Common foods that contain MSG
MSG is naturally present in many different foods, especially those that are high in protein. It’s also added to ingredients and other foods during processing (1Trusted Source, 4Trusted Source).
Common foods that contain MSG are (1Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source, 14, 15):
Animal-based protein: chicken, beef, salmon, mackerel, scallops, crab, shrimp
Cheese: Parmesan, Emmenthal, cheddar, Roquefort
Vegetables: tomatoes, onions, cabbage, green peas, spinach, mushrooms, broccoli
Processed meats: pepperoni, bacon, pastrami, sausages, salami
Sauces and dressings: soy sauce, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, salad dressings
Premade and packaged foods: canned soups, canned tuna, frozen meals, crackers, potato chips, flavored snacks
Condiments: seasoning blends, rubs
Additionally, fast-food chains like McDonald’s, Chick-fill-A, and KFC use MSG to season menu items like fried chicken, chicken nuggets, and fries (16, 17, 18).
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/msg-good-or-bad#what-it-is
You think you're just eating "cheese"?
Think again.
90% of the American cheese on store shelves right now is made with a lab-engineered fake rennet called FPC — fermentation-produced chymosin.
And it was originally developed and patented by Pfizer in 1990. Yeah, that Pfizer.
Here's how they did it: They took the gene for chymosin (the key clotting enzyme from a calf's stomach), spliced it into Aspergillus Niger — black mold — using CRISPR gene-editing tech, then let the mold ferment in giant vats like some dystopian bio-reactor. The result? A synthetic enzyme that's cheaper, faster, and more consistent than the real thing.
Big Food loved it. No more baby calves. No supply limits. Just endless, uniform cheese bricks rolling off the line. FDA called it "substantially equivalent" to real rennet and gave it GRAS status with zero long-term human safety studies — just a 90-day rat trial. Sound familiar?
The worst part? This stuff isn't even listed properly.
On ingredient labels it hides behind ...