MSG rant

[sophie]

I just want to have a moan. Being vegan, a packet of chips is often a quick and easy snack if we're out and about, or as a treat for the kids. I know they're not healthy, but we do like our chips for treats. Anyway, up till now, in NZ, chips have always said "flavour" as an ingredient, without being specific, so we always stick to flavours such as salt and vinegar and green onion, that we thought were fine. But now chips have started listing "flavour" ingredients, and I have been in for a shock, not only have we occasionally been eating "milk solids" (I cannot believe they got away with sticking this in unlabelled), but every single flavour except plain salted includes MSG, which is a major no-no for me (it's usually disguised as Flavour enhancer 621). I am so mad. I mean. now I realise I should have checked, but it never occurred to me they'd stick milk in chips, and the MSG thing is so awful, it's so dangerous, and everyone just eats it without realising! So now we can only eat plain salted, another restriction on our diet to confuse matters. SIGH.