I love pizza! It’s one of my top favorite foods next to kale and cake. And I know I’m not the only one that loves it, either. Recently, the USDA conducted a study which revealed the enormous amount of pizza we consume in the United States. American consumption of cheese increased by nearly 30% in 10 years because the dairy industry is spending big bucks to promote pizza and partner with big chains like Dominos. Congress even voted to declare pizza a vegetable in the school lunch program. The government wants us to eat pizza – a lot of it. But there’s a lot going on behind closed doors that nobody wants us to know or talk about, and it all starts with the ingredients.
When I started researching pizza ingredients, one thing became abundantly clear. Pizza restaurants did not like the questions I was asking.
The only way to find out what may be lurking in your pizza is to review its complete ingredient list, which is often concealed from the public. I began calling the top pizza chains and easily found a couple ingredient lists online. But, when I called most pizza restaurants and began asking questions, they blatantly refused to share ingredient lists and their customer service reps were oblivious to what their ingredients were – they had no clue.
Little Caesars, California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) and Mellow Mushroom have all refused to answer my questions about their ingredients. I was told by Mellow Mushroom’s corporate offices that they will only comply with minimal government regulations, which require them to publish an allergen list.
After sending me their dough ingredients, CPK suddenly claimed that due to “proprietary restrictions” they can’t disclose their full ingredient lists. They went on to tell me that they “don’t have an easy way to perform a search by individual ingredient” and would need to call each vendor first. While traveling, I stopped into a CPK in an airport to ask questions face to face. Both the manager and store clerk had zero access to ingredients. I even asked to look at the packages of their dough and other ingredients that got shipped to the store in and they said they did not have them.
I called many local pizza restaurants and was informed that it’s their policy to NOT disclose ingredients to their customers. Little Caesars literally told me that if I was concerned about what was in it, I “just shouldn’t eat there…” Ha! Don’t worry, I won’t!
Papa John’s also has repeatedly refused to release their ingredient list, which really caused a stir last year with my friend Melanie Warner, author of the processed food exposing book “Pandora’s Lunchbox“. How can Papa John’s claim to have “Better Ingredients… Better Pizza” without telling us what’s really in it? While they say their lack of transparency is due to the proprietary nature of their recipes, they could be hiding some seriously harmful ingredients. After repeated calls to corporate offices and some helpful photos sent to me by Melanie Warner, I was finally able to uncover some details about what is really in their pizzas.
Why are the ingredients so hard to find? Why are they refusing to share their ingredients? What is it that these pizza restaurants don’t want us to know?
Well, I’ll tell you what they’re hiding: Lots and lots of hidden MSG!
Restaurants don’t want to get a bad rap by putting monosodium glutamate (MSG) on their ingredient or allergen statements, so they have found another way to secretly add this potent flavor enhancer to your food, without the average customer realizing it. Instead of letting you know that they are putting MSG in your food, they are using an FDA loophole to sneak processed free glutamic acid into your food, which has the same effect as MSG – all without warning you. They simply use other forms of free glutamic acid (such as Hydrolyzed Soy Protein), which is the main component of MSG. This allows them to have “clean labels” and deceive us into believing their product contains no MSG – when it actually does!
While it’s true that tomatoes and cheese are naturally high in glutamates, they do not have the same effect on the brain as added manufactured free glutamic acid additives. When I talked to Papa John’s, they admitted that these additives are used as a replacement for MSG by the food industry.
It will blow your mind – literally
MSG tricks your brain into believing that what you are eating tastes so great that you want more of it. Your taste buds sense that there is more protein in the food than there really is – which is great for food manufacturers that want to save money by using less or lower quality meat. These ingredients also promote an addiction to pizza so that you keep coming back to order more. Repeat business keeps their pockets lined with lots of cash. Ever wonder why you can’t stop at one slice? This is why.
MSG and hidden MSG additives are known to commonly cause headaches, obesity and depression – and this is just the tip of the iceberg. As an excitotoxin, its effect on the brain is so toxic that it has been linked to learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Lou Gehrig’s disease. Board certified neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, M.D. warns that, “Excitotoxins have been found to dramatically promote cancer growth… It also causes a cancer cell to become more mobile, and that enhances metastasis, or spread… When you increase the glutamate level, cancer just grows like wildfire”.
This is serious stuff. But the industry will tell you it’s harmless and that you are crazy for being concerned.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that it is okay to eat this stuff occasionally, because these ingredients can stick around in your body for a long time, leach nutrients from your system, and can make you really sick. As put by my pal Kristen Michaelis at FoodRenegade.com, “Not only is MSG not a traditional food, not only are many people immediately sensitive to it, but it can also interrupt the hormonal and biological development of children! Lest you think this is all fanciful, it’s important to remember that a number of studies have found that the effects of MSG can occur cumulatively over time with subsequent exposure.”
