Any Cruise Lines MSG Free?

My Soap Box Please.

My husband and I are very allergic to MSG. I know we can ask for our meals to be made MSG free but what about all the other foods available. Why can't we take a CARE FREE VACATION like everyone else? It would be so simple for cruise lines to opt for items that contain NO MSG. I do it all the time. We Love Food! It's a large part of our enjoyment. We also Love Cruising it's unfortunate the two don't go hand in hand. :confused:

Unfortunately, due to the almost limitless varieties of food allergies/ sensitivities out there I don't see how they could possibly accommodate everyone's needs. Your best bet is to contact the "special needs" department of whichever cruise line you are sailing and notify them of your needs. You will also more than likely have to avoid the buffets.

I do agree there are a limitless amount of food allergies BUT MSG is added to food to make it taste better. What's wrong with the way food tastes on it's own? It does nothing but cause harm for people. I don't understand why the stuff isn't outlawed. If people don't speak up nothing will ever change.

I have a nice surprise for you.

ALL the major cruise lines do not order food items that they know to contain MSG.

ALL the major cruise lines do not knowingly add MSG to any food items.

You can confirm this with the Ship Services Department at the cruise line's corporate office.

However, when cruise lines prepare international foods onboard, they sometimes must add seasonings from countries that do not have strict food labeling laws. Some of these seasonings contain MSG, but their labels do not list MSG as an ingredient.

So long as we are on a soap box, why do they ADD sodium chloride (table salt) to food? It is only 40% sodium - but 60% chlorine - a deadly poison. EVERYBODY is allergic to chlorine. But they still add it to nearly everything.

You CAN have a carefree vacation.

You can purchase your own yacht and have everything exactly the way you like it.

But if you want to be part of the MASS MARKET, you have to take your chances like the rest of the MASSES.

I have a nice surprise for you.

ALL the major cruise lines do not order food items that they know to contain MSG.

ALL the major cruise lines do not knowingly add MSG to any food items.

You can confirm this with the Ship Services Department at the cruise line's corporate office.

 

However, when cruise lines prepare international foods onboard, they sometimes must add seasonings from countries that do not have strict food labeling laws. Some of these seasonings contain MSG, but their labels do not list MSG as an ingredient.

 

So long as we are on a soap box, why do they ADD sodium chloride (table salt) to food? It is only 40% sodium - but 60% chlorine - a deadly poison. EVERYBODY is allergic to chlorine. But they still add it to nearly everything.

 

You CAN have a carefree vacation.

You can purchase your own yacht and have everything exactly the way you like it.

But if you want to be part of the MASS MARKET, you have to take your chances like the rest of the MASSES.

Chloride is not the same thing as chlorine & is not poisonous.

Chloride is not the same thing as chlorine & is not poisonous.

Avalong,

I feel much better now.

Thank you.

In future I will request they add extra salt to make the food taste even better.

Avalong,

 

I feel much better now.

Thank you.

In future I will request they add extra salt to make the food taste even better.

Sarcasm does not become you. :p

Ouote: So long as we are on a soap box, why do they ADD sodium chloride (table salt) to food? It is only 40% sodium - but 60% chlorine - a deadly poison. EVERYBODY is allergic to chlorine. But they still add it to nearly everything.

Chemically speaking, it takes a very high heat to seperate the sodium from chlorine. Much much higher than you can achieve in a kitchen. It does not break down in the body. Salt is passed as salt. Without salt you would die.

Friend has problems with MSG and hasn't had a problem on Carnival, Royal or HAL.

Unfortunately, due to the almost limitless varieties of food allergies/ sensitivities out there I don't see how they could possibly accommodate everyone's needs. Your best bet is to contact the "special needs" department of whichever cruise line you are sailing and notify them of your needs. You will also more than likely have to avoid the buffets.

I'm a 34+ year Certified Executive Chef (CEC). Owned my own Restaurants in New Orleans, which I feel was very successful. As far as the salt, it makes no difference when it is added to the food, before, during cooking, or at service, it gives off the same flavor.

Last year we were on the HAL Amsterdam and my legs started to swell.

I ate all my food at the buffet, the cook were very happy to fix my dishes to order, without any salt, sauces etc. Yes I did take care of these hard working men & women.

My biggest question is the lines should have a mediatory lecture on Safe Food Handling. Just 20 min and it would really assist in the number of Food & Beverage quarantine periods. I know of many chefs who would love in this process of food education.

As far as rating different ships food, I could easily take 25 people to 100 different restaurants and would have as many opinions.

You might want to Google "MSG Naturally occurring in food"

You will find that most dairy products are high in MSG - especially cheeses.

Tomatoes - especially dried tomatoes - are also very high.

Mushrooms as well.

About 25% of all foods that humans eat contain various levels of naturally occurring MSG.

Since the human body naturally produces glutamates, mother's breast milk is 10 times higher in MSG than cow's milk.

This helps to explain why you cannot take a "carefree vacation" like the rest of us.

You might want to Google "MSG Naturally occurring in food"

 

You will find that most dairy products are high in MSG - especially cheeses.

