Questions and Answers on Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
Consumer Info About Additives & Ingredients Main Page
November 19, 2012
What is MSG?
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of the common amino acid glutamic acid. Glutamic acid is naturally present in our bodies, and in many foods and food additives.
How is it made?
MSG occurs naturally in many foods, such as tomatoes and cheeses. People around the world have eaten glutamate-rich foods throughout history. For example, a historical dish in the Asian community is a glutamate-rich seaweed broth. In 1908, a Japanese professor named Kikunae Ikeda was able to extract glutamate from this broth and determined that glutamate provided the savory taste to the soup. Professor Ikeda then filed a patent to produce MSG and commercial production started the following year.
Today, instead of extracting and crystallizing MSG from seaweed broth, MSG is produced by the fermentation of starch, sugar beets, sugar cane or molasses. This fermentation process is similar to that used to make yogurt, vinegar and wine.
Is MSG safe to eat?
FDA considers the addition of MSG to foods to be “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS). Although many people identify themselves as sensitive to MSG, in studies with such individuals given MSG or a placebo, scientists have not been able to consistently trigger reactions.
Does “glutamate” in a product mean it contains gluten?
No—glutamate or glutamic acid have nothing to do with gluten. A person with Celiac disease may react to the wheat that may be present in soy sauce, but not to the MSG in the product.
What’s the difference between MSG and glutamate in food?
The glutamate in MSG is chemically indistinguishable from glutamate present in food proteins. Our bodies ultimately metabolize both sources of glutamate in the same way. An average adult consumes approximately 13 grams of glutamate each day from the protein in food, while intake of added MSG is estimates at around 0.55 grams per day.
How can I know if there is MSG in my food?
FDA requires that foods containing added MSG list it in the ingredient panel on the packaging as monosodium glutamate. However, MSG occurs naturally in ingredients such as hydrolyzed vegetable protein, autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed yeast, yeast extract, soy extracts, and protein isolate, as well as in tomatoes and cheeses. While FDA requires that these products be listed on the ingredient panel, the agency does not require the label to also specify that they naturally contain MSG. However, foods with any ingredient that naturally contains MSG cannot claim “No MSG” or “No added MSG” on their packaging. MSG also cannot be listed as “spices and flavoring.”
Has FDA received any adverse event reports associated with MSG?
Over the years, FDA has received reports of symptoms such as headache and nausea after eating foods containing MSG. However, we were never able to confirm that the MSG caused the reported effects.
These adverse event reports helped trigger FDA to ask the independent scientific group Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) to examine the safety of MSG in the 1990s. FASEB’s report concluded that MSG is safe. The FASEB report identified some short-term, transient, and generally mild symptoms, such as headache, numbness, flushing, tingling, palpitations, and drowsiness that may occur in some sensitive individuals who consume 3 grams or more of MSG without food. However, a typical serving of a food with added MSG contains less than 0.5 grams of MSG. Consuming more than 3 grams of MSG without food at one time is unlikely.
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Chinese restaurant syndrome
Chinese restaurant syndrome is a set of symptoms that some people have after eating Chinese food. A food additive called monosodium glutamate (MSG) has been blamed for the condition. However, this has not been proven to be the cause.
Reports of serious reactions to Chinese food first appeared in 1968. At that time, MSG was thought to be the cause of these symptoms. There have been many studies since then that have failed to show a connection between MSG and the symptoms some people describe.
For this reason, MSG continues to be used in some meals. However, it is possible that some people are particularly sensitive to food additives. MSG is chemically similar to one of the brain's most important chemicals, glutamate.
Symptoms include:
- Chest pain
- Flushing
- Headache
- Numbness or burning in or around the mouth
- Sense of facial pressure or swelling
- Sweating
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Monosodium glutamate (MSG, also known as sodium glutamate) is thesodium salt of glutamic acid, one of the most abundant naturally occurringnon-essential amino acids. Monosodium glutamate is found naturally intomatoes, cheese and other foods.
History
Glutamic acid was discovered and identified in 1866 by the German chemist Karl Heinrich Ritthausen, who treated wheatgluten (for which it was named) with sulfuric acid.[21] Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial University isolated glutamic acid as a taste substance in 1908 from the seaweed Laminaria japonica (kombu) by aqueous extraction and crystallization, calling its taste umami.[Manuf. 9] Ikeda noticed that dashi, the Japanese broth of katsuobushi and kombu, had a unique taste not yet scientifically described (not sweet, salty, sour, or bitter).[Manuf. 9] To verify that ionized glutamate was responsible for umami, he studied the taste properties of glutamate salts: calcium, potassium, ammonium, and magnesium glutamate. All these salts elicited umami and a metallic taste due to the other minerals. Of them, sodium glutamate was the most soluble and palatable and the easiest to crystallize.[citation needed] Ikeda called his product "monosodium glutamate", and submitted a patent to produce MSG;[Gov. 7] the Suzuki brothers began commercial production of MSG in 1909 as Aji-no-moto (味の素, "essence of taste").[Manuf. 5][Manuf. 8][22]
MSG is used in the food industry as a flavor enhancer with an umami taste that intensifies the meaty, savory flavor of food, as naturally occurring glutamate does in foods such as stews and meat soups.[2][3] It was first prepared in 1908 by Japanese biochemist Kikunae Ikeda, who was trying to isolate and duplicate the savory taste of kombu, an edible seaweed used as a base for many Japanese soups. MSG as a flavor enhancer balances, blends, and rounds the perception of other tastes.[4][5]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given MSG its generally recognized as safe (GRAS) designation.[Gov. 2] A popular belief is that large doses of MSG can cause headaches and other feelings of discomfort, known as "Chinese restaurant syndrome," but double-blind tests fail to find evidence of such a reaction.[Gov. 2][6] The European Union classifies it as a food additivepermitted in certain foods and subject to quantitative limits. MSG has the HS code 29224220 and the E number E621
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer commonly added to Chinese food, canned vegetables, soups and processed meats. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified MSG as a food ingredient that's "generally recognized as safe," but its use remains controversial. For this reason, when MSG is added to food, the FDA requires that it be listed on the label.