Toxic hidden MSG ingredients buried in popular pizza menu items:
- Autolyzed Yeast Extract (Hidden MSG)
- Textured or Hydrolyzed Proteins (Hidden MSG and GMO)
- Hydrolyzed Corn (Hidden MSG and GMO)
- Modified Starches (Hidden MSG or Possible GMO)
- Natural Flavors (Possible Hidden MSG)
- Disodium Inosinate or Disodium Guanylate (MSG enhancers)
The additives Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate are not added to a product that doesn’t contain MSG because they are considered expensive additives that are ineffective without MSG ingredients. The presence of Disodium Guanylate or Disodium Inosinate in a product is a strong indication that a product contains hidden MSG.
I’m talking about more than MSG here
The ingredient lists that I could get my hands on are riddled with artificial colors, artificial and natural flavors, partially hydrogenated oils, cellulose (wood pulp) to keep the already shredded cheese from clumping, and GMO soybean oil.
Partially Hydrogenated Oils (Trans-fat) – There is absolutely no reason for anyone to still be using this. These oils are so bad that even our FDA has woken up and warns that it’s not safe to eat this in any food. Partially hydrogenated oils block arteries and the CDC estimates that they could cause up to 20,000 heart attacks every year! I found these dangerous oils in Pizza Hut’s hand-tossed crust, Round Table’s Creamy Garlic sauce, Papa John’s dipping sauces and Dominos Philly Steak pizza. Partially hydrogenated oils are found in 21 menu items at Cici’s Pizza – it’s even added to their cheese!
Soybean Oil (likely GMO) – You’d hope to see just olive oil in there, but soybean oil is the oil of choice for most pizza restaurants. It’s in the dough and pizza sauces, so it basically makes its way into every pizza. This genetically engineered inflammation causing oil is being used at these restaurants:
- Papa John’s
- Domino’s
- Pizza Hut
- Uno Pizzeria
- Papa Murphy’s
- Little Caesars
- Cici’s
- Mellow Mushroom – “Soybean oil is a major ingredient in our pizzas”
- California Pizza Kitchen – “our Ciabatta Bread and our Wheat Dough do contain Soybean Oil”
- Round Table Pizza – Creamy Garlic sauce
BHT/BHA (Butylated Hydroxytoluene.Butylated Hydroxyanisole) – BHT is used in embalming fluid and to fuel jets. BHA is toxic to your organs and linked to cancer. These were found in the pepperoni on every ingredient list I looked at from Uno’s to Dominos.
Sodium Nitrite – Whenever this is added to a meat, there is a really good chance that it contains cancer-causing Nitrosamines. Nitrites are often found in the pepperoni, ham, bacon and sausage toppings.
Enriched Flour – This is a dead food that has had some vitamins and minerals artificially replaced. It’s absorbed by your body as a starch, rather than a whole grain. This flour is used in pizza dough, except the gluten-free versions.
Artificial Colors – These are petroleum-based colorings linked to asthma, allergies and hyperactivity. I found them in the banana pepper toppings, the cheese at Cici’s, and specifically in the garlic oil used by Domino’s.
Caramel Coloring – This is often made by heating ammonia and sulfites under high pressure which creates carcinogenic compounds. You’ll find this very controversial coloring in the bacon at Pizza Hut, the Italian sausage at Round Table, the beef at Little Caesars, the zesty pizza sauce at Cici’s and in the BBQ Chicken pizza at Uno’s.
BPA (Bisphenol A) – You won’t find this on any ingredient label, but BPA leaches from the cans that hold pizza sauce in some restaurants. Many fast food pizza chains use canned tomato sauce that could have BPA. This substance exposure increases your risk for cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes and a slew of other medical problems.
How these pizza restaurants stack up
Papa John’s – They add a lot to their “Better Ingredients”. For instance, their “100% Beef” topping is a lot more than just beef! It contains corn syrup, maltodextrin, natural flavor, natural smoke grill flavor, beef flavor and seasonings. Also, so much for believing that there is 100% real cheese topping their pizzas, as they add modified food starch (hidden MSG), preservatives and powdered wood pulp (cellulose) to their cheese blend. They also add natural flavors to their thin crust, pepperoni, and chicken topping, as well as hidden MSG (autolyzed yeast extract) to their garlic ranch and spinach alfredo pizza sauces. Those little dipping sauces that come with your pizza are loaded with partially hydrogenated oil, GMOs and (you guessed it) more hidden MSG.