Tomatoes - especially dried tomatoes - are also very high.

Mushrooms as well.

About 25% of all foods that humans eat contain various levels of naturally occurring MSG.

 

Since the human body naturally produces glutamates, mother's breast milk is 10 times higher in MSG than cow's milk.

 

This helps to explain why you cannot take a "carefree vacation" like the rest of us.

You must be right, you read it on the internet. :rolleyes:

MSG does not occur nationally, this is a media ploy by the MSG industry and their lobbyist in Washington, DC. It is a chemical that enhances the flavor of food, so less real food needs to be used to keep the flavor the same. Example is canned chicken soup, lots of MSG very little chicken. Same with most (not all) broth products, load it up with MSG and it taste just as good as the real thing.

I love the way they hide it in food by using other chemical names or labeling items as No MSG Added. This just means it is in the product but under a different chemical name or as they say "may occur naturally".

You must be right, you read it on the internet. :rolleyes:

 

MSG does not occur nationally, this is a media ploy by the MSG industry and their lobbyist in Washington, DC. It is a chemical that enhances the flavor of food, so less real food needs to be used to keep the flavor the same. Example is canned chicken soup, lots of MSG very little chicken. Same with most (not all) broth products, load it up with MSG and it taste just as good as the real thing.

 

I love the way they hide it in food by using other chemical names or labeling items as No MSG Added. This just means it is in the product but under a different chemical name or as they say "may occur naturally".

Nationally? Actually it does occur NATIONALLY in Japan and China. We do not use sodium chloride there.

But as for NATURALLY, the fellow who discovered MSG first found it in Japanese Seaweed.

That's about as natural as you can get.

The US Food and Drug Administration was my source for where one might find MSG. But you don't necessarily have to believe them.

Are you saying I shouldn't believe what I read on the internet?

What about your post - on the internet?

Nationally? Actually it does occur NATIONALLY in Japan and China. We do not use sodium chloride there.

But as for NATURALLY, the fellow who discovered MSG first found it in Japanese Seaweed.

That's about as natural as you can get.

 

The US Food and Drug Administration was my source for where one might find MSG. But you don't necessarily have to believe them.

 

Are you saying I shouldn't believe what I read on the internet?

What about your post - on the internet?

LOL, the US Food and Drug Administration as your source! :D

The MSG industry and companies that use MSG have lobbyist that have lined their pockets pretty well with cash. When was the last time those idiots did anything for the public good. They are all about the politics, their policies speak for themselves.

Again you read it on the internet, got to be true. :eek:

I've done some research on MSG due to some allergies / intolerances in my family.

Basically, yes, there are naturally occurring glutamates as well as processed forms. Miso and seaweed are, as you say, a natural source of glutamates, and do not affect people with MSG sensitivities. However, most MSG that is added to food to enhance it is the processed kind.

MSG is glutamic acid that has been produced outside of the human (or animal) body. When produced or created in this way, it differs significantly from the glutamic acid found in or released from unadulterated, unprocessed, unfermented protein. Glutamic acid found normally in the human or other animal body is glutamic acid in the L form, i.e., L-glutamic acid. Glutamic acid that is produced outside of the human body is made up of L-glutamic acid and an array of unwanted by-products often referred to as impurities, such as D-glutamic acid and pyroglutamic acid; and when L-glutamic acid is produced by way of acid hydrolysis in particular, carcinogenic mono and dichloro propanols inevitably accompany it.

MSG - the non-naturally-occurring kind - fed to the very young has been shown to cause brain damage and subsequent learning, behavior, and endocrine disorders such as reproductive disorders and gross obesity. Ingestion of MSG by people of all ages will cause adverse reactions when ingested in amounts that exceed their individual tolerance levels (which, of course, differ by person). Ingesting the naturally occurring form (which will contain bound L-glutamic acid only) does not cause either brain damage or adverse reactions.

So yes, there is in fact a difference between naturally occurring glutamates, including glutamic acid, and that which is produced by other means.

I would not say that I am allergic to MSC, but I do have a reaction to it. I usually do not say anything before I go on a cruise. I had a reaction on one line and when there was a question and answer session, when I asked, I was told by the chef that they do not use MSC in their cooking. However on my last cruise with this line I had a very bad reaction.

I want to tell my travel agent to tell the people on my upcoming cruise, on a different line, to let me know if any of the food contains MSC. My family (DH, DS and DD) says that it is all in my head. However I know how I feel after consuming MSG or what they also call flavour enhancers.

GR82BME, could you please let me know the symptoms that you and your husband have when you consume MSG so that I can compare them to my symptoms.

I usually stay away from Noodles as they often contain MSC. However I did not know that seaweed contained MSC. I did eat a lot of sushi on the cruise that I had a very bad reaction.

Hope that you see this GR82BME so that you can reply. Also, if anyone else can help by giving foods where MSC is present naturally, that would be helpful. I know of one very popular chicken place where I can not eat because of the reaction which I believe is from the MSC.

Thanks for any help.