MSG or monosodium glutamate — a near ubiquitous food additive used to enhance flavors in food — seems to have gotten the entire mainstream-media industry under its spell. This past spring, I received an email from a writer by the name of Clarissa Wei. She wrote: “I’m a freelance journalist currently working on a story about the history of MSG…
Additives
This year, state and federal legislators took a much-needed deeper look at food safety. For consumers, this wave of newly proposed legislation signals a major cultural and regulatory shift: food safety is no longer just about bacteria or contamination — it’s about the chemicals and colors hidden in everyday products. While businesses may face reformulation costs, the consumer payoff is…
If you care deeply about what goes into the bodies of our children, the newly proposed Safe Baby Formula Act, S. 2371, deserves your full attention. Introduced by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and supported by a growing list of advocates in Congress, the Safe Baby Formula Act aims to ensure the safety of infant formula by regulating toxic metals. It…
Two members of Congress have reintroduced the Food Chemical Reassessment Act of 2025 (H.R. 4306) that would ensure chemicals introduced into our food supply years ago are still safe today. H.R. 4306 would require the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Food Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements, and Innovation to ensure chemicals that entered the food supply chain through self-reporting or…
In 2019, then top-tier ad agency Leo Burnett produced a Cheez-It commercial for its client Kellogg’s called “Taste Test,” revealing much more about the product than intended. The 15-second spot shows a group of hysterical tasters who, once they bite into the Cheez-It crackers, can’t stop and continue to compulsively eat them. “What have we done,” asks the crazed-looking scientist in the…
After ignoring legislative directives and a deep well of scientific data over the last 33 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has belatedly banned the continued use of Food, Drug & Cosmetic (FD&C) red dye no. 3 in food, including dietary supplements (effective January 15, 2027) and ingested drugs (effective January 18, 2028). This action comes more than…
By Linda bonvie and Bill Bonvie Being accused of racism these days is no small matter. And those of Asian descent have seen an increase in incidents of racism targeting them. So, when a reader review at Amazon.com appeared about our book, “A Consumer’s Guide to Toxic Food Additives,” accusing us of “promoting myths rooted in racism,” it was a…
(Note to readers: Let’s flex our collective consumer power by commenting on a petition just submitted to the FDA to strip MSG of its GRAS status. Details below, as well as a link at the end so you can tell the FDA what you think.) Much has been written on what to eat. Doctors, nutritionists, and foodies of all stripes…
If you’ve been following the saga of trans fats – the artery-clogging substances created by partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), which were once a staple in cookies, crackers, pastries and shortenings – you no doubt know that several years ago the FDA finally got around to developing a slow-motion plan to remove them from the food supply. But despite the fact…
This is where we are breaking the paradigm of public pressure on corporate America. Instead of threatening companies, we are looking for ways to help allies INSIDE companies who want to move forward with positive change.