Update: In June 2015 Papa Johns announced they’re removing 14 ingredients by the end of 2016, including artificial colors, caramel color, the preservative sodium benzoate, and hidden MSG ingredients like autolyzed yeast extract and hydrolyzed proteins. They have also listed ingredients on their website (however this list is not entirely complete as they don’t publish the ingredients in some of their seasonings, such as in their beef topping).
Domino’s – One of the few pizza restaurants that openly publishes their ingredients online – and their ingredient list has hidden MSG written all over it. It’s almost impossible to avoid at Dominos, as it’s in their cheese, marinara sauce, white sauces, BBQ sauce and a slew of toppings (chicken, beef, Italian sausage and Philly steak). They also add “flavors” to their pan crust, cheese, pepperoni and shake-on seasoning. The garlic oil used on nearly every pizza is NOT what you’d expect (garlic & oil). It’s actually a toxic combo of over 20 ingredients including artificial colors, artificial flavors and TBHQ.
Pizza Hut – You get a lot more than “100% Real Beef” in this topping loaded natural and artificial flavors. Their sausage and bacon toppings have hidden MSG (autolyzed yeast or hydrolyzed proteins), and you are eating modified starches in their cheese, chicken and cream sauce (starches usually derived from GMO corn). The garlic sauce and seasoning used on every hand-tossed pizza is loaded with natural flavors, artificial flavors and partially-hydrogenated GMO oils. Pizza Hut recently reformulated their hand-tossed crust by replacing the high fructose corn syrup with sucralose (Splenda) – an artificial sweetener that has been shown to cause DNA damage to the gastrointestinal tract, reduces beneficial gut bacteria, and is linked to inflammatory bowel disease. Recent research indicates that sucralose is linked to leukemia.
Round Table – “The Last Honest Pizza” honestly adds straight “Glutamic Acid” to their creamy garlic sauce. They add hidden MSG ingredients to their pizza sauces, chicken and sausage toppings. Their cheese is far from “100% real” with “Natural Smoke Flavoring” and cellulose.
Little Caesars – Although their corporate office told me that their ingredients are top secret, the first gal I talked with admitted that there is yeast extract in their beef topping. I also called a local store and found that their super-secret ingredients were listed right there on the package for anyone in the kitchen to read. According to my local restaurant, their sauce contains natural flavors and the cheese contains wood pulp (cellulose). They also rattled off the beef topping ingredients to confirm it contains yeast extract, beef flavorings and caramel coloring.
Mellow Mushroom – One of the most tight-lipped restaurants I talked to would only admit to the use of soybean oil, which is likely GMO – “Soybean oil is a major ingredient in our pizzas” they wrote to me in an email. Furthermore, when I asked about hidden MSG ingredients, they told me that they weren’t required to tell me since they are not one of the 7 major allergens designated by the FDA and don’t list them on their allergen list. So I decided to go use their allergen tool to see what they do list and found something shocking. The tool gives misleading, inaccurate and potentially dangerous information if you have a soy allergy. For example, I confirmed their crust uses soy, but when you use the tool, it says there are plenty of pizzas without soy. The information doesn’t add up and regardless of whether if you have an allergy, I would not trust Mellow Mushroom until they release the full ingredient lists for their menu.
Uno Pizzeria – They are not much better than the rest with hidden MSG in their BBQ Chicken pizza, Harvest Vegetable pizza, sausage topping and gluten-free crust. I was a bit surprised to see that they also add caramel color, artificial flavors, and a large amount of natural flavors to their BBQ Chicken pizza – it’s totally unnecessary.
California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) – As they were being very difficult in sharing ingredients, I was only able to confirm that the Thai sauce, tomato pizza sauce, pepperoni, salami, bacon, romano cheese, and chipotle sauce do not contain any of the hidden MSG ingredients that I listed. Because they refuse to share an ingredient list, I have no way of knowing whether they contain other additives or hidden MSG that I didn’t ask about – so don’t be convinced that these menu items are clean! I also inquired about hidden MSG ingredients in their other cheeses, BBQ sauce, chicken, sausage and ham toppings – and they have not responded at all regarding those items. Again, I will take their lack of a response as an indication that they do contain hidden MSG until they inform us otherwise.
Papa Murphy’s – It’s all about the sauces at Papa Murphy’s, where there’s yeast extract in their basil pesto sauce and modified food starch in their BBQ sauce, buffalo sauce, creamy garlic sauce and sweet chili sauce. They also add “flavors” to nearly every meat topping available and to their cheese.
