A recent NaturalNews article on Amy's Kitchen (a well-known producer of organic food products) resulted in a groundswell of customer comments being sent to the Amy's Kitchen company requesting they stop using yeast extract in their products. The large number of requests garnered the attention of Amy's Kitchen decision makers, and NaturalNews was soon contacted by Bill Twieg, the Technical Director of Amy's Kitchen, who offered additional information presented here.
Bill Twieg explained that the reader response resulted in, "The most emails we had ever received in one day" and indicated that due to Amy's Kitchen's commitment to serving the health-conscious
community, the owner of the company (Andy Berliner) was willing to work with their product formulators to find a way to possibly remove
yeast extract from the four products that currently contain it. Although no specific commitment for the removal of yeast extract was offered, the company did say that it would conduct reformulation
tests and taste tests to see if the ingredient could be eliminated without compromising the
taste experience expected by
consumers.
Mr. Twieg also explained that Amy's Kitchen only uses yeast extract in four of its
products, and there is no hidden
MSG across the product line. All
ingredients are listed plainly on the labels,
NaturalNews was informed, and the "
spices" ingredient contains only wholesome spices like
sage, rosemary and thyme, not any hidden sources of MSG. Several products do use tamari, another ingredient that contains a small amount of
free glutamate, but tamari is usually not problematic for consumers in the same way that yeast extract can be, possibly due to the process used to create tamari.
The "no hidden ingredients" claim that currently appears on some Amy's Kitchen products, we were told, is currently being phased in across the Amy's Kitchen product line and will be appearing on more products soon. The lack of such a descriptive claim on any current Amy's Kitchen product in no way means the product contains hidden ingredients, Mr. Twieg explained. It only means the product
labels have not been updated for those
food items.
NaturalNews hopes to be able to report, sometime in 2007, that Amy's Kitchen will be entirely free of yeast extract. Upon achieving that goal, and given that no other MSG-containing ingredients are used to replace yeast extract (such as torula yeast, autolyzed or hydrolyzed vegetable proteins), Amy's Kitchen will receive our full endorsement for safe, healthful and tasty
organic frozen foods.
Our present view of Amy's Kitchen is that the company is making some of the highest quality organic frozen
foods on the market today and is clearly a superior food company with a desire to meet the stringent quality demands of informed consumers. We only published an
article critical of their use of yeast extract because
we feel Amy's Kitchen is a company worth encouraging to clean up their labels. There are many other so-called "natural"
food companies that aren't even worth contacting, since they have no desire to remove yeast extract or to even listen to the
natural health community about hidden sources of MSG. But Amy's Kitchen is willing to listen.
The fact that Amy's Kitchen responded in a constructive way to our original article is good news, indeed. It means the company is sensitive to issues of food additives and that it is engaged in a constructive dialog intended to improve its product line and food safety. Personally, I continue to eat Amy's Kitchen products, but I carefully read all the labels now to make sure I don't accidentally consume one of the four products containing yeast extract.
Most of the Amy's Kitchen product line deserves a five-star rating for food quality, taste, texture and presentation. And given the company's ability to produce surprisingly tasteful vegetarian cuisine without having to resort to hidden sources of MSG, it certainly appears to have the resources to reformulate four of its products to be yeast extract free.
NaturalNews thanks the hundreds of readers who contacted Amy's Kitchen about their use of yeast extract, and we thank Amy's Kitchen for responding in a constructive way. We will continue to follow this story and issue reports and updates here on NaturalNews.com. We've also updated our original story on Amy's Kitchen to reflect this new
information.
Background information: Yeast extract contains from 6% - 12% MSG (or "free glutamate") and is used by food
companies who want to add an MSG-like taste experience to their foods without using MSG on the label. It causes extreme
headaches in some people, and according to Dr. Russell Blaylock, the author of
Excitotoxins, MSG is damaging to the brain,
nervous system, endocrine system and even promotes obesity by interfering with appetite regulation. Baby food manufacturers voluntarily removed MSG from
baby foods decades ago after being accused by consumer advocates of harming babies' nervous systems with the chemical. MSG remains widely used today in canned soups, breakfast sausage, salad dressing and other commercial foods. Many people are desensitized to the ingredient and do not experience headaches, although such desensitization does not protect them from the potential nervous system damage caused by MSG.
Read more NaturalNews articles on yeast extract at:
http://www.NaturalNews.com/yeast_extract.htmlMSG is covered in more detail in Mike Adams' book,
Grocery Warning.
About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate and award-winning journalist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, reaching millions of readers with information that is saving lives and improving personal health around the world. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2010, Adams co-founded NaturalNews.TV, a natural health video sharing site that has now grown in popularity. He also launched an online retailer of environmentally-friendly products (BetterLifeGoods.com) and uses a portion of its profits to help fund non-profit endeavors. He's also a successful software entrepreneur, having founded a well known email marketing software company whose technology currently powers the NaturalNews email newsletters. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and martial arts training. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.org
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