What Is Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein?

by Jennifer Lawinski, Posted Mar 8th 2010 @ 4:00PM

If you've eaten potato chips or chicken nuggets lately, chances are you had a bite of hydrolyzed vegetable protein -- a salty and savory flavor enhancer used in many foods you may eat every day.

The behind-the-scenes food additive came to national attention last week: the FDA issued a mass recall of processed food products when it was discovered that a batch of HVP coming from Basic Food Flavors Inc. in Las Vegas, Nev., was contaminated with salmonella, the Chicago Tribune and walletpop.com reported.

The additive is used in thousands of foods including soup mix, sauces, dips, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, potato chips, pretzels and TV dinners, FDA spokeswoman Rita Chappelle told Slashfood. There have been no reports of sickness from salmonella-tainted foods, she said.

"The FDA is still investigating this and if any changes happen in this situation, we will issue information to the public so that they are aware of it," Chappelle said.

What can you do to protect yourself?

The foods that may pose a problem are "ready to eat" products, Chappelle told Slashfood, where the HVP is added after cooking and the additive doesn't go through a "kill step" during processing.

Ready-to-cook foods are safe, she said, because consumers would kill any bacteria during cooking at home.

"Our message to consumers is that right now the risk is relatively low. Consumers should read the directions on any products. Make sure they're following food preparation and cooking instructions," Chappelle said.

Consumers should also check www.foodsafety.gov daily to see updates to the list of recalled products. Consumers with recalled products are instructed to throw them away.

The FDA began investigating after a Basic Food Flavoring customer found Salmonella Tennessee when it tested a batch of HVP it purchased from the company, Chappelle said.

The contaminated HVP came in paste and powder form, and the first tainted lot was produced in September, the Tribune reported.

Filed Under: Health & Medical, Food News
Tags: basic food flavors food recall, food recall hvp, hvp, hvp food recall, hydrolyzed vegetable protein

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Reader comments (Page 3 of 3)

3-09-2010 @8:42PM Sally G said... Michael Pollan says “Nobody advertises real food”. Other than in supermarket flyers, or perhaps other technical quibbles, he’s right.
The other shopping policy that makes sense is to avoid foods with more than 5 ingredients (unless, of course, you are the one doing the combining).

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3-09-2010 @8:38PM Marc said... GEEZ, all of you folks that want the damned GOVERNMENT to " protect" you!!! Read the label, do some research, then gripe all you want!! If you can read this, you have the ability to SEARCH a subject!!! Oh, I forgot, BIG gummit will keepus all safe, and tell us how to live our lives!!! SORRY
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3-09-2010 @9:14PM jem said... You'd be stunned to find out the numerous ways they disguise MSG, by giving it SO many other names. You know something is wrong and definitely bad for you when there is such an effort to hide it as they sneak it into our foods; just like they do with High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). They do have an agenda, of course.
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3-09-2010 @9:22PM carrie said... I worry more about the filthy people from mexico touching my food than this. Most food borne illness is traced back to mexican food handlers and illegal aliens touching our food here in America.
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3-09-2010 @9:58PM Wayne said... The sons of bitches just plain can't help themselves/ They are programed to kill us. It's in their DNA. The bastards. Other than having to reprint all their packaging and refudge their numbers they are totally unaccountable for the scores of people they killed with their hydrogenated oils. Now they're trying to kill us with bacteria and think nothing of it. They should all take a nose dive of a wall at the Grand Canyon. Give us a freaking break.
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3-09-2010 @10:24PM Anaphe said... I have a bladder condition called Interstitial Cystitis and MSG is one of of my primary triggers for a flare which Is quite painful. Despite reading labels religiously I still had flares that I could find no explaination for. Then I learned about HVP, (can also be termed Autolyzed Vegetable Protein) and have cleaned anything in my pantry that contains HVP (some were my favorite soups) and since have not had a flare up and I did my best to pass this on to the ICNetwork, but am also hopeing this will reach other IC patients. Those soups I loved so much, make them myself in large batches and freeze them in single serving containers.
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3-09-2010 @10:52PM Sadie said... HVP is often used by vegetarians and vegans as a meat substitute. It is made into meat-like things. Dried nuggest or patties or strings that look like ground beef or some other meat. But if people are eating it to be healthy, think again! They take vegetables protein and through processing, make it look this way. Sulphuric acid is used in the process to strip the protein out and colorings are added to take the grey resulting substance and make it more palatable looking. It is anything but a real food. Sometimes it goes by the name "Textured vegetable protein" but this name is copyrighted so other ocmpanies use the term "hydrolized vegetable protein". Same thing.
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3-10-2010 @9:09AM LinC said... You are confusing TVP (textured vegetable protein) with HVP. TVP is not the same thing. It's just dried beans that have been processed into nuggets that cook up like ground beef. TVP is a great source of fat-free protein. I'm not vegetarian, but I use it to put more protein into things like chili without adding fat.