Cici’s – They don’t really hide it by adding straight MSG to 10 menu items including their “Zesty” pizza sauce. Cici’s further adds hidden MSG to their buffalo sauce, ranch dressing, bacon cheddar sauce, sausage topping and beef topping. Quite frankly, I can’t believe how bad their “cheese” is – modified food starch, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, (added) casein, aluminum, natural flavors and artificial color! I was also astounded to find high fructose corn syrup in their BBQ sauce and dessert pizzas, as well as carrageenan and propylene glycol in several of their sauces, including the Alfredo.
Are you wondering about your favorite pizza place?
The good news is that you can do the exact same thing I did at your favorite pizza place, and please share the outcome with me!
To get the best results, plan to visit your pizza place during a slow time and not during their dinner rush. This way their employees won’t be rushed and will have time to answer your questions. Right off the bat, ask them if they have an ingredient list to share with you. Most likely they won’t, but it’s worth a try. If their ingredients are not readily available, here’s my game plan for navigating the menu and asking the right questions:
- Typically the safest bet is to stick with a veggie pizza without cheese. This is dependent on what they have lurking in their sauce and crust, so it’s really important to find out what is in those items! Ask them to read you the complete ingredients in the sauce and dough.
- Hidden MSG is most often found in meat toppings, seasoning mixes and creamy sauces – so if you plan to order those things I would ask specifically about hidden MSG ingredients. Ask them if monosodium glutamate, autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed proteins, modified starches, or natural flavors are in any of those menu items. Which ones?
- GMO soybean oil is usually found in the crust and the sauces. Ask them if they use soybean oil – and in what menu items. Is soybean oil used in their pans? Can they make you a pizza without it?
- Ask them directly if any of their ingredients are GMO. You may be surprised as they may have no clue what you are talking about. Use this as an opportunity to briefly share with them what a GMO is and why you don’t eat GMOs. Let them know that most soy is GMO so if they use soy in any products, it is probably GMO. Their allergen statement should also be able to tell you if soy is used in any product.
- Remember that “garlic oils” and “shake-on seasonings” may contain a bunch of questionable ingredients and MSG. Ask them if there are any specialty oils, butter sauces, or seasoning mixes used on their pizzas. If they can’t tell you the ingredients in those, ask them not to use it on yours.
- Do they use high fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners in their sauces or dough? These sweeteners are probably derived from GMO sources – including “sugar”.
- Most vegetables will not be GMO, unless they have corn, tofu, zucchini or yellow squash toppings. I would avoid those.
- What about cellulose in their cheese? Are flavorings and preservatives added to the cheese as well?
Beware that often times the restaurant employees truly do not know the answers to your questions, and will give you incorrect answers. For instance, they may tell you that their cheese is “100% real cheese”, without realizing that the pre-shredded bag of cheese in the back contains an ingredient list. On that ingredient list, they will likely find cellulose, some preservatives, and possibly some flavors and colors. It’s good to remember that it’s not all that it seems on the surface, and in order to find out what is really in their food they will need to read the ingredient list on the box, bag or can that the menu item comes in. The bottom line – If they won’t tell you what is in their food, don’t eat there.
They don’t expect the average customer to demand answers about their food!
Only four of the restaurants I investigated publish their current ingredient lists online – Dominos, Uno’s, Papa Murphy’s, Cici’s. (Pizza Hut publishes them online, but they admitted to me they aren’t current in an email). As in my Chipotle investigation, I had to be extremely persistent over several months to get the limited information that I did from the other restaurants. This took multiple phone calls, voicemails, emails, and website contact forms – which often went unanswered. I had to ask specific questions about obscure ingredients. They are counting on the average customer to not do this!
On Papa John’s website, they say that their cheese is “crafted from 100% mozzarella and high-quality milk by one of America’s finest cheese producers” – But the ingredients tell the real story. Now we know their cheese also contains wood pulp and modified food starch… and that IT’S NOT 100% CHEESE. When Papa John’s claims in all of their advertising that they have “Better Ingredients”, yet they won’t openly tell us what they are, it’s a safe bet they’re hiding something.
I wonder if any of these restaurants will have the courage to discuss this issue. Will they do the right thing now that we are calling them out, like Chipotle did when they finally released their full ingredient list online for everyone to see? These companies do not deserve our business, until they publish their ingredients online and make them easily accessible to the average customer.
What to eat instead:
Okay, this is the good part! I’m thrilled to say that I’ve found some pizza places that are doing it right!
