MSG - help!

Here's a question for all you people at home...

I was really excited when we went to the Safeway the other day because I found Campbell's soup!  It's only there sometimes, and when it's there, you have to buy it - a lot of it - because you may not see it again for six months.  Of course, this is not REAL Campbell's Soup; it's the Middle East version of it, probably made here or in the UAE (but I forgot to look).  We find that most of our "American" products here are not really made at home.  Doritos, Pepsi, and yes, even Campbell's, all have factories over here that make their products for this market.  Unfortunately, they do not taste the same as the real thing because the ingredient quality controls over here are not nearly as rigorous as they are at home.  So you have to be careful what you buy.  The Doritos, especially, are just wrong. 

Incidentally, we do get some American imported products here, but the companies know that the standards here are more lax, so they put their lowest quality foods into the products made for export.  So, for example, we have "Freshly" brand spaghetti sauce, "American Garden" brand black beans, and "Goody" brand pasta in our pantry right now.  These are all US brands made for export.  So the food is from the US and the products are distributed from some warehouse in LA.  But the products are made SOLELY for export - you'll never catch American Garden in the Taj MaTeeter - so they use the leftover tomatoes for the tomato sauce, the funniest shaped black beans, and the most broken up pasta. The food quality is just not as good, because they can get away with it. 

Here's my Campbell's soup.  I bought a lot.  It's called hoarding.  You have to learn to hoard if you live over here, because it won't be there when you go back the next time.  Note the Arabic on the can. 

On the back of the can, that's how you write "Campbell's" in Arabic.  Remember, they read right to left. 

So, folks at home, here's my question:  Does your regular old can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup have **MSG** in it??   I was really surprised to see it on the ingredient list!  And disappointed!  I just bought way too many of these cans - and now I know they all have MSG!  Great.  Just great.  So, is this a Middle East poor-quality-product thing, or does all Cream of Mushroom have this?  I think I will feel better if you people at home are eating MSG too. 

There it is - right there in the ingredients.  Super.  Ugh. 

Then there's the lovely Lipton Onion Soup Mix, which I found in the Commissary recently, and also bought lots and lots of (makes good pot roast, and that's one of the 4 or 5 meals I can cook with the meat here.)  SO SO excited to have it, but AGH it has the SAME PROBLEM!  Does YOUR onion soup mix have MSG??

Somebody please please tell me this is normal for the States, too. 

(A quick glance at Wikipedia tells me that MSG is safe to eat.  Mayo Clinic says it's controversial.  Any of you doctors out there got an opinion on this?  I know at least two of you reading this have MDs!  :)  )