Cup Noodles, Top Ramen Mislabeled as Containing ‘No Added MSG,’ Class Action Claims

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A proposed class action claims several instant noodle products sold by Nissin Foods are misleadingly labeled as containing “No Added MSG” even though they’re made with ingredients that contain monosodium glutamate (MSG) and equivalent free glutamates.

According to the 31-page case, Nissin Foods’ claim that its Cup Noodles, Top Ramen, Hot & Spicy and Chow Mein foods contain no MSG is “false, misleading, and unlawful” because several ingredients used in the products, such as autolyzed yeast extract, hydrolyzed corn protein, hydrolyzed soy protein and maltodextrin, are sources of free glutamates, one of which is MSG.

Moreover, the lawsuit claims the defendant adds these ingredients merely because they include a “substantial amount” of free glutamates and thus provide the umami taste associated with MSG. Per the suit, the defendant’s packaging and labeling of its instant noodle products violates food labeling regulations and misleads reasonable consumers.

According to the case, Nissin Foods has charged more for the “No Added MSG” products than it otherwise would have been able to had their packaging been truthful.

The lawsuit explains that MSG is the most popular type of free glutamate and is added to foods to improve taste by lending an “umami” or savory flavor. The suit relays, however, that many consumers attempt to avoid foods containing MSG or other free glutamates because they’ve been associated with adverse health effects such as headaches, increased blood pressure, obesity and psychiatric illness. Other consumers are sensitive or allergic to free glutamates and experience negative reactions when eating foods that contain them, the case adds.

Per the lawsuit, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found that consumers use the term “MSG” to refer to all free glutamates and would understand a food labeled as containing “No MSG” or “No added MSG” to mean that the product does not contain free glutamates. Indeed, MSG is “chemically indistinguishable” from other free glutamates, according to the complaint. For this reason, the FDA has advised that labeling a food containing any form of free glutamate as “No MSG” or “No added MSG” violates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. 

The lawsuit claims Nissin Foods’ products, including its Cup Noodles, Hot & Spicy noodles, Chow Mein and Top Ramen, are prominently labeled “No added MSG” despite the fact that they contain ingredients that contain free glutamates. Per the case, although the defendant includes a disclaimer “in small lettering designed to blend into the background” that the food “contains small amounts of naturally occurring glutamates,” this statement is merely “an illegal—and ineffective—attempt to side-step FDA rules.” The complaint claims that reasonable consumers would either not notice the qualifying statement or wrongly interpret it to mean that the “naturally occurring glutamates” are not MSG and would thus not cause the same health problems associated with MSG.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone who purchased one of the defendant’s products labeled as containing no MSG in the U.S. within the applicable statute of limitations period.

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