Pizza Fusion – I called up a Pizza Fusion restaurant and they freely answered every question I had about their ingredients – a big WIN in my book! Their sauce is super simple: organic tomatoes, olive oil, water – and no nasty additives or hidden MSG. They only use olive oil in the restaurant, so you won’t find any GMO soybean or canola oil here. They confirmed with me that their gluten-free crust no longer contains canola oil and that they are diligent about preventing cross-contamination with gluten. I was really happy to find out that all of their meat toppings are antibiotic-free! Their chickens are also fed a non-GMO diet. Many of their veggie toppings are organic and local, and all are non-GMO. This varies and depends on what is seasonally available, so simply ask them which veggies are organic when you order. They have about 12 locations right now, and I really hope they grow into a larger chain so that more of us have access to pizza places like this!
Pure Pizza – I simply love this place. If you are ever in Charlotte, this is the place to go. They have an amazing organic sprouted grain crust, and source their toppings locally.
Truly Organic Pizza – This pizza chain in Florida is USDA certified organic. Because of this, none of their ingredients can be GMO, and all of their meats are antibiotic-free and not injected with hormones. I called them up and asked specifically about hidden MSG ingredients. They told me that they do not use any flavor enhancers such as autolyzed yeast extract or hydrolyzed proteins to season their food. They cook their meatballs and chicken from scratch and only season them with basic seasonings like what we would use at home! This is another great option if you are in Florida.
My Favorite Homemade Pizza Recipe – If you don’t have pizza restaurants like these in your neck of the woods, my homemade pizza recipe is super simple and will be ready in less time than it would take you to order and have it delivered – I promise! This recipe cures my pizza craving in no time!
If you know someone who is ordering or eating pizza with these terrible ingredients, help them make the switch by sharing this very important information with them!
Together we are changing the world, one company at a time, by sharing the truth.
Xo,
Vani
the very reasons we make homemade 😉 from natural real foods!
Where does Zpizza stand in all this?
Great investigation! I’m curious about the ZPizza chain. They claim to have “all natural” ingredients but I wonder how natural they really are. Perhaps I’ll investigate!
No wonder I never liked “chain” pizza – even in my college years (no amount of beer made it taste better – heehee)…it always made me SICK! Literally.
I LOVE the work you do and tell many people about your plight.
Well done, my friend!
PS: I always associated LC and Dominoes with the same plastic taste as frozen meals. Blech!
Well done Vani. Why do these people want to poison us? I grow Italian tomatoes & get so many to make homemade sauce. Need to start learning how to make homemade pizza crust. Keep up the good work & investigations. Call the bad guys out.
What gets me is that Dominos has a “Gluten Free” pizza crust but there is gluten in the sauce!
Thank you for exposing this Vani. Two of my four children have extreme sensitivities to free glutamate in foods. My 8 year old suffers from terrible learning disabilities that are so heavily worsened by this additive that you wouldn’t know she was the same student on a clean diet.
we discovered this sensitivity when I found my other sensitive child-an infant of 9 months-blue and not breathing in her crib beside my bed. Thank God we were able to revive her.
Please continue your mission Vani. If even one innocent child is spared from your work it will all be worthwhile. Thank you from the bottom of my Mother’s heart.
Thank you, Vani. Because of your investigations and posts, I am now reading labels of every food I buy and questions ingredients at restaurants. I never eat at any fast food restaurant, ever. By reading ingredients, I discovered that almost all cottage cheeses (one of my favorite foods) contains thickeners and stabilizers including carrageenan. I now only buy Kalona SuperNatural Organic cottage cheese which I can find at Whole Foods. It only contains organic milks, Celtic sea salt, and cultures. As for pizza, I will now ask one of our local independent pizzerias (which I eat at about twice a year!) what ingredients are in their pizzas. I will also read the ingredient label on Trader Joe’s pizza dough which I have used on occasion, and better yet, make my own!
What is your take on Whole Foods Pizza?
Food Babe,
Do you know anything about Fresh Brothers Pizza or Z Pizza?
Both claim to be a healthier and natural pizza place, but scary to think about since other pizza places falsely claim the same thing!
just ask them yourself if you can see a list of ingredients
Well done my friend…We can no longer trust “the system” to protect us. Let us wake up, grow up; and get the FDA to do its job. Speaking of…YOU are doing the job so much more than the average leader and we so appreciate you.
Do you know anything about zPizza (zpizza.com)? It’s what we usually choose because it appears to be doing it right, but this investigation now makes me wonder?
I make a pizza of sorts at home. I’m sure it’s not 100% healthy but it sure beats the heck out of the commercial pizza’s.
I use a brown rice tortilla, sliced tomato, tufurkey peperoni and grated vegan mozzarella or other vegan cheese. Pop in a 350 preheated oven for 8 minutes and it’s done. So delicious and filling. We eat so much less “pizza” now that I’m making this healthy one for us.
