Paul:

Your co-worker is essentially correct: it's MSG without the sodium.

From what I understand, the "meat glue" issue is far more prevalent in restaurants and pre-packaged meat.  It's difficult to make something that looks exactly like a raw ribeye, or even a raw chuck roast...but it's very easy to make a homogenous chunk of meat that, after being grilled, can be sold as a "steak".

That's why I don't buy any meat sold in opaque tubes, or any of the pre-packaged "bacon-wrapped filet mignon in a plastic mold" type of stuff I see in the freezer case.  I figure it's guaranteed to be made out of glued-together tenderloin tips -- at best.

pam:

Exactly.  Soy is heavily subsidized and cheap, therefore soy lecithin is cheap.

MSG is just free glutamate attached to a sodium ion (Na+).  In water, it dissociates into Na+ and glutamate, which is why MSG tastes salty (the Na+ ion).  In other sources, like kelp, the glutamate is not attached to a sodium atom, so it doesn't taste salty...but it still has umami, because that comes from the glutamate.

Clear?

JS

Leslie:

That's a great article by Dr. Eades, and the discussion in the comments is good too.  He doesn't update much any more, but there's a trove of good information in his older stuff.

Note that I had to fix the URL myself...something's wrong with the comment/forum software that causes it to screw up links when it tries to shorten the text with ellipses.  I'll try to find the problem as soon as I'm less busy!

JS

Zachary: 

Thanks for the support!

Rubbing hydrolyzed wheat protein on your body is probably a lot like rubbing bread on your body: I doubt it'll harm you unless you're allergic, but I don't see any reason to do so.  There are plenty of great products out there that don't contain it!

(Also, I confess I'm not clear how a protein can "moisturize"...perhaps I don't spend enough time with cosmetics!)

Wenchypoo:

TVP is a different beast entirely -- but it's possible that they were adding HVP to the TVP in order to give it some umami.

And it's definitely the case that convenience food is chock-full of non-food like HVP and TVP.  If people are in enough of a hurry to voluntarily eat a microwave burrito, they're unlikely to care what's in it...

...which (if I recall correctly) is mostly soybean oil by calories, with wheat flour coming next.  

jordan:

Great article!  I'm not at all surprised that catered "filet mignon" is usually glued-together tenderloin tips.  There's only a few pounds of filet in a side of beef -- and I've always wondered how so many places can serve "filet mignon" when there's so little of it to go around.  

JS

David I:

I think it's most likely that the people you encountered aren't actually gluten-intolerant. 

Note that, strictly speaking, the gliadins (not the glutelins) are the peptides with the effects on zonulin signaling, and possibly opiate receptors.  However, wheat protein is collectively referred to as "gluten" even though it's composed of both glutenins and gliadins.  It's a bit confusing!

Neither glutelins not gliadins are strictly water-soluble...gliadins are alcohol-soluble, and glutelins are soluble in weak acids or alkalis.  And seitan contains both.

I concede that I don't know enough about the chemistry to say what other minor proteins might be water-soluble (and therefore, perhaps, washed away during the making and processing of seitan).  However, again, I think "not really gluten-intolerant" is the most likely explanation. 

Note that this doesn't mean it's good for them (or for anyone) to eat seitan!

JS

mark:

Absolutely!  Another great example is PGPR in chocolate...it's cheaper than cocoa butter.

JS

E Craig:

Good chocolate (Lindt/Ghirardelli/etc.) doesn't have PGPR in it...it's the cheap stuff in candy bars that's almost universally stretched with PGPR.

Marcus:

If you read my other articles (check the index), it'll become clear that I'm very much pro-meat as well as pro-whole-foods in general -- so I absolutely agree with you that a good roast is where we want to be getting our protein.

However, there is plenty of HVP/HSP/HWP in meat-based processed foods...again, because it's a way to sneak in something equivalent to MSG without actually saying "MSG" on the label.

Jen W:

AFAIK, PGPR is an ingredient that must be disclosed individually on the label, and can't be hidden under "natural flavoring", "artificial flavoring", or some other catch-all.  So you should be safe if you read the label.

JS