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3-09-2010 @11:01PM Bubba said... Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein = MSG (Monosodium Glutamate). Do your own research, as I avoid this stuff like the plague. Another substance to be very wary of is Sodium fluoride. Sodium Fluoride is one of the most toxic substances known to the human body. BE YOUR OWN HEALTH ADVOCATE FOLKS. The FDA cares more about their backdoor lobby money than they do about your health.
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3-09-2010 @11:03PM Rebecca said... I make my food, from scratch, while interacting with my kids.
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3-09-2010 @11:58PM Jan said... Now the government is trying to tell you what you should eat and what you shouldn't......You never know what is for real anymore........I know one thing, get the damn FLOURIDE out of the water !!!!!!!
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3-10-2010 @1:31AM Jack Samuels said... It is good to see that the FDA has admitted that hydrolyzed proteins are used in food as flavor enhancers. Although the FDA failed to disclose that hydrolyzed proteins are flavor enhancers because they are a source of "hidden" MSG, this fact was disclosed by some of the people who commented on the recall.

When a protein is hydrolyzed, amino acids are freed, at least in part, and are accompanied by impurities. People who are MSG-sensitive vary in their tolerances to MSG. If they ingest amounts that exceed their tolerance levels for MSG, they will react the same from a hydrolyzed protein (or any other "hidden" source of MSG) as they do from the food ingredient "monosodium glutamate."

It is also important to note that most of the hydrolyzed protein produced in our country is hydrolyzed with an acid. Acid hydrolyzed proteins contain propanols as impurities.

The Truth in Labeling Campaign advised the FDA in 1993 that acid hydrolyzed proteins contain carcinogenic propanols, and they laughed at us. However, in 2006, the FDA, responding to a question from Codex Alimentarius, indicated that they checked acid hydrolyzed proteins in the year 2000 and found them to be carcinogenic and genotoxic. (The Codex Alimentarius Commission was created in 1963 by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop food standards, guidelines and related texts such as codes of practice under the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Program.)

It is time that the FDA admit to ALL of the facts regarding hydrolyzed proteins and begin to protect consumers rather than the food companies that make or use acid hydrolyzed proteins or other "hidden" forms of MSG. Acid hydrolyzed proteins should be removed from the market, and MSG should be fully disclosed on processed food labels, with the amount present stated in milligrams. If MSG is safe, why is it hidden?

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3-10-2010 @9:28PM Balloon Boy said... It's a wonder we're all still alive, relatively speaking. HVP would have to be made in a rat's den to wind up contaminated with salmonella. Our government on all levels has failed to provide basic health protection in all of the areas where it is needed. We are back to those few pages describing the Chicago Stockyards in Sinclair's "The Jungle," publlished over a hundred years ago, which led to the creation of the FDA. That's FOOD AND DRUG Administration, folks, but the bureaucracy exists now only for its own self-preservation; the public be damned. RJSHEDLARZ@aol.com
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