You should make a documentary on this!!! Pizza has a lot of the ingredients a person should stay away from and even ties in some of your other investigations (eg. woodpulp etc.).
Documentary! !!
I’m glad to have experienced my local pizza fusion! What’s your thoughts on Amy’s pizza?
And that is one of the reasons I only eat homemade pizza and never order it out.
Curious… you didn’t look into Brixx or Fuel.. since they are popular Charlotte locations. Many (many) years ago I inquired into the ‘vegan cheese’ option at Brixx as it was so tasty and much more melty than what I was using. Poor unknowing waiter actually read the ingredients to me: ‘casein’. I promptly explained the potential for a lawsuit. It was advertised as ‘vegan’ in print on the menu. I wrote a few letters, made a few calls. They’ve since changed their cheese source, I’m told. But I have not been successful getting an unsuspecting waiter/waitress to read the ingredients list to me for the new stuff. Love the recommended pizza options. We frequent them… but it’s quite costly.
I had to pick my battles 🙂
Thanks for listing all the names of the “hidden ” kinds of MSG. I am allergic & now I know what else to look out for
I cannot help but love the Food Babe. She looks like my wife, who passed from brain cancer. Caused by exposure to toxins in the military.
I thank you for all you do and for the beauty you remind me of every time I see you.
Love the light that you are shedding on pizza: America’s go-to, feel-good food. Somehow pizza always seems to be the one thing that even those that try to be healthy won’t give up. Even though, as I suspected, it is one of the biggest threats to our health. With so many ingredients going into it, how can we trust or take the time to track down the origin of every ingredient? In the end, its not worth the threat or the sacrifice. If you love pizza, take some time on a Sunday afternoon and make lots of dough with reliable ingredients friendly to your family and freeze it. When you find you have a hodgepodge of veggies pull out the dough in the morning and wa-la, pizza night!
Hi!
While on the surface all of your facts seem sound, being the scientist that I am I felt compelled to read your sources. While I’m sure you believed all of the articles, none of them are actual primary sources; they are all opinion pieces. Data, facts, peer-reviewed publications would have convinced me of the evils of MSG. Even your “expert” Russel Blaylock is not really a credible source. Dr. Baylock opposes some vaccines and he goes against much of the peer-reviewed literature on issues such aspartate and MSG. Additionally, saying that MSG causes cancer to ‘spread like wildfire’ is a hyperbole and should not be taken seriously. Interviews are terrible sources as scientists dumb down their research to make it palatable for the general public. Just like blueberries don’t cure cancer, MSG does not cause it.
I’m not going to take my time to find credible, peer-reviewed scientific sources. But when publishing an article, I would think about making your own opinions more credible by backing them up with facts rather than other peoples opinions.
I had to scroll way down to find a single objective comment that wasn’t fear-based. Sure, the big chains use all manner of ingredients, some “natural” and others not. Yet without a thoroughly conducted and PEER REVIEWED set of research, how is one to know what actual harm, if any, is caused by these ingredients. If there is, how much needs to be ingested, and over what period of time.
For those who want to be extremely cautious with their foods or know they have specific food allergies, fine. Others, however, probably don’t need to panic at the mere sight of MSG or any other odd sounding term. Moderation in all things, I say, is probably the best advice.
Thank you! Finally some sense in the midst of all the hyperbolic hand-wringing. I stopped reading this site for precisely this reason, but someone sent me this article – which confirmed for me that my decision was the correct one (although I did have to laugh at the conspiracy-laden “What are they hiding?” stuff when the companies wouldn’t disclose what is actually proprietary information to some random stranger).
The Pizza Convention is going on in Las Vegas right now. This would be a great time to meet, greet, and expose. MSG can send a sensitive heart into atrial fibrillation!
This is my favorite investigation that you’ve done so far. As a parent of a child with soy intolerance (and multiple other food allergies), we never go out to eat without consulting for ingredient safety beforehand. We’ve found that we can ONLY eat pizza at a local place that makes their own dough and sauce with olive oil and not soy! It’s downright scary what these places try to hide – especially the hidden soy and other potential allergens that they do not disclose!
Thanks for fighting for all of our safety – ingredient disclosure shouldn’t be a simple preference, it should be required!
Great investigation. You did forget to add a major factor that deters me from even eating the crust, l- cysteine. A dough conditioner that is made from human hair and duck feathers. Yuck. This put shalt to most of my bread eating!
bread is one of the hardest things to find in any form that doesn’t have questionable ingredients
luckily it is SUPER EASY to make your own
we make all of our own bread products, it takes a few hours and then we have a stock for months and rotate what we make and keep it in the freezer: bagels, donuts, pizza dough, ciabatta, naan, burger and hotdog rolls, sandwich bread
I’ve often thought about pizza. It’s good to know they’re not all flour, salt, yeast, and maybe a little oil but that there are ingredients to actively avoid.
