.

Is there an existing thread on MSG in baby/toddler food? If not, can anyone else share their experiences on eliminating MSG from their pantry? We all suffer from eczema, allergies etc and I'll be watching now if my sons sleep improves as I stop adding OXO cubes to our home cooked food.

When ds was born I cut out salt from our food so I could do blw. Since all stock cubes contain salt I learnt to cook w/out. I use a lot of herbs and spices and also pepper. Once you get used to it you really notice when food is over salted. Once he was over a year I added,things like olives but still cook virtually salt free. Good luck!

Marigold boullion powder doesn't contain msg and it tastes much nicer than oxo.

Second the vote for marigold boullion, it's very nice. Or you can make your own stock.

I wouldn't worry too much about the stuff already in the freezer though. In Chinese MSG is known as "fragrant salt" and was added to most things when I was growing up. I shudder to remember how we used to eat MSG straight at breaktimes at school (just shaking the little packets of MSG soup base that are in instant noodle packets straight into our mouths!) I guess if you're really worried you could save the casseroles for adult food only.

Use kallo stock cubes. Less salt too

or you can get \link{http://www.kalloorganic.com/#our-products=Our-Products/Stock-Cubes/\Kallo organic} - they include very low salt versions of chicken, beef & veg stock

I use knorr stock cubes for this very reason... I'm not overly fussy about food but I do like to avoid unneccesary additives.

MSG can also be labelled as E621 (don't know if you knew that already )

I've had a whole new world open up to me. It was actually rather stupid of me to assume stock cubes were fine, particularly when I fret over getting organic meat for these bloody casseroles! We live in Hong Kong where i avoid all the local restaurants / cuisine for MSG reasons.....how ironic!

I have found some Kallo organic stock cubes in the local expat grocery store today. I have a freezer full of lovely MSG laden food for my husband now :)

MSG essentially mimics chemicals produced naturally in all the yummiest food so I wouldn't worry too much about it. I wouldn't put normal OXO cubes in baby food though - they're really really salty, and that definitely is bad for babies.
I'd second the recommendation for Kallo salt-free stock cubes.

winnie I'm from HK actually, and MSG is really treated just like normal table salt wrt babies' consumption (ie none at all at first, then slowly phase in as they get older). I didn't address the whole "chinese restaurant syndrome" thing in my previous post but really, having grown up in HK this really is a myth. We used to eat straight packets of MSG as I said earlier, which is really way too much when it's hot out and you get so thirsty ( bu these packets were probably giving us in one shot 100x what you would get in any dish cooked in a restaurant!)

I mean, do what you want especially wrt your kids but it would be an enormous shame (and isolate you a lot!!) if you avoid Chinese restaurants in HK because you are afraid of moderate amounts of MSG...especially in one of the greatest gastronomic cities in the world.

But you know, to each their own

Oh and also, it does occur naturally - a friend of DH's who is genuinely allergic to MSG also can't have parmesan cheese because apparently it has as much as pot noodles...

Pears are also a natural source of MSG ('natural flavourings' as cited on ingredients lists are often made from concentrated/boiled down pear skins)

I do hope the toddler has survived childhood & is now a healthy teenager.