MSG has been used as a food additive for decades. Over the years, the FDA has received many anecdotal reports of adverse reactions to foods containing MSG. These reactions — known as MSG symptom complex — include:
- Headache
- Flushing
- Sweating
- Facial pressure or tightness
- Numbness, tingling or burning in the face, neck and other areas
- Rapid, fluttering heartbeats (heart palpitations)
- Chest pain
- Nausea
- Weakness
However, researchers have found no definitive evidence of a link between MSG and these symptoms. Researchers acknowledge, though, that a small percentage of people may have short-term reactions to MSG. Symptoms are usually mild and don't require treatment. The only way to prevent a reaction is to avoid foods containing MSG.
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There are two common forms of glutamic acid, L-glutamic acid and D-glutamic acid. L-glutamic acid found in protein is referred to as 'bound' or 'protein bound' glutamic acid. In real, natural foods amino acids are rarely free. Rather, they are linked or bound in long chains to other amino acids in peptides or proteins. D-glutamic acid 'outside of protein' or 'free glutamic acid' is artificially and chemically produced outside of the body. This is what is known as monosodium glutamate or MSG.
Asian cultures have used sea vegetables to enhance the flavor of food for centuries, especially kombu. Kombu is traditionally used to make broth called 'dashi' and more recently kombu extract. Though both are sources of glutamic acid, kombu extract is a concentrated form. Keep in mind, though, that this glutamic acid is 'bound to protein', L-glutamic acid. Dashi and extract is simply kombu simmered in water to extract the flavor essence of glutamic acid. Kombu is one of the lowest sources of glutamic acid, if you look at the above chart, compared to other high protein foods.
In 1907 a Japanese chemist, Kikunae Ikeda, was experimenting with food flavors in a quest for what the Japanese consider the perfectly balanced combination of flavors, 'umami'. Professor Ikeda captured what he believed was umami by isolating glutamic acid from seaweed and other plants such as wheat, beets, corn, and molasses. In 1909 the Ajinomoto Corporation of Japan patented it as monosodium glutamate or MSG and sold it in the U.S. as Accent, a flavor enhancer. This chemical is not food like kombu sea vegetable, but rather a toxic concoction and excitotoxin.
When we eat food containing protein, our body breaks it down or hydrolyzes it in the stomach and lower intestines through the action of hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes. In a healthy person, the body controls the amount of glutamic acid that it takes from protein. Excess glutamic acid is not stored by the body, preventing toxicity. It is passed off as waste. Utilized this way, glutamic acid from eating protein is harmless.
In the chemical MSG manufacturing plant, however, the bound glutamic acid in the above mentioned foods is broken down or made 'free of protein' by various processes (hydrolyzed, autolyzed, modified or fermented with strong chemicals, acids, bacteria, or enzymes, which are often genetically modified) and refined to a white crystal powder that resembles salt or sugar. Chemical MSG contains 78% glutamate, 12.2% sodium, and 9.6% water. This chemical form is known as D-glutamic acid. It usually contains some L-glutamic acid, pyroglutamic acid, and other contaminants. This factory made version causes serious reactions. From our research there is no D-glutamic acid, pyroglutamic acid or other contaminants in the protein found in plants and animals, only L-glutamic acid. When pure, manufactured, MSG is ingested a rapid effect occurs from the glutamate. This 'free of protein' glutamic acid, or glutamate unlike the naturally occurring 'protein bound' glutamate, is not attached to other amino acids. The normal digestive disassembly process does not happen because there are no 'peptide' bonds to slow the process. The sudden increase in free glutamic acid is then rapidly absorbed and can raise blood levels of glutamate eight to ten times causing toxicity.
Chemically produced MSG is found in a very wide variety of foods both in the supermarket and in natural food stores. It may not be, and commonly is not, declared on the label because it is a "processing aid" used in an ingredient. When MSG is used as a processing aid, it is not required by the FDA to be declared on the label. MSG is in hydrolyzed animal, vegetable (textured vegetable protein TVP), and milk protein. Calcium and sodium cassinate are by-products of hydrolyzed milk products. It is found in maltodextrin from processed corn and cornstarch. Bouillon cubes, autolyzed yeast extracts and chemically manufactured malt syrups contain small amounts of it. Whey protein, protein isolates, smoke flavorings, barbecue chips, and cheap and imitation soy sauces contain it. It is also found in chemically made gelatins and even in children's vaccinations.
We assure you that Eden Foods does not use the chemical MSG in any EDEN Beans, EDENSOY, or any food item that we offer. There is much confusion, contradictory information and studies in the public domain. Most of it skewed or flawed, having been paid for by the manufactures of MSG. Commonly documents are incorrect in referring to chemical MSG as L-glutamate, when in fact it is D-glutamate. Eden Foods realizes there is a real danger in consuming MSG. The following websites may give you some reassurance regarding natural glutamic acid found in foods and its difference from chemical MSG:
- http://www.msgmyth.com
- http://www.truthinlabeling.org/III.What%20is%20MSG.html
- http://www.msgtruth.org/whatisit.htm