Out of curiosity I went to check on a local Minneapolis pizza place (Punch Pizza), recently lauded by Mr. President about their high minimum wage decision. I was very happy with the results!:
http://www.punchpizza.com/about/faqs.aspx
Simplicity:
1. Crushed Tomatoes: One thing that usually surprises our customers is the answer to what’s in our tomato sauce: Our sauce is simply crushed tomatoes we import from southern Italy– nothing else. Just pick up a jar of tomato sauce in the store and it’s shocking how much stuff is in there besides tomatoes.
2. Dough: It is no secret that our dough recipe is top secret! While it contains only flour, yeast, water and salt it is a very complicated recipe and scientific process. We are passionate about making dough from scratch every day and committed to the old world standard of dough making.
3. Ingredients: We take pride in using fresh, natural, non-processed “whole” ingredients. All of our vegetables are received fresh and prepped daily. We source all of our meats and cheeses from purveyors dedicated to quality above all else. Our prosciutto from Parma, Italy is made using a centuries old technique and our sausage is from a local family run whole hog producer. At Punch, we don’t cut corners and purchase ingredients based on quality first.
BOYCOTT ALL THESE PLACES AND MAKE THIS VIRAL! LETS BE THE CHANGE!
I’m curious to find out about Naked Pizza and ZPizza. Thanks for all your great posts!
I, too, would love to know about Z Pizza.. Their pizza is delicious, so I hope it’s healthy!
Do you know anything about the ingredients used at Naked Pizza? They say they are healthful and “natural” but who knows what that means. They have probiotics and a multigrain crust though, but not sure if it includes any of these “bad” ingredients you are talking about.
Thanks from western WA!
We recently visited pizza fusion in charlotte! It was great and we had the gluten free pizza. They were careful and I was really pleased with that. Also, you can ask for organic cheese!
Vani
Check out this Pizza Company they have restaurants in 4-5 areas of the country!
Flat Bread Pizza Company! Out here in Mass. They have a great one in Amesbury, MA.
Thank you. My youngest daughter sufferered from ADHD and pizza always made her berserk. Thirty minutes after eating pizza she would be screaming and hitting people. Other people accused me of being mean if I didn’t let her eat every child’s favorite food. Our family endured a lot of stress with this. So thank you for posting the truth and helping others.
Thanks again for all your hard work investigating these so called wholesome food joints . We will definitely start posting questions on the web pages of these pizza joints .Good reporting Vani !!!!!!!!!!!!
What’s your take on zpizza?
http://zpizza.com/
What else would you expect from Feces Pizza?
Thanks for the info!
I liv in Northern Virginia, and eat at Naked Pizza restaurants. For anyone in the DMV area, check it out!
http://www.nakedpizza.biz/about/
Can you tell me what you were thinking when you claimed “Maybe Literally.” I am just curious about what literally blowing my mind is, or even just maybe literally.
I’d love to hear about other pizza places around the country that are doing it right. Here in New England, there’s a small chain called “Flatbread” that makes amazing pizza using organic, locally sourced ingredients and free range meats. http://www.flatbreadcompany.com/
You are awesome. Thanks for the hard work. I always make homemade pizza and am sharing this investigation with friends and family.
So glad you posted this! I just wrote in to Papa Johns (the only pizza place I went to because I felt good about it). Not anymore btw. Anyway, wrote in and told them they lost a customer and linked them back to this post! Makes me SO mad!!! Guess I’ll just have to make my own pizza when I want it… which is way better anyway. 🙂
Thanks for all of your hard work. You are SOOOO appreciated!!!!!
Hi Vani- thank you so much for posting this! I started following you about 3 months ago and have turned at least 10 people on to your site 🙂 Any information you have on Zpizza would be awesome! It looks like it is good with all organic and gluten free options and is where I get pizza if I don’t make it from scratch at home.
Thanks!
I just wanted to thank you for doing AWESOME investigation!!! I have been an avid label reader for almost 8 years now, after my oldest child had a soy allergy since birth. I really appreciate how much clarification you give as to WHAT this crap is that they are putting into our food. I can say also, as a mother of 4 I love learning more about keeping my family healthy and happy with truly good food. I make my own pizza all the time…it tastes so much better and I know exactly what is going into it. Keep up the great work, your investigations have educated me further and have blessed our family :)!!!
Again and again from Food Babe I get the scoop! As I continue to Fight Obesity…1 Family At A Time….it gets more complex all the time. What can we eat? Teaching young kids about the 5 Food Groups is easy….Keeping them away from, Now Pizza…well, it is just scary.
Thank you very much…you make me smarter all the time….Short Chef
Can you give some more information on the “flavors” that Papa Murphys uses? What exactly are those? Other than that, did it pass inspection? It’s the only place we get takeout from, and have always liked the “fresher” taste and the fact it is the only pizza that doesn’t make my stomach hurt.
And do you know if Papa Murphys is still using Azodicarbonamide in their dough? I had heard that they do in their regular dough but not their thin crust, but I can’t find anything that verifies that. I have been sticking with their Delite pizzas in hopes that it’s true.
Thank you for all you do! I’m a faithful reader!
What about Amy’s frozen pizza? I know the rest are pure trash.
Also I tend to use Whole Foods pizza dough, is that OK? The best is home made but not always enough time… Appreciate your reply!
How about Davanni’s, big chain.
While you’re at it, do a study on BBQ joints, and include Famous Dave’s. Last I checked everything cept for the roasted chicken is loaded with *rap.
Great article, We had Pizza Hut for the first time in years a few weeks ago and we all got sick within a few hours. We took them off our list of places to go. My girlfriend has hypothyroidism and the starch is probably what made her sick.
Glad I don’t like pepperoni that looks toxic no matter where you go.
I think that the people who care about themselves and their families avoid anything processed and anything served at fast food joints, just as a matter of principle. The people who eat this stuff don’t care and certainly will not be those who will bother to read any of this. There is a saying “the way people do something is the way they do everything’. Whether you save them from themselves by getting them to think about all this before they gobble it down or not, there is all the rest of their lifestyle that is just as bad if not worse. It is better to leave people who eat like this to their faith.
This is stupid. There’s a reason we have companies like the FDA that regulate what is and isn’t good/bad for the human population to consume.
They clearly aren’t doing an adequate job…
We should be so naive to think that the FDA is protecting us. They are influenced ( in bed with) the big producers. Monsanto does not have our best interest in mind when they are working to control the seed banks of the world and forcing farmers to grow their inferior seeds. Be wise and do your own research if you don’t believe this post.
Exactly.
Bonnie,
Monsanto doesn’t force us farmers to grow their seeds. If you came up with that using your own research then you need to reconsider your research method. Your post is absolutely false.
Look around you. Really healthy bunch roaming America. FDA is right on top of it.
FDA= Government. Don’t think for a second they’re on the up and up. It’s all about $$$.
Karl-
I think you would be surprised about what the FDA finds to be suitable for human consumption. After all, cigarettes are regulated by the FDA and what is found in those is pretty horrifying. Just because it won’t kill you on the spot doesn’t mean that the government won’t let you ingest ingredients that have been proven to have negative long term effects on your body. To be frank, calling this article stupid… makes you sound really stupid.
If the FDA had our best interests in mind, they would shut down Monsanto…not go work for them.
Are you kidding? The FDA is in bed with the corporations. The FDA’s senior adviser (Michael Taylor) is a former VP and lobbyist for Monsanto, the very corp that is making seeds to withstand poison, AND making the poison to spray on them… that YOU ingest everyday and they don’t even have to disclose it to us because the politicians are also in bed with them. We need to get our heads out of the sand or our cell phones, because whist we aren’t looking they are killing us for profit.
… also, the FDA will not even approve 100% organic tobacco, cigarettes with nothing in them but tobacco. Yet, they allow big tobacco to put known carcinogens in their tobacco just to keep people addicted and smoking more. You truly believe they are out for your interest? Think again.
Seriously Karl? The FDA is not a company. It is the Food and Drug Administration, an agency of the United States Federal Government. Not sure why you believe that they are all knowing about what is safe to eat and drink.
You’re stupid to be so naive to think the FDA is a “company” out for our best interest, but rather a government run business out to make money for the economy, by protecting the big money producing food industries. Get educated.
Have you ever checked who sits on the FDA. Noone forced you to read this. If you wanna think ignorance is bliss then so be it but there are other humans who like to really use their brain and think and it is for those such articles are written
The FDA doesn’t care what we eat.
Carl’s asleep… someone tap him.
About ten years ago when my dh delivered Pizza Hut, he would bring home cardboard boxes for us to reuse that had topping ingredients, etc. in them shipped to the store. It had the list of ingredients listed on them just like you find on food at a grocery store. For the breaded wings, there was MSG listed FIVE times, including in the breading itself.
Our family now eats a GAPS diet and I make a no-grain, low carb crust with chicken breast meat, egg, and cheese with a few seasoning herbs.